Nightmare

The BBC reports that Labour's two Eds are 'united' despite the fact that an aide from Team Miliband described Ed Balls as a "nightmare".

The embarrassing revelation came in an email leaked to one of the tabloid newspapers in which an adviser to Ed Miliband - Torsten Bell - is less than complimentary about Ed Balls message on the economy and his response to the Bank of England's upbeat forecasts on growth, jobs and inflation.

Apparently the shadow chancellor's briefing in which he argued for a "recovery built to last" and an "economy that works for working people" was regarded as a bit too trite for the liking of the Labour leader, Ed Miliband.

Hence the "nightmare" comment which was quickly seized upon by the Conservative Party as evidence of the two Eds being at loggerheads -  as a kind of Labour Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.

Equally predictably, a Labour stalwart was wheeled out in the shape of shadow health minister, Andy Burnham, to deny any suggestion that the two Eds were at each other's throats which he did in the following terms:  

"I've been in frontline Labour politics for 20 years. I can't remember the front bench - and indeed the wider party - being as united as it is today and that's a great credit to Ed Miliband and to Ed Balls.

All I can say is it reminds me of the good old, bad old days when reports of bad blood between Tony Blair and his chancellor Gordon Brown were always flatly denied - 'they get on like a house in fire', the nation was repeatedly assured by Labour spin doctors.