David Miliband vs Gordon Brown roundup 4/8/08

From the Telegraph:

Miliband's dinner guest raises eyebrows There has been speculation that Miliband could gain support for a leadership bid if he can secure the backing of Labour's lost donors. Well non other than the infamous Mr David Abrahams was invited to a dinner hosted by Miliband in the Foreign Office's Locarno Room for patrons of the United Jewish Israel Appeal.

Gordon Brown orders witch hunt against ministerial plotters Gordon is fighting back. He has released his hounds on his own party to root out those who may seek to replace him. It seems he wants to know who needs to be left out of the pack before he reshuffles his cabinet.

Gordon Brown hires personal trainer to get fit for leadership fight If you go down to the woods today... Apparently Gordon got lost on his early morning run in the forest because he still can't see the wood for the trees.

Gordon Brown warned leadership challenge could come within month Friends of Gordon have warned him to cancel his trip to China so he can fight of a leadership challenge. I understand that the Foreign Office has seen to Brown's travel arrangements. Slow boat?

From the Guardian:

Blairites deny plot to unseat prime minister despite memo leak and calls for new ideas Yeah, right.....

From the Times:

MPs fear David Miliband jostling may spark early election Basically, they are skint. One Labour MP said: “Everyone sees Brown is in a difficult position, and if we needed to get rid of him tomorrow we would. But there are no easy solutions, and relying on the Blairite ‘rump’ is not the answer. David Miliband is an awkward individual and has annoyed a lot of people, even though he is very clever. While most members of the Cabinet tend to stop and chat in the corridor of the Commons, he and his advisers tend to ignore you. It’s not smart politics.”

The Red Box:

Is this really a good morning for Miliband? The lefties think that the Blairite plot to overthrow Brown is busted.

From SKY:

Blairites Target 'Policy Vacuum' Former ministers are planning to produce a list of policies at the Labour conference - what a novel idea! Don't they normally just nick Tory policy?