25 years after fall of Berlin Wall, Gorbachev fears 'Cold War may have begun'

Berlin: Speaking on the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, the man credited with engineering a peaceful end to the Cold War has exuded fears of a fresh Cold War waiting in the wings, referring to the Ukraine crisis and its adverse impact on US-Russia ties.

Former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev also accused the West (especially the US) of succumbing to “triumphalism” after the collapse of the USSR over two decades ago and urged for restoration of trust via dialogue.

“The world is on the brink of a new Cold War. Some are even saying that it's already begun," Gorbachev said at an event near Brandenburg Gate in Berlin which symbolises the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Gorbachev also urged the US to lift sanctions imposed on Russia in the wake of Moscow's support to separatists there.

Ukraine has been on the boil since January this year as fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces have claimed more than 4000 lives. The war has further added to the strain in US-Russia ties. The US accuses Russia of supporting and arming separatists while Moscow denies any such thing.

Conditions turned only little better after a ceasefire was struck in September however after separatist leaders claimed victory in recently held elections in East Ukraine, fears of fresh violence have been stoked.

Gorbachev also mentioned the bloodshed going on in Europe and the Middle East and expressed concern about “a breakdown in dialogue between the major powers”.

The 83-year old was speaking at one of the events held to mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, which allowed people from East Germany to experience what West looked like.
The wall separating East Germany and West was erected in 1961 to prohibit people from fleeing the communist East. However after 28 years, on November 9, 1989, the wall was razed leading to German reunification.

To mark silver jubilee of German reunification, many celebrations including rock concerts and fireworks would be held at the Brandenburg Gate.

The city of Berlin was on Saturday sparkling with the shine of 8000 luminous white balloons that will be released on Sunday, marking the end of a bitter 28-year-old division era. Under a spectacular project named 'Lichtgrenze 2014' (meaning 'lightborder 2014'), an array of  luminous white balloons follows the border that separated the East Germany from the West until over two decades ago.

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U.S. airstrikes in Iraq target Islamic State leaders

An Iraqi security official and a military commander said that at least one strike had targeted a meeting near the town of Qaim, in Anbar province, across the border from the Syrian town of Bukamal.

 

AGHDAD : An airstrike by a U.S.-led coalition hit a gathering of leaders of the Islamic State jihadist group in northwestern Iraq on Saturday, and Iraqi officials said they believed that a number of top militants had been killed.

An Iraqi security official and a military commander said that at least one strike had targeted a meeting near the town of Qaim, in Anbar province, across the border from the Syrian town of Bukamal. The area is in the desert heartland of the territory the group has seized for its self-declared caliphate.

Both officials said the strikes had killed many militants from the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, including two of its regional governors. Rumors also swirled that the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, had been either wounded or killed. The officials said there had been no confirmation that al-Baghdadi was at the meeting.

A U.S. Defense Department official confirmed that coalition aircraft had carried out an air attack "against what was assessed to be a gathering of ISIL leaders," adding that it had destroyed a convoy of 10 trucks. But the official said the strike had been near Mosul, which is 180 miles from Qaim. The discrepancy in the reported locations could not be immediately explained.

The United States and its allies have been carrying out airstrikes against the Islamic State in both Iraq and Syria to try to loosen the group's grip on territory in both countries. President Barack Obama has authorized the deployment of 1,500 more U.S. troops to Iraq, roughly doubling the number of U.S. service members there to train and advise Iraqi and Kurdish forces.

While the air campaign has limited the movements of Islamic State fighters, analysts say the only way to push the group out of territory is with capable ground troops, which are lacking in both Iraq and Syria.

The Iraqi officials said they believed the dead included the Islamic State ruler, or wali, of Anbar province, who goes by the nom de guerre Abu Muhannad al-Sweidawi, and the ruler of Deir el-Zour province in Syria, Abu Zahra al-Mahamdi.

Hisham al-Hashimi, an Iraqi researcher and an expert on the group, said that he, too, had heard that both men were dead, and that their killings would constitute a new threat to the group.

