David questions Ed on welfare policy: Former MP says Labour should stop opposing every cut David Miliband said political parties were increasingly "controlled by small groups" There also needed to be big changes in the way the public sector is run, he added Ed Miliband has used his leadership to attack the Coalition's austerity measures for stifling growth By Daniel Martin, Whitehall Correspondent David Miliband has openly questioned his Labour leader brother's commitment to welfare reform - and even mocked one of his pet policies. In an article for the New Statesman magazine, he suggested that Ed - who beat him to the party leadership three years ago - should stop opposing every welfare cut put forward by the Coalition. Saying the modern Left had to do more to "understand the new world," he also mocked Ed's wonkish policy of "predistribution," a complicated plan to tackle inequality by raising wage levels. Labour leader Ed Miliband (left) has been openly questioned by his brother and former leadership rival David Miliband (right) over his commitment to welfare reform "Predistribution does not fit on an electoral pledge card," he wrote. Mr Miliband wrote that the welfare system needs "reform" and insisted that spending cuts were a "necessity" to secure the long-term health of the economy. David said politicians should not fall into the trap of "big-state solutions that are neither affordable not deliverable," and admitted that Labour in 2010 had been "too hands-on with the state and too hands-off with the market." And - in an apparent attack on the way his brother beat him to the top Labour job by garnering support from union barons - Mr Miliband said political parties were increasingly "controlled by small groups," and that "big money" was poisoning politics. David Miliband's piece comes as he departs for the US to take up a new job as president and chief executive of the International Rescue Committee charity. He stepped down as an MP earlier this year, and it had been hoped that his departure would put an end to the brotherly rift casting a shadow over the party. Ed Miliband has used his leadership to attack the Coalition's austerity measures for stifling growth, and has called for greater public spending to kick-start the economy. Tory Party chairman Grant Shapps said: 'Even David Miliband thinks Labour must change. By opposing every measure we¿ve taken to get the deficit down and fix the welfare system, Ed Miliband has shown that he¿s too weak to take the difficult decisions But in his New Statesman article, David questioned this approach, saying that simply pumping money into the economy is not sensible in the long-term. "While fiscal stimulus may be a short-term remedy for low demand, fiscal prudence is a medium-term necessity," he said. In a veiled attack on his brother's opposition to the Coalition's attempt to reduce incapacity and housing benefit bills, he wrote: "The welfare state needs defence in the face of unfair attacks. But it also needs reform. He said there also needed to be big changes in the way the public sector is run, including a reduction in spending. "The public sector and its services have been a civilising force in western societies, but they need to operate very differently to meet the twin challenges of changing public expectations and needs and limited public funds," he wrote. The state needs to do more with less, and that requires big reform. David also said that politics was increasingly "broken." He singled for praise the French socialist party's system for electing their leader - while remaining silent on the Labour party's procedures which gave the unions a disproportionate say and saw his brother elected. "Political systems, for too many people, have lost their capacity to engage and include," he wrote. Party systems are controlled by small groups (President Francois Hollande's exemplary election by open primary excepted). Big money creates a sense of popular disempowerment. Last night Tory Party chairman Grant Shapps said: "Even David Miliband thinks Labour must change. By opposing every measure we've taken to get the deficit down and fix the welfare system, Ed Miliband has shown that he's too weak to take the difficult decisions needed to turn Britain around. Instead all Labour offer is more borrowing, more spending, and more debt - the same old Labour policy that got us into this mess in the first place. And it's hardworking people who would pay the price with higher mortgage rates and higher bills.