Miliband urges Labour reinvention

Mr Miliband has been touted as a future Labour leader

Labour must reinvent itself for the 21st Century, Foreign Secretary David Miliband has told the BBC.

Ahead of a speech on its future, he said it should listen more to trade unionists and give money to charity.

While the party was "magnificent" in many ways - it only amounted to 200,000 people, he said.

He denied Blairite ministers had been sidelined since the cabinet reshuffle, saying Labour was "more ideologically united" than at any time since 1945.

Mr Miliband, often touted as a future Labour leader, said the only centre-left party to have done well in the European elections were the Greek socialists.

'Unique asset'

"One reason... is they have completely changed the way they are organised - there are now more than 10% of Greeks, nearly 1m people, that are engaged in that party," he told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show.

He said much had changed in the 15 years since the death of John Smith, the former Labour leader, but added: "One thing that hasn't changed... is the need for political parties to completely reinvent themselves for the modern world, 20th Century structures won't do in the 21st Century."

We have a plan published in the Budget openly and honestly to raise taxes and rein in spending to halve the deficit in the next five years David Miliband

Labour's membership has dropped significantly since the 405,000 in 1997 when Tony Blair took office - in last year's submission to the Electoral Commission it said its membership at the end of 2007 was 176,891.

Mr Miliband cited US President Barack Obama's electoral campaign, which the minister said had mobilised a new generation of activists.

"We should be looking at the way in America they have registered Democrats and registered Republicans on the electoral roll - we should be looking at that here," Mr Miliband said.

A percentage of Labour Party funds could be donated to charity as a "real act of corporate social responsibility to show that we're serious about putting something back" into the country.

He said trade unions were a "unique asset": "We have more than 3m trade unionists who pay the political levy, but we don't make half enough use of them - either to listen to them or to lead them."

Asked about reports it was Gordon Brown, Lord Mandelson and Ed Balls that made all the decisions, he told the BBC: "This Labour Party is more ideologically united than at any stage, I would argue, in the post-war period. It's a party that has learnt the lessons of history."

Spending cuts

He denied Labour was not being honest about the economic crisis and public spending cuts.

The issue has dominated political arguments over the past few weeks with the government accusing the Tories of planning cuts while Tory leader David Cameron has said there is a "thread of dishonesty" in Gordon Brown's premiership.

Mr Miliband said: "We have a plan published in the Budget openly and honestly to raise taxes and rein in spending to halve the deficit in the next five years - that is as clear as daylight."

Asked why the government was not holding a comprehensive spending review before the next election, he said: "We will have a credible prospectus for the period after 2011, but when you're in the middle of an economic tsunami you don't take a weather forecast - you make sure that you get through it and that's what we're going to do."