Al-Hashimi said that al-Sweidawi, like many of the group's leaders, had served in the Iraqi army under Saddam Hussein and joined al-Qaida after Saddam's fall. Like al-Baghdadi, he had been detained by U.S. forces, but released, al-Hashimi said.

The Islamic State did not immediately issue any statement on the strikes.

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Sick Woman Granted Final Wish To Say Goodbye To Beloved Horse Hours Before Her Death

This woman's final wish was fulfilled when she was given one last chance to see an old friend.

Sheila Marsh, 77, from Wigan, Lancashire in England, was a lifelong horse lover who had been battling cancer, and was hospitalized without much time to live, the Manchester Evening News reported. Before she died, she asked to see her beloved horse Bronwen, one last time. Bronwen was brought to the Wigan Royal Infirmary's parking lot, and Marsh was wheeled out to the pet in her hospital bed for the pair's final moment together. Marsh died just hours after the emotional goodbye.




"She had a really special relationship with Bronwen," Marsh's daughter, Tina, told Wigan Today. "She had her for about 18 or 19 years from Bronwen being 7. It was so touching for us all, it meant a lot to us."

Though she was weak, Marsh mustered up the strength to speak to her treasured pet.
"It took a lot for mum to talk on her last day but clearly called Bronwen’s name and asked for a kiss," Tina told Wigan Today.

The horse also acknowledged its owner, as the two shared a moving farewell.

"The horse bent down tenderly and kissed her on the cheek as they said their last goodbyes," nurse Gail Taylor told the Manchester Evening News.

The 77-year-old, an owner of many pets, had made her wish known to the hospital's staff after she saw her dogs for the last time the weekend before, BBC News reported. The staff organized the interaction with the help of the Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust. After seeing the deep connection Marsh had with her horse, the hospital staff said they were honored to have arranged such a meeting.

"I am really pleased to have been able to facilitate the visit from Mrs Marsh’s horse," Pauline Law, director of nursing told the Evening News. "This was obviously extremely important to her and her family and we feel privileged to have been able to provide this support at this crucial stage of her care."

While the moment was a beautiful one for Marsh and those around her, her daughter says that the pet lover wasn't the only one who found comfort from seeing her animals for the last time.
"The dog and the horse were really pining for her so it’s closure for them as well -- when they both came home they were a bit perkier," Tina told Wigan Today.

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Yemen's Ruling Party Removes President From Top Ranks

FILE - Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi speaks as he holds an agreement (L) signed between the government and Houthi rebels, in Sanaa, Sept. 21, 2014.

 

Yemen's ruling political party has removed Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi from the party's top ranks, weakening his authority at a time the country is in political turmoil.

The General People's Congress is split between supporters of Hadi and the country's former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The party did not explain why it removed Hadi.  The move came a day after the U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on Saleh and two Yemeni Shi'ite Muslim leaders for threatening Yemen's peace and stability.

Also Saturday, al-Qaida's Yemen branch, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, said it tried to assassinate the U.S. ambassador to Yemen, Matthew Tueller.

The group said on its Twitter account that it planted two bombs on Thursday intended to killed the ambassador but that they were discovered right before they were due to explode.

The claim could not be immediately verified.

The U.S.-sponsored sanctions include a worldwide travel ban and a freezing of foreign assets.
The council agreed Mr. Saleh worked with the Shi'ite rebels, known as Houthis, in undermining efforts by the new president Rabbo Mansour Hadi to establish stability and democracy.

Also Friday, Yemen announced the formation of a new Cabinet, a key demand of the Houthis who threatened a revolution if no government was named.

Yemen's political factions signed a deal last week asking President Hadi and Prime Minister Khaled Bahah to put together a politically neutral government committed to human rights.

Houthi rebels had given Hadi an ultimatum to form a new government by next week or face what they called "all revolutionary options."

Yemen has been in political upheaval since Saleh was forced to step down in 2012 following mass street protests against his rule.
 

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Obama authorises deployment of 1500 additional troops to Iraq

 

WASHINGTON – United States President Barack Obama has authorised Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to deploy up to 1,500 additional troops to Iraq, nearly doubling the American forces there as part of the strategy to fight Islamic State militants who control parts of Iraq, as well as neighboring Syria.

