Will Brown wield the knife?

As Fraser writes in his cover piece today, Miliband doesn’t want to bloody his hands during any leadership struggle. Sure, the Foreign Secretary’s plotting with the best of them. But as for being the one to stick the knife between Brown’s shoulder-blades – that can be left for Jack Straw or any of that batch of ministers prepared to resign over all this. Or at least that’s the plan.

Problem is, there’s always the chance that others won’t want to do Miliband’s dirty work for him. Jack Straw certainly isn’t too keen on the idea. And I suspect Harriet Harman, Ed Balls or any of the other suspected plotters won’t be either. So who will wield the knife?

One other option presents itself: Gordon Brown. This morning, the news is that he’s being urged to sack Miliband.  If he doesn’t, the argument goes, he’ll look weak at just the time he needs to appear at his strongest.