Labour briefs MPs on the Ukip threat in their constituencies

Unfortunately for Labour, it cannot dismiss Nigel Farage as a ‘pound shop Enoch Powell’ quite so easily as Russell Brand did last night. The party knows that Ukip can take the voters that have already deserted it – voters that it thought still belonged to the party – and there have been increasing calls for the Labour leadership to take Ukip seriously.

I understand that MPs have been receiving a series of briefings at the party’s HQ recently examining voters who are vulnerable to Ukip. The briefings, which have been produced by a number of party figures including John Healey, who has long worried about the Ukip threat, include details of the demographic of voters in each Labour constituency who are susceptible to voting for Nigel Farage’s party.

MPs who had previously been rather dejected about the way Labour is approaching Ukip as a flash in the pan rather than a serious threat have told me they found the briefings useful and seem to be quite reassured by it.