Thunderbirds are gone. Dave Miliband joins International Rescue.

For some reason I always looked at the Miliband Brothers and thought Thunderbirds!

Dave resembling Scott Tracy of Thunderbird 1

And Ed, Scott's younger brother Virgil pilot of Thunderbird 2

They elder brothers  even shared a similar education 
Dave  Miliband studied at Oxford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology whilst Scott Tracy Educated at Yale and Oxford Universities, 

And now comes the News that  Dave  Milliband announced his resignation from Parliament in order to take up a post as the head of the International Rescue Committee in New York City.

The elder Miliband has abandoned UK politics after failing to narrowly loosing the Labour Leadership to his younger brother.

To read the media in what looks like an obituary Dave was an outstanding politician and will be must missed.

To my mind he was a career politician who having lost out on the top pride abandoned his constituents in South Shields an area he might never step foot in again.

Miliband, is typical of this sought of politician who has set on a Westminster career path. Selected for a safe seat in which he has no connection and who when it falters simply gives up the seat.

I don't know whether Dave Miliband ever talked about "Serving his Constituency"; But even before announcing his resignation he had concentrated on a lucrative life outside the commons '

In September last year I reported that

1. Directorships
Vice-Chairman and non-executive director, Sunderland AFC, from 1 February 2011, 12-15 days a year, £75,000. Address: Sunderland AFC, Stadium of Light, Sunderland SR5 1SU
Received £25,000 on 23 June 2011. Hours: 3 days. (Registered 13 April 2012)
Received £25,000 on 23 October 2011. Hours: 3 days. (Registered 13 April 2012)
Received £25,000 on 23 February 2012. Hours: 4 days. (Registered 29 March 2012)
2. Remunerated employment, office, profession etc
Payment for articles for Mail on Sunday. Address: Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, Kensington, London W8 5TT:
Payment of £2,000 received on 1 September 2011 for article published on 16 July 2011. Hours: 2 hrs. (Registered 16 September 2011)
Payments for speeches from London Speaker Bureau. Address: Elsinore House, 77 Fulham Palace Road, London W6 8JA:
Fee of £15,300 for speaking at Allianz event: The New Normal: Global Transformation, Dynamic Competition; Claridge’s Hotel, London, on 7 April 2011. Hours: 5 hrs. (Registered 6 May 2011)
Fee of £7,650 for cancelled speech at Malaysian Investment Development Authority event, 15 July 2011. (Registered 26 July 2011)
Fee of £25,500 and travel and accommodation worth £1,054 for speaking at Vatenfall Summer Economic Seminar, Basta, Sweden. Hours: 1 day. (Registered 9 August 2011)
Fee of £19,258 for speaking at the Ericsson Networked Society Forum; The Hexagon, Pier 6,Central, Hong Kong on 11-12 November 2011. Transport and accommodation (including one member of staff) came to £14,975. (Registered 13 December 2011)
Fee of £20,000 for speaking at Apollo Infrastructure Projects Finance Evening, Sheraton Park Hotel, Chennai, on 7 January 2012. Travel and accommodation also paid; value £6,601. Hours: 1.5 days.(Registered 8 February 2012)
Senior Global Advisor, Oxford Analytica; from 10 March 2011; payment on project basis. Address: 5 Alfred Street, Oxford OX1 4EH.
Payment of £24,000. Hours: 4 days. (Registered 22 July 2011)
Travel and accommodation valued at £6,000.32 while attending Accenture Global Energy Board inSan Francisco from 18 to 20 July 2011. (Registered 9 August 2011)
Transport and accommodation valued at £4,758.01 for visit to Washington, US, to attend Washington Post Global China Summit. (Registered 24 October 2011)
Payment of £15,000. Hours: 3 days. (Registered 13 December 2011)
