David Miliband came under fire for being "Tony Blair-lite" today despite winning the key endorsement of former chancellor Alistair Darling.
In the first crack in the fragile truce in the Labour leadership race, one of Ed Balls's backers said that the party's foreign policy under Mr Miliband was a "profound weakness".
Backbench MP Eric Joyce said that the lack of new ideas on Afghanistan showed that it would be a mistake to have a leader who was "Blair-lite".
Mr Miliband shrugged off the attack as he used a joint event with Mr Darling to declare that he would make the Lib-Con government's cuts to frontline services a centrepiece of his campaign.
Mr Darling said that his colleague had the "judgment and gravitas" needed to be party leader and Prime Minister.
The former chancellor became the sixth shadow cabinet minister to back the former foreign secretary's bid to succeed Gordon Brown.
Mr Miliband's brother Ed has three former cabinet backers, while Mr Balls has one — his wife Yvette Cooper. Mr Darling said: "Above all, David is a leader. He has the judgment and gravitas to make tough decisions. The tensions in [the Government] are becoming clear. We need a leader who can forge an effective Opposition and then be a credible candidate for prime minister, maybe sooner than we think."
But Mr Joyce said Mr Miliband had presided over a failed Afghanistan policy and added: "This is a profound weakness for Labour."
Left-winger Simon Hughes has the backing of enough MPs to become Liberal Democrat deputy leader, his aides claimed today. They said that at least 29 MPs have indicated they will support the former party president in his bid to become Nick Clegg's deputy.
