Miliband sniping must stop, warns Mandelson

Lord Mandelson has warned that the sniping against Ed Miliband from inside Labour is harming its prospects and urged everyone in the party to rally behind the leader.

The former minister, who backed David Miliband for the Labour leadership last year, said in-fighting all but killed Labour in the 1980s. He told the Labour modernisers' group Progress last night: "Our leader is a leader of the country, not of the party's sections and factions, and it is to the country he needs to be given the space to prove himself. The leadership election is over. We support Ed. No ifs and buts. He is our leader, period.

"We need to spend less time talking to ourselves about Ed and more time talking to the country with smart ideas which reflect our values, that are broad, wide and realistic to show we understand the challenges the country faces, and sufficiently innovative to command media and public attention. We are not a debating society but a political party."