Brown has survived, for the moment

Whatever took place yesterday – and there was certainly more to this plot than met the eye – the immediate danger to Gordon Brown seems to have fizzled out this morning.  Here’s what David Miliband has just told the cameras:

“No member of the government was involved in the letter – we are all determined to win the election under Gordon’s leadership.”

Which is a good deal less ambiguous than the message he put out yesterday.  

Now, there are two ways of looking at all this.  First, that there’s enough Cabinet disatisfaction with Brown that another coup attempt has to be on the cards; that the revelations we’ve heard since last night mean that the plot – and not just the story – has legs.  Or, second, that, once again, the high level plotters have shown themselves incapable of delivering a killing blow, and that time has now pretty much run out for them.