Ed Balls (the denial)

In the interests of fairness I feel I must report that Ed Balls has denied plotting to oust Tony Blair in favour of Gordon Brown. The BBC  report with a straight face that:

'Shadow chancellor Ed Balls has hit back over leaked memos detailing plans to have Gordon Brown succeed Tony Blair as prime minister from 2005.

Mr Balls said it was "not true" to say he and Mr Brown plotted to oust the PM.

...

Mr Balls told BBC Radio 4's World at One that discussions about the transition of power had started before the 2005 general election.

While Mr Blair had said publicly he would serve a full third term, privately he had agreed to go earlier, Mr Balls said, adding he had encouraged Mr Brown to speak out on wider issues like security in 2006 as part of the transition process.

The Daily Telegraph ran the leaked memos story under the headline "Revealed: Ed Balls and the 'brutal' plot to topple Blair".

But Mr Balls said: "The idea that that these documents show there was a plot or an attempt to remove Tony Blair is just not true.

"It's not justified either by the documents themselves or by what was actually happening at the time."

He insisted there was "no nasty edge" to the communications between Mr Brown and Mr Blair, and that people like him were "trying to hold things together", not widen any divisions.

The relationship between Mr Blair and Mr Brown was "under stress" during the period and there were arguments, he said: "I think people will look back and say it could have been done better. I agree with that and there's a lesson there for us as a party."

Mr Miliband dismissed the Telegraph story as "an over-hyped version of ancient history".'

Do you believe Ed Balls? It is up to you entirely.

Meanwhile I note that The Telegraph are promising more Ed Balls revelations tomorrow and I hear a rumour that they may concern 'the economy' this time...