According to Pentagon, Navy press Secretary Rear Adm John Kirby the American troops would serve in non-combat roles by joining the existing advise-and-assist mission and initiating a comprehensive training effort for Iraqi and Kurdish forces. The defense secretary recommended the troop increase following a request by Iraqs government and an assessment of Iraqi units by US Central Command, Kirby said.

The decision also was based on an evaluation of the progress made by Iraqi security forces in the field, and it comes in concert with the development of a coalition campaign plan to defend key areas and go on the offensive against Islamic State - also known as ISIL or IS.

US Central Command will establish two expeditionary advise-and-assist operations centers in locations outside of Baghdad and Irbil to provide support for the Iraqis at the brigade headquarters level and above, he said. The admiral said that about 630 of the newly authorised troops will be assigned to the expanded advise-and-assist mission

In addition, Centcom will establish several new training sites across Iraq that will accommodate the training of 12 Iraqi brigades - nine from the Iraqi army and three Kurdish peshmerga brigades, Kirby said. The remainder of the troops, about 870, will be assigned to this mission in various roles, including logistics and force protection, he said.

Kirby also said that several hundred coalition troops will join US personnel at these locations to help build Iraqi capacity and capability. A number of coalition nations have agreed to contribute personnel to the training effort, he said, noting that Hagel met today with Danish Defense Minister Nicolai Wammen, and the Danes have agreed to provide 120 trainers.

The training will be funded through a request for a $1.6 billion fund that the administration will submit to the Congress, as well as from the Iraqi government, the admiral said. It will take about two months to prepare the training sites, he noted, while the training itself is expected to be six to seven months in length.

Ultimately, these Iraqi forces, when fully trained, will enable Iraq to better defend its citizens, its borders, and its interests against the threat of Islamic State, Kirby said, and it is perfectly in keeping with the mission that we’ve been assigned there to assist the Iraqi security forces and Peshmerga forces again as they improve their capability against Islamic State.

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Mexico horrified by suspected massacre of 43 students

AYOTZINAPA: Mexico was confronted today with possibly one of the grisliest massacres in years of drug violence after gang suspects confessed to incinerating the bodies of 43 missing students and dumping them in a river.

The disappearance of the students six weeks ago has gripped and revulsed Mexico. Gang-linked police attacked the young men in the southern state of Guerrero on September 26, in violence that left six other people dead.

The confessions may have brought a tragic end to the mystery, which has sparked international outrage and triggered protests in the biggest crisis of President Enrique Pena Nieto's administration.  

But at the young men's Ayotzinapa teacher-training college, exhausted parents of the victims refuse to accept they are dead until DNA tests confirm their identities, saying the government has repeatedly fed them lies.

"It appears that the federal government, with great irresponsibility, is interested in closing this matter because it's all based in testimony. There is nothing definitive," Meliton Ortega, uncle of a missing student, told AFP.

Some parents said the announcement was aimed at allowing Pena Nieto to leave Sunday on a major trip to China and Australia, which has been shortened due to the crisis.

"They want Pena Nieto to go on this trip," said Felipe de la Cruz, a spokesman for the families.

Three suspected Guerreros Unidos gang members told investigators that local police handed them the students between the southern towns of Iguala and Cocula.

In taped confessions, the suspects said they bundled the 43 in the back of two trucks, took them to a nearby landfill, killed them and used fuel, wood, tires and plastic to burn their bodies for 14 hours.

The students had traveled to the city of Iguala to raise funds but hijacked four buses to return home, a common practice among the young men from a school known as a bastion of left-wing activism.

Authorities say the city's mayor, worried that they would interrupt a speech by his wife, ordered the police to confront them. The officers shot at several buses, leaving three students and three bystanders dead.

Authorities have arrested 74 people, including the ousted mayor, Jose Luis Abarca, his wife Maria de los Angeles Pineda, 36 police officers and several Guerreros Unidos operatives.

