Labour fight back: Ed's on the trail... but don't mention the anti-war candidate

Ed Miliband launched his party’s local elections campaign in Birmingham yesterday (PA)

Ed Miliband began the long march towards a tricky set of local elections yesterday. The Labour leader launched his party's local elections campaign in Birmingham. But his real preoccupation will be the mayoral contest in London, where Labour is desperate for Ken Livingstone to oust Boris Johnson.

Labour is also bracing itself for a hammering in its former stronghold of Glasgow, where the party lost power for the first time in nearly 40 years last month.