A double strength headache for Miliband

Johann Lamont and Tony Blair don’t have much in common. But they are both causing Ed Miliband trouble this morning.

I suspect that those close to Miliband are relieved that Lamont has quit as the leader of the Scottish Labour party; his statement on her resignation last night was barely lukewarm. Certainly, the Miliband circle didn’t hold her in high regard and became despairing of her abilities during the referendum campaign. But what they won’t like is how she has taken a swing at them on the way out. She has lambasted Miliband’s office for treating Scottish Labour as ‘a branch office of a party based in London.’ These words will sting and be thrown back at Labour by the Scottish Nationalists at every opportunity.

For his part, the Daily Telegraph alleges that Tony Blair has told friends that the Tories will win the next elections because Labour has not persuaded the public it is ready to govern.