If the confessions are true, the mass murder would rank among the worst massacres in a drug war that has killed more than 80,000 people and left 22,000 others missing since 2006.

The Iguala case has undermined Pena Nieto's assurances that authorities were finally reducing the cycle of murders plaguing the country.

Stay updated on the go with The Times of India’s mobile apps. Click here to download it for your device.

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America's dual economy

How's the U.S. economy doing?

If you're a glass half-full type, it's easy to point to the fact that the economy is expanding again and unemployment is at a six year low. Gas is back under $3 a gallon, the stock market is at an all-time high and this year's job gains are on track to be the best since 1999.

America is certainly better off than it was during the financial crisis, and the nation looks a lot stronger economically than Japan and Europe.

America has added 2.3 million jobs in 2014
But there's a glass half-empty side of this economy, too.

Wages aren't rising for most Americans. A middle class family is actually bringing home the same income as it did in 1995, and millions of people want full-time jobs but are stuck in part-time positions.

There's no denying the rich are getting richer and the rest are stagnating.

The fact is there is truth in both sides -- the result of a slow-burn recovery from the worst financial crisis in generations.

Why voters hate the Obama economy
 
Here are the three key stats to that drive home America's dual economy:

1. Lucky to be employed. 
 
On Friday the government reported another strong month of job gains. The unemployment rate is 5.8%, not far from what most economists think is typical rate of around 5% when the economy is humming along.

But the improving number masks the fact that the U.S. has 2.9 million people who have been out of work for half a year or more. That's double the number of long-term unemployed than before the recession.

Even more troubling is that the U.S. has over 7 million people who are working part-time but want full-time employment.

2. Wages aren't growing.
Americans are spenders. We like to buy things and that powers our economy. But people can't make purchases if they don't have money. That's why it's so worrying that U.S. wages aren't getting any bigger.
Wages today are about the same as they were just before the recession.

In the past year, wages went up about 2%, but that is just ahead of how fast costs have been rising so the gains are basically canceled out.

The complete list of companies that are open and closed on Thanksgiving
 
3. More gains went to Wall Street than Main Street.
The one area that has bounced back since the end of the recession is the stock market. It bottomed out in March 2009 and has been on an incredible tear ever since.
The S&P 500 -- the benchmark index that has a lot of funds that mimic or track it -- is up nearly 200% since that 2009 low point.

But the catch is that only half of Americans have any money in the stock market. So all those gains have only exacerbated the "have versus have not" economy.
Wealthy whites are the most likely to own stocks. And since the rich own more stocks, they benefited more.

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Jay Z likes $300 champagne. So he buys the company

Music mogul Jay Z appreciates the finer things in life, including high-end Armand de Brignac champagne.

 has purchased what could be described as the flashiest champagne company in the world -- Armand de Brignac.

The Armand de Brignac champagne company -- which sells its shiny gold bottles for about $300 each -- has long been favored by the rap artist and was featured prominently in one of his music videos back in 2006.

He's often seen in pictures sipping the drink with his wife Beyonce Knowles, and the couple famously hosted a fundraiser for President Obama that featured a wall lined with hundreds of Armand de Brignac bottles.

The owner of the brand -- New York-based Sovereign Brands -- confirmed the sale this week. The price of the deal was not disclosed.

The champagne -- also called "Ace of Spades" -- is crafted and marketed by a family-run vineyard in France that traces its roots back to 1763. The company employs fewer than 20 people.

Bottles of Armand de Brignac champagne.

Jay Z used to be a massive fan of Cristal, but that changed in 2006 when The Economist published disparaging comments from the head of the company that makes the champagne, Frederic Rouzaud.
"What can we do? We can't forbid people from buying it," Rouzaud told The Economist, when asked if hip-hop artists were tarnishing the high-end brand.

When Jay Z heard of the comments, he immediately stopped sipping Cristal and quickly switched to Armand de Brignac.

"We used their brand as a signifier of luxury and they got free advertising and credibility every time we mentioned it," he wrote in his 2010 book "Decoded." "We were trading cachet. But they didn't see it that way."

