London: The Labour leadership contest turned nasty Saturday night amid claims that the favourite David Miliband could refuse to work for his younger brother Ed if he loses to him.
The former foreign secretary is said to be simmering with sibling rage at his brother challenging him for the post.
Publicly, he has repeatedly said he would serve in a Shadow Cabinet headed by Ed Miliband. However, reliable sources say he is dreading the prospect and will either boycott his left-wing brother's team or accept a job briefly before finding a diplomatic way out.
The growing tension was further fuelled by reports that Tony Blair said it would be a disaster if Ed Miliband won because Labour would lurch back to the left.
And Ed Balls rejected persistent rumours that he is about to pull out of the contest and throw his weight behind Blairite David Miliband and not his Brownite ally Ed Miliband.
Betrayal
Left-wing MPs said any such move by Balls would be tantamount to betrayal.
One MP said: "If Ed [Balls] backs David it will be out of jealousy that Ed [Miliband] has replaced him as the left's most effective operator. Ed [Balls] has little in common with David and to back him would be cynical in the extreme."
The tension rose as officials prepared to send out ballot papers to activists tomorrow. The result will be announced in late September at the party conference. In a thinly veiled jibe at his brother last week, David Miliband, 45, said Labour must avoid their comfort zone as a party of protest .
Ed Miliband's allies called the attack desperate and said his brother was panicking because he was in danger of being overtaken.
In a coded rebuke, Ed Miliband, 40, said the candidates must continue in the spirit they started out. His supporters claim he has been undermined behind the scenes by allies of Blair. "It is ridiculous to say Ed will take the party back to the left," said one.
The feud has upset their mother, Marion Kozak. Ed Miliband has joked that she plans to vote for outsider Diane Abbott, to avoid further family upset. Labour MPs believe the likelihood of David Miliband serving in a Shadow Cabinet led by Ed Miliband is increasingly slim.
Considering his options
One said: "David could take it under sufferance, put up with it for a while then depart. Or he might ask for time on the back-benches to consider his options."
But asked if David Miliband would put himself forward for election to the Shadow Cabinet if his brother beats him, his spokeswoman said: "He has been asked this question several times and he always replies ‘yes'."
Victory for the elder Miliband would pose no such problem for his brother as he is used to following in his footsteps.
