Overblown Attack

I was rather taken aback at the overblown nature of Ed Miliband's attack on the Prime Minister yesterday when he said that David Cameron had "brought a criminal into the heart of 10 Downing Street".

Criticise Cameron by all means, question his judgment if you like, but Ed Miliband's claim is just ridiculous and patently untrue because Andy Coulson was clearly not convicted of any crime, nor charged with any offence, when he became the Government's media strategist.

And no one had any evidence to the contrary at the time or raised any complaint about his work as the Government's chief 'spin doctor' other than his political opponents which rather goes with the territory.

So the choice of such wildly intemperate language from Ed Miliband is way over the top if you ask me, unless he thinks it's reasonable to use 20/20 hindsight as a means of reviewing previous decisions that do't go according to plan.

In which case what are we to think of  the various Labour MPs who were all sent to prison for fiddling their parliamentary expenses?

Because I don't think that the Labour Party is responsible for the excesses of Jim Devine, Eric Illsley, David Chaytor, Elliot Morley and Dennis MacShane - yet that is the logic of Ed Miliband's attack on David Cameron as if Labour has allowed thieves and criminals to operate inside the House of Commons.  

Now I'm all for a bit of political rough and tumble, but what kind of way is that for political leaders to talk?