Related: The favorite brands among hip-hop legends
The 44-year-old New Yorker, born Shawn Carter, rose to fame through his music and now has business interests in fashion, entertainment and sports.

Forbes ranks him among the most powerful celebrities in the world, alongside Oprah Winfrey and LeBron James. But his wife Beyonce tops the Forbes ranking and was recently named the top-earning woman in the music industry after making $115 million in 2014.

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U.S. has added 2.3 million jobs this year

Employers added 214,000 jobs in October, continuing a trend of strong job growth this year that is on track to be the best for America since 1999.

The unemployment rate fell to 5.8%, according the government report released Friday. The rate fell below 6% in September for the first time in six years.

Economists are growing more optimistic about hiring. The consensus forecast from economists surveyed by CNNMoney was for a jobs gain of 233,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 5.9%. While October's hiring fell short of expectations, experts still say it's positive.
"Anytime you're over the 200,000 mark, things are going well," says Rich Thompson, Chief Human Resources Officer at Adecco Group North America. "It's still good. It's consistently solid."

On average, the economy has been adding well over 200,000 jobs a month this year, a positive sign. There have been nearly 2.3 million jobs added so far this year.

"It also helped that October's gain was widespread, with nearly every industrial sector contributing to the job gains," says Paul Ashworth, chief economist at Capital Economics. Food services and health care had the biggest hiring sprees.

Wages still stuck: Americans, however, have not been as upbeat about the economy. Though unemployment has fallen from 7.2% a year ago, the economy remains their top concern and played into the midterm voting.

That's mainly because wages have remained stagnant. Average hourly earnings remained steady last month at $24.57. Wages are a key factor in how much money people have to spend, which drives economic growth.

While wages are up 2% over the past year, that's just slightly ahead of inflation, which means most U.S. workers don't feel any better off.


To put it another way, median family income in the U.S. has fallen back to 1995 levels.
Related: Why voters hate the Obama economy
 
Long-term unemployed: Another lingering problem for the economy are workers who haven't been able to find a good job for months, if not years. The number of long-term unemployed workers dropped 28% in October from a year ago, but it is still double its pre-recession level.
Another seven million Americans cannot find the work they need. The number of people working part-time jobs who really want full-time employment remained high in October and is one the reasons the Federal Reserve is hesitant to change interest rates.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and other officials are closely monitoring the monthly jobs report. They are waiting for hiring and wages to become healthy enough before raising interest rates.
Although the jobs report is positive, employment and earnings both need to pick up, economists say.
"It's good. It's still not good enough," says Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial in Chicago. "Until we see wages accelerate, the majority of Americans are still going to feel left behind in the recovery."

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Bonfire Night plot to oust Ed: Labour in crisis as MPs hold secret meeting and demand 'Axe leader or we'll lose election'

Ed Miliband’s leadership was plunged into crisis last night as Labour MPs moved to oust him.

Backbenchers horrified by a slump in the polls have told the chairman of the parliamentary party they want Mr Miliband out before the General Election.

Following a meeting of North West MPs on the eve of Bonfire Night, members of the Shadow Cabinet are being urged to move against the leader and save Labour from a humiliating defeat in May. 

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Under siege:Ed Miliband’s exhausted expression yesterday – the bags under his eyes show the pressure is starting to tell on him

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Face-off: Andy Burnham, left, has union backing, while Yvette Cooper, right, is the bookies' favourits

Several leading frontbenchers are understood to be privately discussing his leadership and only Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls leapt to Mr Miliband’s defence in public yesterday.

One Shadow Cabinet source said: ‘There are people around the leader still saying that all we need is to show the public the “real Ed” and everything will be all right. With respect, that idea has been tested to destruction – people have seen him and they don’t like him. The result is they’re not listening to us and we’ve only got six months to go.’

