Labour plotters talking Balls

John Rentoul’s column in the Independent on Sunday illustrates how the Blair – Brown feud is still poisoning Labour politics. Rentoul points out that most of the September plotters against Blair have been rewarded with jobs under Brown, often in the departments run by the Prime Minister’s closest allies. Rentoul then goes onto reveal that, incredibly, some of these plotters think that Labour needs Ed Balls to take over as leader before the next election. This really does make you question their sanity. It is highly dubious whether Balls will ever have what it takes to be PM—he gets monstered nearly every time he goes on TV—but he certainly isn’t ready now.  Well at least, Balls is one of the few cabinet ministers who can find himself touted for the leadership without having to worry about the trashing from the Brownites that normally follows.