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| David Miliband to step down as MP | David Miliband to step down as MP |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| David Miliband is planning to leave Parliament to move to the US to work for a charity, a close friend has confirmed to the BBC. | |
| He is going to become head of the International Rescue Committee in New York, the BBC understands. | |
| Mr Miliband, 47, a former foreign secretary, was beaten to the Labour leadership in 2010 by his brother Ed. | |
| The South Shields MP has taken a back seat since, opting not to join his brother's shadow cabinet. | The South Shields MP has taken a back seat since, opting not to join his brother's shadow cabinet. |
| There had been widespread rumours that he was set for a return to the opposition front bench, with Ed Miliband insisting recently that "the door is open". | |
| The BBC understands he will take up the job of CEO of the International Rescue Committee, a charity which, according to its website, works in over 40 countries and responds to "the world's worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives." | |
| He is thought to be replacing Dr George Rupp. | |
| David Miliband previously said it had been right for him "to step back" from front-line politics to avoid "the daily soap opera" that may have resulted from him working alongside his brother. | |
| But he said this did not mean he could not make a contribution from the backbenches or that he had taken a vow of silence. | |
| His decision will spark a by-election in South Shields, where he has been MP since 2001. | |
| BBC political editor Nick Robinson said his close friends and political allies had not been consulted, merely told, as he "must have known they would try to dissuade him". | |
| He said: "The truth is for many, many months now he has searched for a life outside politics, appears to have failed to find such a satisfying life, and colleagues tried to urge him to return to frontline politics and started to discuss the kind of roles he could take under his brother. | |
| "He has clearly concluded he does not want to return to the fray, he doesn't want to serve under his brother in opposition or in government which is a serious blow to his brother, and disappointment to members of the party." |