Mr Miliband was forced to deny last night that he faced a plot, describing reports as ‘nonsense’. He said the question of his leadership ‘does not arise’. But he has been rocked by a series of recent setbacks:

• Labour support has slumped to just 29 per cent and Mr Miliband is even more unpopular than Nick Clegg;
• Disaster was only narrowly averted in the Heywood and Middleton by-election, a supposedly safe seat where Labour haemorrhaged votes to Ukip;
• Polls show the party faces a wipeout in Scotland next year, with the potential loss of more than 30 seats to the SNP;
• Anger is still simmering over Mr Miliband’s disastrous speech at September’s party conference in which he forgot to mention the deficit and migration;
• A bungled reshuffle saw key Miliband allies promoted at the expense of big hitters such as Alan Johnson, causing a further rift in the ranks;
• New Statesman magazine launched a devastating attack, calling Mr Miliband an ‘old-style Hampstead socialist’ and a ‘quasi-Marxist’.

This month Miliband was asked to apologise for Labour's mess

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Analysis of IpsosMORI polling dating back to 1977 by MailOnline shows how only Michael Foot had worse personal satisfaction ratings than Ed Miliband six months before a general election

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Only a quarter of voters say they are satisfied with Mr Miliband as Labour leader, with almost two thirds dissatisfied 

One rebel MP told the Daily Mail: ‘I want him out – he’s an absolute disaster who is going to cost us the election. Almost anyone would do better for us. The momentum has been gathering in the last 48 hours – people are coming together now and being more explicit about their concerns. 

'There are a hell of a lot of people who are unhappy – this is not just the usual suspects, it includes people in the Shadow Cabinet. But we need them to act now.’

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Desperate: Mr Miliband, pictured on Thursday night, dismissed suggestions that his leadership was being called into question

Another senior MP said: ‘We are in a desperate situation. We’re six months out from an election and we’re polling 29 per cent – the same as Gordon Brown. There are a lot of people who now think we should get rid of the leader. Of course it’s late, but it’s hard to see how it could make it worse.’

Mr Brown’s former spin doctor Damian McBride said: ‘He can’t do much about the fact he comes from Hampstead but he can do something about the fact that he’s constantly acting as though life revolves around what goes on in Hampstead.’

Mr Miliband, challenged over the criticism while visiting Northampton yesterday, dismissed suggestions that his leadership was being called into question, saying: ‘This is nonsense. My focus, the Labour Party’s focus, is on the country and the things that matter to the country. That’s the cost-of-living crisis, it’s the NHS, it’s the prospects for the next generation.’ Asked about threats to his leadership, he replied: ‘I don’t accept that this matter arises.’

Former Labour Home Secretary David Blunkett last night accused rebels briefing against Mr Miliband of a ‘bout of political insanity’ that would wreck hopes of an election win. But Lord Soley, a former chairman of the parliamentary party, admitted it was a ‘serious’ crisis.

The party leadership believes the plot will fizzle out – partly because the plotters lack organisation and partly because they are not agreed on an alternative candidate. However, several Shadow Cabinet members are thought to be pondering whether the benefits of ditching Mr Miliband outweigh the risks.

A YouGov poll for LBC Radio last night found that 49 per cent of voters believe Labour would be more likely to win the election with a different leader.

 

Disillusioned and desperate, how a group of furious MPs decided the time had come to throw their leader overboard 

It was the night when frustration over Ed Miliband’s leadership spilled over.

What should have been a routine meeting of Northern Labour MPs in a House of Commons committee room on Tuesday evening to discuss election tactics swiftly turned into an inquest on where the party is going wrong.

For some of those present that night, there is only one sure way to reverse Labour’s disturbing poll ratings: throw their leader overboard.

The gathering of 30 or so North West based MPs – on the eve of the Guy Fawkes night – was chaired by the Blairite veteran and former Cabinet minister Hazel Blears, who has been sidelined by party high command since the election defeat of 2010.

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PR disasters: Miliband attempts to eat a bacon sandwich and sports a 'This is what a feminist looks like' T-shirt

But it took place against a backdrop of the recent Heywood and Middleton by election in Greater Manchester where Labour hung on to a supposedly safe seat by a thread after a surge in support for Nigel Farage’s Ukip.

MPs warned on Tuesday that this could be repeated across the region next year and said the party is heading for defeat in key marginals such as Rossendale and Darwen and Bury North.

