This is one reason why many Labour supporters want the urbane Foreign Secretary to replace Gordon Brown at the earliest opportunity.

Miliband is too clever to fall into this trap. His support for the troubled Prime Minister was unequivocal. Yet, in doing so, I noticed that he personally named a number of Ministers who, he claimed, were taking the policy agenda forward.

People like Jacqui Smith, Hazel Blears, Andy Burnham, James Purnell and Ed Balls, though I spotted that the latter's wife, Yvette Cooper – the Pontefract MP who has made such a mess of the 10p tax climbdown – was not named.

Could it be that Miliband was surreptitiously seeking the support of these Cabinet ministers, just in case Labour choose to change their leader following their worst local election results in a generation?

Surely not. But the name-checking did not go unnoticed at Westminster by some who regarded Miliband's tactics as a declaration of intent. "David's working very closely with colleagues – and offering the hand of friendship. His support is growing. He is the only Cabinet Minister on our side whose stock is rising," said one Labour loyalist.



LABOUR'S deputy leader, Harriet Harman, claims that her party fared so badly yesterday because it had not listened enough to voters.

Gordon Brown's deputy then blamed the Tories – and claimed that David Cameron's policies had not received sufficient scrutiny.

These must be two of the lamest excuses ever put forward by a politician whose party has suffered an electoral drubbing.

Harman was so inept that she even made her predecessor, one John Prescott, look moderately capable.

A WORD of warning to David Cameron about the latest opinion polls that give the Tories an 18-point lead – and a possible 60-seat Commons majority after the next election.

Not one of the seats that would fall to the Conservatives under such a scenario is in South Yorkshire, an area that is already a Tory-free zone.

His party is going to have to raise its game in South Yorkshire if it is serious about representing every corner of the country.



NOT all Conservative councillors in Yorkshire appear convinced about David Cameron's leadership credentials.

An eve-of-election billet-doux from Graham Latty, re-elected in Leeds, was on plain white paper. It did not point out that he was a Conservative. There was no Tory logo.

The only indication that he was a Tory came in the final paragraph when he appealed to voters to keep "a Conservative-led council".



LIBERAL Democrat leader Nick Clegg continues to be overshadowed by York-born Vince Cable – his deputy and the party's highly respected economics spokesman, who continues to cut George Osborne, the Tory pipsqueak, down to size.

Having famously likened Gordon Brown to Mr Bean – the Rowan Atkinson comic character – Cable is now referring to the Prime Minister as "Mr Has-Been".

It is the kind of wit that Clegg can not offer. I bet the Lib Dems wish Cable had run for the party's leadership – or been the party's mayoral candidate in London.
He would have wiped the floor
against Ken Livingstone and
Boris Johnson.



THE fact that soaring diesel prices are forcing Britain's hauliers off the road has not stopped this Government from giving the green light to even more nonsensical rules.

The health and safety "police" were recently sent to a lorry firm where their primary concern was that paper towels should be provided in the washrooms rather than linen that is laundered every day.

Haven't the Government anything better to do – such as ensuring that this country still has a haulage industry which can transport goods to the supermarkets and so on?



THE prospect of rising fuel prices won't perturb racing legend Lester Piggott, who knew far too many short-cuts when it came to saving money.

The great Lester recalls his childhood days when he travelled by motorbike and sidecar – "usually with two persons crammed into the sidecar to economise on fuel coupons".



I HAD to smile at Labour MP Bob Marshall-Andrews's response when asked whether he had employed a member of his family, using taxpayer-funded expenses.

"I simply couldn't stand the incompetence and the aggro,"
he said.



AS Sports Minister, Gerry Sutcliffe claims that he has one of the best jobs in government.

Yet, until recently, he did not realise that he was also the Minister in charge of Britain's lap-dancing clubs. I've yet to ascertain how much time will have to be devoted to this area of responsibility.



JOHN Prescott is apparently struggling with the vagaries of
the London Underground now
that the former Deputy Prime Minister is bereft of his taxpayer-funded Jag.

According to reports, the Hull East MP was seen struggling to comprehend a Tube map as he travelled from Doncaster to King's Cross – first class, of course.

And this is the man who was in charge of transport policy for
four years.

PS: For your info, Johnny, the Piccadilly Line is not a Tory creation just because it is colour-coded blue on the Tube map. It can be quite useful to you. It can transport you, and the lovely Pauline, from King's Cross to Heathrow Airport.