Ed Miliband ‘begged and begged’ brother David not to topple Gordon Brown

Tensions in the Labour leadership surfaced today as it emerged Ed Miliband had "begged" his brother not to topple Gordon Brown

He made his plea as David Miliband was weighing up whether to challenge Mr Brown to save the party from election defeat. In the end, the former foreign secretary opted to stay loyal, a move he has since defended on the grounds that a divisive challenge would have cost Labour even more votes.

The Standard has confirmed that Ed, "begged and begged and begged" his older brother to wait until there was a proper vacancy. But contrary to reports, David, below right with his brother, was not irritated or upset that his younger sibling decided to go for the party leadership last month.

The pair clashed over Iraq and the Labour manifesto at a hustings last night. Ed repeated his argument that if he had been a Labour MP in 2003, he would not have voted for the war. But his brother responded: "The idea that we are going to be fighting the 2015 election on Iraq is wrong."

Andy Burnham and Diane Abbott will join their colleagues in a series of hustings. An online poll put Ms Abbott as the winner of yesterday's meeting, with 48 per cent saying she performed best.