In his comments at the IPPR, Miliband also reflected on what his grandfather, a Russian emigre to Poland, would have made of having “not one but two of his grandsons as British foreign secretary — I don’t think he would have believed it!”
His brother David, who held the role from 2007-2010, also held background talks with Andy Burnham on a prospective return from New York, where he has been president of the International Rescue Committee since 2013. But it was Ed who seized the crown this time.
Brexit shift
The other main shift in U.K. power play is the return of the post-Brexit U.K.-EU reconnection to the Foreign Office’s ambit. Miliband has accepted an invitation to attend the EU’s informal meeting of foreign affairs ministers in September, POLITICO London Playbook reported Wednesday.
“Britain’s national economic and security interests are served by having a stronger relationship with our European allies,” Miliband said in a statement. “As foreign secretary, I will drive this agenda into the heart of our foreign policy — because that is how we defend Britain’s interests and values.”
The outward sign of that is the appointment of Hamish Falconer as Europe minister and simultaneously minister for inter-governmental relations in the U.K. He will attend Cabinet.
It’s a move that restores a linkage between the U.K.’s influential diplomatic service and Brexit negotiations, which frayed under previous arrangements. EU relations had been run out of the Cabinet Office — the government department tasked with supporting the prime minister.