London, June 12 (ANI): The full extent of the bitter feud between Labour leader Ed Miliband and his brother David, a former British foreign secretary, has been exposed for the first time.
Labour MPs claim that powerful allies of David Miliband have launched a plot to oust the Opposition leader.
The Mail on Sunday has published extracts from a new book in which David Miliband effectively accuses his 'ruthless' younger brother of lying about the way he stole the Labour crown from him.
Such is the bad blood between the two men that they are even at war over when the 'Biblical act of fratricide' - the moment Ed told David he was going to run - took place.
Ed says he went to his brother's home and told him to his face. Defiant David says no such meeting ever took place.
The authors, two of Britain's leading Labour-supporting journalists, say that contrary to Ed's claim that he made a last-minute decision to run for the leadership, he spent years plotting behind his brother's back to beat him.
And the book refers to reports that he tricked David into not standing against Gordon Brown before the 2010 general election to boost his own chances later.
This sparked a separate schism between Ed and David's respective wives, Justine Thornton and Louise Shackelton. The book says Louise has been 'nasty' to Justine and has 'cut Ed dead'.
The disclosures come as Ed's supporters accused David's allies of a 'blatant attempt to destabilise' the embattled Labour leader.
A leaked copy of the speech David planned to make last year had he won the leadership shows he intended to admit Labour had made huge economic blunders - which his younger brother has so far refused to do.
The controversy could not have come at a worse time for Ed. Tomorrow, he will attempt to relaunch his leadership with a keynote speech in which he will acknowledge that some voters see Labour as the 'ripping-off party' that when in power encouraged a 'take-what-you-can approach' among benefit scroungers and millionaire bankers.
In their book, Ed: The Milibands And The Making Of A Labour Leader, Mehdi Hasan and James Macintyre, say Ed blames his brother's team for spreading his nicknames Red Ed and Forrest Gump.
The book suggests the brothers' Left-wing mother, Marion, who 'could not stand Tony Blair', backed Brownite Ed, and believes the family will never be the same as a result of the row.
According to the book, David can barely bring himself to speak to Ed and the two men communicate mainly through officials.
David is also scathing about his brother's performance. The book claims he thinks Ed is 'heading in the wrong direction'. For his part, Ed dismisses his brother as too 'managerial and technocratic'. (ANI)
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