Call for minister to step down from campaign role

Labour activists are mounting a bidtoousttheenvironmentminister, David Miliband, as head oftheparty'sgreenwingbecausehesupportsnuclearpower.

Miliband, increasingly mentioned as a possible challenger to Gordon Brown for Labour leader, was appointed president oftheSocialistEnvironmentand Resources Association (Sera) in January. Sera is affiliated to the Labour Party, and has been influential in formulating its environmental policy for years.

AlthoughSerahasalwaysopposed nuclear power, Miliband has repeatedly said the technology has a role to play in tackling climate change.

NowScottishSeramembersarespearheading a campaigntoforce Miliband out. They say more than 30 members across the UK have pledged to sign a letter demanding a meeting to discuss a motioncallingonMilibandto "graciously move aside".

The motion claims those involved in installing Miliband "have done much to neutralise the authority of Sera within theenergydebate", and he shouldbe replaced by "a candidate who is more inclined to loyally represent Sera by being opposed to nuclear power".

Sera Scotland has also asked the association's UK executive to reconsider Miliband's position when it meets in London tomorrow. Although Miliband waschosenbytheexecutive,his appointment has still to be ratified at an annual general meeting later this year.

"It'snotappropriateforDavid Miliband to be president of Sera," said Claudia Beamish, Sera Scotland's energy spokeswoman. Beamish is also first on Labour's list of candidates for the May elections for the South of Scotland.

Radiation expert Dr Ian Fairlie, a Sera member in London for over 30 years, quit over Miliband's appointment. Sera had been set up as an anti-nuclear organisation in the 1970s and had played a key role opposing nuclear power ever since, he said. "To have this history overturned on the whim of the present chairman and his pro-Blair executive was too much."

But a spokesman for Miliband said the minister had no intention of standing down as president, and suggested criticswithinSerawereintheminority.

"Most people will be delighted to have David Miliband as their president. He respects that people have different views on nuclear power, but his view is that, along with renewables and carbon capture and storage, it will have a role to play if we are to have a low-carbon economy."

Although Sera's UK chairman, Hywel Lloyd, stressed the organisation was still opposed to nuclear power, he said there were only a handful of Miliband dissenters."Mostpeoplethinkhe'sthe right person to make Sera influential in the party. His advantages hugely outweigh his disadvantages."