BREAKING: The Brownites didn't really like the Blairites

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Why can the media never let this go?

Mostly because they are lazy; this story sold copy in the past, so why won't it now? The vague possibility of any reputational damage would be an afterthought, unless the way the newspaper business is run has changed greatly overnight.

Anyway, the only thing of interest here is how the Torygraph got hold of the papers in the first place; the rest we either knew or ought to have guessed. Politicians scheme against each other? How shocking. Anyone would think that power struggles were an inherent part of power structures or something. As for the political impact of these or any future 'revelations'... eh... the relevant people know all this stuff (and more, presumably) anyway. Besides, who wants to end up like Charles Clarke?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Sunday paper stories don't = a crisis of any kind, especially if they're just people blowing off steam off the record.

As a general point about 'aides to x have said that x has said nasty things about y' stories, it should be remembered that if the relationship between Blair and Brown tells us anything, it's something quite surprising; even in politics people who hate each other can work together for much longer than seems at all likely. Things only happen when people move openly against each other, and that's so dangerous that nine times out of ten it isn't worth even contemplating. And, for what little my opinion is worth, I'm fairly sure that this is every bit as true about the coalition as it is about senior figures in the Labour Party.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

David Miliband hath spoken. And he say: shut up everyone.