String of PR disasters 

One recent national analysis has showed Mr Miliband has managed to lose four points from what was supposed to be the ‘rock bottom’ Labour vote secured by Gordon Brown in 2010.

A string of highly public PR disasters – including an inelegant attempt to eat a bacon sandwich, the sporting of a ‘This is what a feminist looks like’ T-shirt and his meeting with a Romanian beggar – haven’t helped.

But serious complaints of some at the meeting also included Labour’s disastrous position in Scotland.

Incredibly, David Cameron is now more popular in Scotland than the Labour leader, and pollsters say the party is on course to lose 20 or more seats to the SNP – a shattering blow to its hopes of regaining power.

The suave Andy Burnham 

One significant absentee from the meeting was a North West-based MP whose star is very much in the ascendant: Labour health spokesman and member for Leigh, Andy Burnham.

The suave Mr Burnham, who had an unsuccessful tilt at the leadership in 2010, energised Labour’s lacklustre conference in Manchester in September with a shamelessly populist speech about the National Health Service.

Crucially, his energetic performance came less than 24 hours after Mr Miliband’s dismal leader’s speech in which he infamously ‘forgot’ to even mention Britain’s budget deficit or immigration. Mr Burnham – a key figure for those dreaming of Mr Miliband’s removal – rubbed salt in the wound the next day with a tub-thumping performance that delighted the party faithful.

Andy Burnham's NHS speech at September's Labour conference

The former Blairite, who happily signed off deals involving the private sector in the NHS during his time in charge of the Department of Health, has won cheers from unions for promising a boycott on any further such arrangements and emotional attacks on the Tories’ ‘selling off’ of the health service.

So even though Mr Burnham was absent, his name was in many MPs’ thoughts as a possible alternative.

On Tuesday, a string of discontented backbenchers – who already include Rochdale’s Simon Danzcuk, Blackley and Broughton’s Graham Stringer and Birkenhead’s Frank Field – made their feelings plain.

One man they have also spoken to is David Watts, the member for St Helens on Merseyside, who is also chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party.

Mr Watts, a loyalist who rarely attracts headlines, is now believed to have ‘taken soundings’ over the leadership and is acting as a conduit for disgruntled MPs.

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Next in line? Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, pictured with Mr Miliband, is the bookies' favourite

On Wednesday – Bonfire Night – one MP even claimed Mr Watts and Mr Miliband were seen having a stand-up row in Parliament this week, something denied by both parties. But at least two MPs are believed to have told Mr Watts they wanted Mr Miliband out.

On the very same evening, the house journal of the Left, the New Statesman, devoted its front cover and several inside pages to analysis of Mr Miliband’s travails . Its editorial even branded him a ‘old-style Hampstead socialist’ and ‘quasi Marxist’. 

As this was digested by the Westminster class, Mr Miliband was in the throes of an emergency reshuffle sparked by the departure of Blairite Shadow cabinet member Jim Murphy to fight for the Scottish Labour leadership.

The botched reshuffle 

But even this routine party management exercise only succeeded in enraging his critics further.

Rather than reaching out by promoting Blairite ex-Cabinet minister Lord Adonis or charismatic former postman Alan Johnson, Mr Miliband handed key jobs to two chums – his ex-chief of staff Lucy Powell and hardcore union loyalist Jon Trickett, a former student of his father Ralph. One source on Labour’s ruling NEC was quoted saying: ‘They’re only promoting their friends... This is madness.’

By yesterday morning the BBC had even been briefed that a mini coup was underway and that Mr Miliband would make a statement after lunch. In the end, he did no such thing.

Instead, during a trip to marginal Northampton, he concentrated on discussing local bus regulations and batted off leadership questions, describing them as ‘nonsense’.

The lack of agreement on a contender to replace him – and the occasional political success, such as his pledge last year to freeze energy bills – have so far prevented a full-blown leadership crisis.

But with polls now putting the Conservatives neck and neck with Labour, and showing Mr Miliband is haemorrhaging support on the Left to the Greens and the SNP, he faces his most perilous period since snatching the crown from brother David in 2010.

