The smart money
There’s been a big plunge of money for Ed Miliband to become the new Labour leader, with polls indicating he has a strong chance of victory. William Hill have reported big chunks of money for Ed Miliband in their Labour leadership race betting, with the candidate now 11/8 from 3/1 to beat the rest of the pack – the shortest odds that he has been since the contest began. – bettingpro.com
It was your fault
Lord Mandelson told a BBC Radio 4 documentary that the manifesto failed to address those who were not “natural, or automatic” Labour voters. Ed Miliband, a candidate for the Labour leadership, wrote the manifesto but Lord Mandelson accused him of now distancing himself from the document. – bbc.co.uk
Peter Mandelson has launched a blistering attack on Left-wing Labour leadership contender Ed Miliband, blaming him for the party’s General Election defeat. He mocked Mr Miliband for producing a ‘crowd-pleasing Guardianista’ manifesto that ‘offered nothing to people worried about immigration, housing and welfare scroungers’. ‘Nobody else authored the manifesto,’ said Lord Mandelson, who is backing Ed’s Blairite brother David Miliband for the Labour leadership. – Daily Mail
All eyes on Clegg
Nick Clegg has launched the ‘yes’ campaign for the AV referendum amid ever more angry attacks from Ed Miliband. The Labour leadership candidate, who has built his campaign on his ability to attract votes from the Liberal Democrats, said he would “make sure he is punished at the ballot box” for joining government with the Conservatives.
Ed Miliband went further than most with a remarkable outburst against the deputy prime minister. “Nick Clegg has taken the Lib Dems in a direction that they may never recover from, Nick Clegg has sold out to the Tories, and I will lead a Labour party that makes sure he is punished at the ballot box for it.” – politics.co.uk
Four in ten Lib Dem voters regret backing the party after Nick Clegg’s deal with David Cameron, a Sunday Mirror poll reveals today. A quarter of those who voted Liberal Democrat in May now plan to vote Labour, the exclusive survey with ComRes shows. The findings come as the Lib Dem leader faces activists’ fury at his party’s conference in Liverpool this weekend over his alliance with the Tories. In a further blow, the Lib Dems’ rating has slipped three points to just 15 per cent, to equal their worst in any ComRes poll since the election. – The Sunday Mirror
If you scratch my back…
Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt was under fire last night because his department gave a civil service post to the daughter of a close business associate who is a major donor to the Tory party and one of the prime minister’s political allies. Sources close to the coalition government told the Observer that the decision to employ Naomi Gummer, eldest daughter of Peter Selywn Gummer, the working peer Lord Chadlington, has “raised eyebrows” in Whitehall. – The Observer
Tags: Jeremy Hunt, Labour leadership, Mandelson, Nick Clegg
Welfare scroungers this from a bloke who lost his job because he took a loan from a mate knowing it was wrong. I think myself Mandy should piss off to some Mate on a a yacht and say less. Mandy has a large bit of luck with Blair and brown bringing him back, I suspect if David Miliband wins then Mandy might get back in otherwise it will be nice to see the back of this little man.