Ed Miliband and Ed Balls urged Brown to hold snap election before economy fell 'off a cliff'

The two Eds are alleged to have know about the economic crash a year before it became public knowledge and urged Brown to go to the polls before the economy went into recession

Ed Miliband and Ed Balls (Stefan Rousseau/Pool/Getty Images)

Ed Miliband and Ed Balls both knew the economic crash of 2008 was on the horizon a year before it occurred and urged Gordon Brown to hold an election before it became public, according to a former ally of the Labour leader.

The pair apparently tried to persuade Gordon Brown to call a snap election in 2007 because they knew “the economy was about to fall off a cliff”.

Martin Winter, the former mayor of Doncaster, who secured a seat in the town for Mr Miliband, disclosed the information as he said he has lost faith in the leader of the opposition, according to the Mail on Sunday.

A spokesman for Gordon Brown said the claims were "untrue" while Mr Balls' spokesman said the the economy had "nothing to do" with plans for a snap election. Mr Miliband's spokesman described the claims as "ancient history", but did not deny them to the Mail.

After weeks of dithering Brown only decided to abandon the idea of an election in 2007 when opinion polls turned against him. At the time it was stressed that the state of the economy was not a factor in when to call the election.

Mr Winter’s revelation casts doubt on this and reveals the politicking of the Labour leader and his shadow chancellor in the run-up to the general election.

The first public acknowledgement of a financial meltdown in the UK was made by the then Chancellor Alastair Darling in August 2008, who said Britain was facing the “worst economic crisis for 60 years”. He was roundly criticised by Brownites at the time.

But it is claimed that the threat faced to the UK economy was known at least a year before and Mr Miliband believed it was necessary to “either go now and risk losing, or wait and know we’re going to lose [the election]”.

In a further bizarre disclosure Mr Miliband was accused of mistakenly burning a hole in Mr Winter’s carpet, while he was staying with the former mayor, and then buying a prayer mat for his host to cover the damage.