Milibands step up leadership battle with rival visions of Labour future

The battle between David and Ed Miliband for the leadership of the Labour party intensified as the two favourites offered rival visions of the party's future today. With ballot papers due to go out next week and many members expected to cast their vote as soon as possible, each brother appeared to accuse the other of wanting Labour to remain in its "comfort zone". Both also stressed their desire for the contest not to become abusive. David Miliband, the shadow foreign secretary, struck first. In an article in the Times – which did not name his brother but seemed to refer to him – he wrote: "Simple opposition takes us back to our comfort zone as a party of protest, big in heart but behind the times. This is the role our opponents want us to play." Ed Miliband responded by issuing a statement that appeared to depict his brother as a backward-looking Blairite. "I will keep campaigning on my message that Labour must change to win, and that change must be real and fundamental. Remaining in the new labour comfort zone would consign us to opposition," the shadow energy secretary said. David Miliband is regarded as the frontrunner in the contest, but the battle appears to be very close and his younger brother could still clinch the leadership on transfer votes. The other three contenders, Ed Balls, Andy Burnham and Diane Abbott, are trailing well behind. The two Miliband teams are going out of their way to avoid personal attacks. But supporters of the shadow foreign secretary believe he is best placed to embrace the spirit of Tony Blair and reach out beyond what he describes as the party's "comfort zone". They believe Ed Miliband is more attached to the dividing line tactics of his mentor, Gordon Brown, and instinctively wishes to comfort a shaken party. In a speech tonight, David Miliband will make it clear that he has no patience with this approach. "I want to look at the circumstances outside our tent, and how we should respond ... Opposition is necessary but insufficient," he will say. "At worst, it can take us back into our comfort zone – and our pantomime role in politics." David Miliband today denied claims he was launching coded attacks on his brother. "Honestly, that is nonsense," he told BBC Radio 4's The World At One. "This is going to remain not just a comradely debate but a fraternal debate in all manner of meaning of that term, because we all know we are on the same side." In his statement, Ed Miliband said the leadership candidates must take not allow the campaign to become abusive. "As we head towards the ballot papers going out, all of us as leadership candidates must take special care to continue our debate in the spirit we started out," he added. "I will continue to conduct this campaign in that spirit." But he said that there was an "honest disagreement" about the future of the party and that he would campaign for change. Today, Ed Miliband's campaign received a further boost when he received the backing of the New Statesman. "So far, of all the candidates, it is Ed Miliband who has been most prepared to challenge New Labour orthodoxies, to use a different kind of language. He advocates a Labour agenda that is confident, forceful and empowering, committed to greater freedom, social justice and, above all else, reducing inequality," the magazine said in an editorial.