After David Miliband wrote his infamous Guardian article, the Brownites had two options. Either they could welcome it as important contribution to the debate and try and laugh off the idea that it was the beginning of a leadership challenge or they could go on the attack, painting Miliband as disloyal and try to force him to back down. The Brownites, though, attempted a mix of the two strategies when they are mutually exclusive.
Things have now gone too far because of both the initial briefing against Miliband in the Evening Standard and his appearance on the Jeremy Vine show for the hug him close approach to work. So, when, as Philip Webster reports, the Prime Minister responded to a question about Miliband not name-checking him in the piece with the line “I do not mention myself in my own articles” it just sounds ridiculous.
PS The Times also mentions that the new Ipsos/Mori poll has the Tories on a quite remarkable 48 percent, 24 points ahead of Labour.
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