Barely a month in and shots are already being fired from left, right and centre at the absent leader of the Labour Party. Ed Miliband may have sent Yvette Cooper off to the Shadow FCO to avoid her undermining him as Shadow Chancellor, but it seems that the safe pair of hand he chose instead, Alan Johnson, isn’t afraid to fire a shot across the invisible leader’s bow. You couldn’t exactly say the pair hit the ground running with their below par response to the CSR and now Johnson is calling for the unions role in electing the leader to be scrapped. Essentially calling the election of his leader illegitimate.

Elsewhere Balls told the Staggers he wouldn’t “follow crap” from his leader and the news is confirmed that Hazel Blears, Ben Bradshaw and Pat McFadden all refused jobs in Red Ed’s shadow government. Guido wonders how much time Ed is really spending changing nappies rather than working the phones in a desperate bid to hold his fragile new team together. Miliband needs a strong fixer, a Willie, a Campbell, a Coulson, and he needs one fast. Seems anyone any good won’t touch the  job with a barge pole though…