Harold Wilson once said that a week is a long time in politics. For the brothers Miliband, that time frame has been reduced to 24 hours. Just yesterday, David was on television expressing his support for his brother, exhorting us all to revel in ‘Ed’s day’ (I’m OK, thanks). By the time the evening news rolled around however, we were watching David openly criticise his brother’s condemnation of the decision to invade Iraq, which had Nick Robinson et al widely predicting his exit stage right of frontline politics by 5pm today.

Will he do it? I think so. For someone whose life ambition has been to one day become leader of the Labour Party, and subsequently Prime Minister, Ed’s decision to stand against his brother must be deemed unforgiveable. As someone whose grandmother froze out her sister-in-law for 30 years over an unsatisfactory wedding seating chart in 1977, I can say that long-lasting family feuds have been caused by far less. Ed, I hope it was worth it. Something I suspect that Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley are also wondering right now.