More Labour wars today as Dan Hodges accuses Miliband of ordering Labour bigwigs not to attack St Owen of Jones. According to Hodges, orders have gone out from on high in Labour that Owen is not to be criticised, lest he was to go for Ed’s jugular:

“…just about the only person who hasn’t properly felt Jones’s progressive wrath is Ed Miliband himself. And Labour’s leader wants things to stay that way. In particular, he’s desperate to keep him onside over his stance – or non-stance – on welfare. “Ed’s terrified of being attacked on welfare,” said one MP. “At the last PLP meeting he did a presentation of polling on the key battleground issues. There was no polling on welfare. Nothing. Ed just doesn’t want it seen as a battleground issue.””

Hodges alleges that Lord Wood, Ed’s consigliere, has been charged with handling Owen and keeping him off of Ed’s back. Something Guido has heard before but people around him insist is not true. A Labour source puts the boot in:

“Don’t worry. Dan’s USP of being 100 per cent wrong 100 per cent of the time is still intact. It’s nonsense to claim we have told people not to criticise Owen Jones.”

So it’s official: fire away reds.