Isabel Hardman

The Tory party have been having a very fun morning in the Chamber so far. The debate about James Wharton's Private Member's Bill for an EU referendum has had the atmosphere of a children's party. David Cameron was smiling on a frontbench like the indulgent father watching his child getting a little over-excited. William Hague played the part of conjurer, producing a magnificent speech attacking Labour and, to a lesser extent, the Lib Dems, for not giving voters a say.

Yesterday Len McCluskey made it very clear that Ed Miliband was definitely, definitely the leader of the Labour party. He said: ‘There can be absolutely no question about who runs the Labour party: it is Ed Miliband and he has my full support. Yes, there may be issues we disagree on, that is allowed in a democratic party, but Unite is fully behind Ed Miliband and after today’s performance by Cameron the sooner he is prime minister the better.’ Which was unhelpful, really, as it's never good when the unions have to issue a statement clarifying who the leader of the Labour party really is. But Len's hands-off approach doesn't mean he can't still tell the party exactly how things should be done.

As trailed on Coffee House yesterday, MPs in favour of an EU referendum met today to discuss how to advance James Wharton's private member's bill and how to pressure Labour and the Lib Dems to change their stance on the issue. I hear colleagues from all parties agreed with Wharton's warning that amendments in the Commons could endanger the Bill, while the Stockton South MP also suggested that though trouble looms in the Lords, any attempts to wreck the legislation there could provide a nice opportunity for a debate about the legitimacy of the Upper Chamber turning down legislation sent up from the Commons. As with gay marriage, dark mutterings about what could happen to this Bill once it reaches the Lords could prove unfounded.

David Cameron's statement on the European council was another example of how easy it is at the moment for the Tories to portray Ed Miliband as a weak leader. He made it perfectly clear what he wanted those watching to take away by stealing Tony Blair's 'weak, weak, weak' line in 1997 when attacking John Major (which is well worth watching again). Today the PM told the Commons that Ed Miliband's position on Europe could be summed up in three words: 'weak, weak, weak'. He said: 'What I thought was interesting about the right hon. Gentleman’s response was that we heard not a word about the referendum that we are going to discuss and debate on Friday. I think I know why. The right hon.

listen to ‘Spending review 2013: the Coffee House analysis’ on AudiobooEd Balls had a rather shouty time in the Commons this afternoon when he responded to George Osborne's spending review statement. It was a shame, because his lack of variation in tone and pace from 'angry bellow' level made what wasn't a bad response a little difficult to follow. These responses to budgets, autumn statements and spending reviews are very difficult for any shadow chancellor or opposition leader to carry off well: you have no warning of what the Chancellor will say, and just the length of the speech itself to re-shape your pre-crafted speech and collect your thoughts.