Miliband 'would move party forward'

David Miliband has told Labour members he would move the party on from the Blair-Brown era if his leadership bid was successful.

In an email to party members the shadow foreign secretary insisted he was "ready to lead" and would "change the way we do politics".

Mr Miliband said that although he respected both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, "their time has passed".

Mr Blair's memoirs published on Wednesday have reopened old wounds about the Blair-Brown feud during Labour's years in government.

In A Journey, Mr Blair issued a stark warning to the party not to drift to the left and said he believed Labour lost the general election in May because it "stopped being New Labour" under Mr Brown's leadership.

Although he made no endorsement in his memoirs of any of the leadership candidates, Mr Blair's comments will be seen as a mark of support for front-runner Mr Miliband over his brother Ed.

But with ballot papers being delivered to party members Mr Miliband said: "I'm sick and tired of the caricature that this leadership election is a choice between rejecting or retaining New Labour. It does a disservice to all of the candidates and, even worse, a disservice to the thousands of members who've been participating in this contest over the last few months and working hard for years."

He said the leadership election was about "pulling together all the talents of our party" rather than "tired old Westminster games".

"I want to change the way we do politics. Because I want to lead a government not a gang, a movement not a machine, where honest debate can be a source of strength, not a sign of weakness," he said.

Urging members to give him their vote he said: "I respect both Tony and Gordon deeply. But their time has passed. Their names do not appear on the leadership ballots. And now we need to stop their achievements being sidelined and their failings holding us back."