To the horror of Mr Miliband’s allies, the party’s main financial backer – the all-powerful ‘Red’ Len McCluskey, head of the union Unite, has said it would not matter if the Labour leader fell under a bus.

For good measure, he declared that the frontbencher who most impresses him at present is Mr Burnham.

Even less popular than Nick Clegg

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Dismay: Miliband's collapsing personal rating have now sunk lower than those of the unpopular Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, pictured yesterday

Suggestions that Mr Miliband came close to sacking shadow Chancellor Ed Balls this autumn have also infuriated sections of the party - and emboldened supporters of his wife Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, as Mr Miliband’s successor.

Doubts about Mr Miliband now extend far beyond MPs in the North West. Even Shadow Cabinet ministers have expressed private doubts over whether the party can win with him at the helm.

There is widespread dismay at his painful reluctance to discuss spending cuts, welfare reform or immigration – and his collapsing personal ratings, which have now sunk below even those of the unpopular Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. However, while there is no doubt over the depth of unhappiness, there is little sign yet of an organised plot.

Mr Miliband’s fate appears to hinge on whether shadow ministers – some of whom are understood to have met privately to discuss his future – can agree on his fate and engineer a ‘coronation’ rather than a divisive leadership contest with an election only months away.

For Mr Miliband to be forced out, Miss Cooper and Mr Burnham would have to agree he has reached the point of no return – and come to some accommodation about which of them would replace him.

For now, there is no indication of such a deal. But Labour is holding its breath.

 

The runners who are lining up to replace Ed Miliband...

Ed Miliband’s position is made easier by the fact that none of his potential rivals has declared their hand.

Many MPs want Alan Johnson, the popular former postman, to throw his hat into the ring – saying he has much greater appeal with voters than the awkward Mr Miliband.

But Mr Johnson, who served as Home Secretary under Gordon Brown, has all but ruled himself out, claiming last month that he had ‘no appetite for being on the frontbench’.

His refusal to put himself forward will force any plotters to look elsewhere.

It seems the succession would come down to a face-off between shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper and Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary.

The bookies are increasingly throwing their weight behind Mr Burnham, who made a well-received speech on the NHS at September’s Labour conference – in marked contrast to Mr Miliband’s famously poor effort.

It is reported that, emboldened by his conference success, he is already canvassing support; particularly in the North West.

Ladbrokes yesterday cut Mr Burnham’s chances of leading the party from 6/1 into 4/1 to be the next party leader, as more and more political punters back him.

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Ruled himself out: Popular former postman Alan Johnson said he had no appetite for the frontbench

The former health secretary has also gained the support of militant union leader Len McCluskey who said last month Mr Burnham is the person who ‘most impresses’ him on the Labour frontbench.

However, Miss Cooper is still favourite to take over if Mr Miliband goes; attracting odds of 7/2. She can at least count on the support of her husband, Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, who is unlikely to have much chance of victory on his own. Mr Johnson is further down the betting pecking order on 12/1.

If none of these decide to stand, it could be left to younger frontbenchers such as Chuka Umunna (8/1), with Rachel Reeves and Tristram Hunt outside bets on 16/1.

The man who Labour MPs and party members wanted to be leader – David Miliband – has odds of 20/1. But there is no chance of him taking the reins from his brother because he has stepped down as an MP and moved to the US.

... But the rules mean it is impossible 

Party rules say that to force out the leader, a vote of no-confidence has to be called – and the only way for that to happen is a card vote at the party’s annual conference.

No such move was made at the last Labour conference six weeks ago in Manchester and none is scheduled before May’s election.

So it seems that those dissatisfied with Ed Miliband’s leadership have missed their chance to force him out. Their only hope is that the pressure becomes so intolerable that he decides to step down for the good of the party. This could happen if, for example, a large number of MPs say publicly they want him to go. In that case, other candidates would be able to put themselves forward.

To become a candidate, an MP needs the support of 15 per cent of the parliamentary party – or 39 of Labour’s current 257 MPs.

The voting rules in a leadership contest were changed in March to a one member, one vote system for MPs, MEPs, party members and affiliated union members.

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