David Miliband came under private fire from cabinet ministers and Labour MPs today for appearing to dither over supporting Gordon Brown during Wednesday's failed coup attempt.
The Foreign Secretary this morning offered unequivocal backing to the Prime Minister declaring "we are all determined to win the election under Gordon's leadership".
But the previous night he appeared to hesitate. It was some seven hours after the news of the botched putsch emerged before Mr Miliband spoke out and even then it was with a less than effusive statement of backing for Mr Brown.
He had said: "I am working closely with the Prime Minister on foreign policy issues and support the re-election campaign for a Labour Government that he is leading."
function slideshowPopUp(url) { pictureGalleryPopupPic(url); return false; } Related Links Labour recovery derailed as Brown fights putsch Unlikely duo that tried to topple Brown Cabinet damns Brown with faint praise Multimedia BLOG: how to stage a successful coup GRAPHIC: where ministers stand
Westminster Kremlinologists spotted that he had not said he was campaigning for a Labour government "led by Gordon Brown" but referred only to a government "that he is leading."
Friends of the Foreign Secretary pointed out that ministers had been urged by Lord Mandelson not to "overreact" to the move by Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewittt and that his reaction was in keeping with that.
But opponents of Mr Brown claimed that Mr Miliband had "flunked" another chance to seize the moment and go for the leadership. At the same time one of Mr Miliband's critics in government accused him of "waiting to see the way the wind blew".
Gordon Brown today dismissed the attempted challenge to his leadership as a "storm in a teacup".
The Prime Minister told BBC Radio Solent he was "leading from the front" and would say "what I think" even if at times it proves to be very unpopular.
Mr Brown, who cancelled a trip to the West Country because of the bad weather, tried to brush aside the coup talk by insisting that he was getting on with the business of government.
He added that the coup attempt was not the most important thing that happened yesterday. He said the most important thing was people's worries about the snow and he would not be doing his job if he did not concentrate on things that mattered like the weather and security
Cabinet loyalists proclaimed today that the latest attempt to oust Gordon Brown was dead, but questions remained over the depth of support for the Prime Minister among his most senior colleagues.
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