Payment of £23,980.82 for one week of teaching at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 11-15 April 2011. Address of payer: MIT Centre for International Studies, 1 Amherst St, E40-457, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Hours: 5 days work. Travel and accommodation with family provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, costing £24,404.49. (Registered 6 May 2011)
Fee of £14,400 for speaking at Global Arc event: Alternative Investments; The Landmark Hotel, London, on 9 May 2011. Hours: 7.5 hrs. (Registered 23 May 2011)
Payment for articles written for The Times Newspaper. Address: 1 Virginia Street, London E98 1XY:
£500 for article published on 8 March 2011. Hours: 2 hrs. (Registered 6 June 2011)
£500 for article published on 23 May 2011. Hours: 2 hrs. (Registered 6 June 2011)
£500, received on 3 October 2011, for article published on 7 September 2011. Hours: 2 hrs.(Registered 24 October 2011)
Fee of £12,000 for speaking to the Yorkshire Fiscal Group in Harrogate on 9 June 2011. Address of payer: 1 Bridgewater Place, Water Lane, Leeds S11 5QR. Hours: 7.5 hrs. (Registered 8 July 2011)
Senior Advisor to VantagePoint CleanTech Advisory Council, from 1 August 2011. Address: VantagePoint Capital Partners, 1001 Bayhill Drive, Suite 300, San Bruno, CA 94066. Payment on a quarterly basis. (£90,001-£95,000) (Registered 22 July 2011)
Quarterly payment of £23,209.75. Hours: 1.5 days. (Registered 1 August 2011)
Transport and accommodated valued at £2,920 for visit to Utah, US, 17-18 September 2011, to attend meeting of Vantage Point Clean Tech Advisory Board. (Registered 24 October 2011)
Quarterly payment of £23,210. Hours: 1 day. (Registered 13 December 2011)
Quarterly payment of £23,210. Hours: 1 day. (Registered 15 February 2012)
Payment of £611 for two articles for Project Syndicate, PO Box 130, 120 21 Prague 2, Czech Republic, published on 7 September 2011 and 13 October 2011. Payment received after 13 October. Hours: 3 hrs. (Registered 24 October 2011)
Payment of £25,027 for one week of teaching at Stanford University, 19-23 September 2011. Address of payer: Memorial Way, Stanford CA 94305-5015. Hours: 5 days work. Travel and accommodation provided by Stanford University, costing £3,834. (Registered 24 October 2011)
Member of the Advisory Board to the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Chatham House 2011 Sir Bani Yas Forum. (£60,001-£65,000)
Payment of £64,475 from the UAE Ministry Foreign Affairs, PO Box 1, Abu Dhabi, UAE. (Registered 15 December 2011)
Transport and accommodation (including one member of staff) to Sir Bani Yas Forum on Future ofMiddle East, 17-20 November 2011, provided by Foreign Ministry of UAE, PO Box 1, Abu Dhabi, UAE; cost £4,935. Hours: 3 days work. (Registered 3 January 2012)
Payment of £900 received on 23 January 2012 for three articles in the Financial Times on 14 October, 14 November and 1 December 2011. Address: 1 Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 9HL. Hours: 6 hrs. (Registered 13 February 2012)
Senior Advisor to Indus Basin Holdings, from 30 January 2012. Address: No 5, Street 15, Sector F-7/2, Islamabad, Pakistan. Payment on a quarterly basis. (Registered 16 February 2012)
This amounts to something like £277,264.01 for work since April 2011. That pn top of his MP's wage of £60,738
In the meantime he has played little part in the Democratic process doing the was elected to do
Has spoken in 15 debates in the last year — below average amongst MPs.
Has received answers to 2 written questions in the last year — below average amongst MPs.
Miliband has earned more than many of his constituents get in a years wages for 5 hours work.

When he  should have  concentrated on representing the people of South Shields and not on lining his own pocket.

One wonders who will miss him most his former constituents s or those looking at him as means of influence in the  hierarchy of British politics

I wish him well in his new job because in the last few years he hasn't been doing the one he was elected for.