David Miliband frontbench return 'would be bad for Labour'

Former foreign secretary David Miliband says he has the "humility" to realise that his return to frontline politics would be bad for Labour.

Mr Miliband was pipped to the Labour leadership by brother Ed in 2010.

He told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show his ambition was to "contribute to the return of a Labour government".

Joining his brother's team would prompt "a daily soap opera which might be fun for the media, but it wouldn't be good for the Labour Party", he added.

Mr Miliband said he had spent the past 18 months working with the grassroots of the party, helping to make sure it became a "sustainable organisation".

He had also focused on the issue of youth unemployment: "There's been a lot of talk about the cackhandedness of the granny tax in the last few days.

"But the dangerous complacency about youth unemployment is really frightening," with young people asking "what hope have I got".

He said he planned to continue working at the grassroots, aiming to give communities more powers and helping tackle youth joblessness.

Although he did not plan to return to the frontline at the moment, he said he planned to stay on as an MP and would fight the next general election.

He said: "I don't regret running for the leadership, but I honour the fact that my brother won and I am completely committed to doing everything I can to support him in that leadership and I think I can best support him by working at the grassroots.

"The shadow cabinet has its place but it (Labour) is a bigger team than that."