'David Cameron believes David Miliband has a better chance than his brother Ed of reaching out to middle Britain Photograph: David Miliband poses the greatest threat to the Conservative party of all the candidates in the Labour leadership contest, David Cameron has said in private remarks that could change the dynamic of the campaign just days before millions of ballot papers are posted.
...
A well-placed source told the Guardian: "David Cameron said the candidate he hoped for was Ed Miliband, and the candidate he most feared was David Miliband."
Ed Miliband, who is thought to be slightly behind his brother in first preference votes, but who hopes second choice votes will propel him to victory, is likely to be irritated by Cameron's remarks, which echo those of supporters of Tony Blair: his backers believe that his elder brother is being supported by what they describe as the "Blair machinery".
Tory high command believes David Miliband is flawed and lacks the easy manner of Tony Blair, who was regarded by Cameron and George Osborne as unbeatable. But Downing Street believes that the senior Miliband, who this week told the Labour party to abandon its "comfort zone", stands the best chance of reaching the sort of voters wooed by Blair.
Tories believe that Ed Miliband is an intellectual heavyweight, but showed the influence of his mentor, Gordon Brown, this week when he in effect attacked his brother with a warning about remaining in the "New Labour comfort zone".'
Hmmm might it be possible that this leak is designed to confuse the Labour leadership election.
Meanwhile in Ed Miliband related news, I read that:
'One of the country’s biggest unions last night threatend to withdraw funding from the Labour party unless Ed Miliband is elected as leader next month.
Paul Kenny, the General Secretary of the GMB union, said other unions will follow suit if David Miliband or Ed Balls were chosen to succeed Gordon Brown.
The warning, which senior Shadow Cabinet members will view as blackmail, came a week after Lord Prescott revealed that Labour were 'on the verge of bankruptcy'.
He said that the party was bring kept alive by 'trade union contributions, high-value donations and the goodwill of the Co-op bank'.
Asked by The Times if his union would withdraw funding from Labour if Ed Miliband did not win, Mr Kenny said: 'If the new leader offers us more of the same, many unions — including our own — would have to consider where we are at.
'Ed Balls and David Miliband represent where we’ve been. They are not without talent. I would not rubbish them. But if the direction of the party went off chasing some right-of-centre ground . . .'
He added: 'Ed Miliband is not ashamed of Labour’s core values. It’s not about a big society. It’s about a fair society.''
Hmmm, 'Ed Balls and David Miliband represent where we’ve been'. That's odd I could have sworn that Ed Miliband served in the last Labour cabinet and wrote a large part of the 2010 Labour manifesto that lead to a Labour defeat. Am I wrong?
In even more important news, I read in The Mirror that: Lily Allen has tweeted
'Why did David Miliband cross the road? To get to the middle. Vote Ed.'So Lily Allen is on Ed Miliband, hmmm.
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