by Dan Hodges
David Cameron’s message of congratulation to Ed Miliband on the birth of his son will have been especially heartfelt. There will be genuine empathy, of course. But also relief. Hostilities, for the duration of the Labour leader’s paternity leave, are to be suspended.
Both men can use the break. Over the past month, much of the focus has been on Ed. How would the young lion perform in the Parliamentary den? Could he unite a party wounded by election defeat and bruised by a fractious leadership contest? Launch an effective assault on the government’s gruesome prospectus of cuts?
The answers are a) well; b) sort of; and c) not yet. And they are tentative answers. Because Ed Miliband’s start as leader can only truly be judged in comparison with that of his opponent. A comparison that has yet to be fully made.
