Labour MPs turned on one of their own peers today after he said the party appeared to have "no strategy, no narrative and little energy" under Ed Miliband.
They questioned the influence of Lord Glasman, who reignited the debate about Mr Miliband's leadership in an in-depth analysis that stunned Westminster.
Labour frontbencher John Spellar said: "He has no role, significance or following in the Labour Party." Former deputy prime minister John Prescott tweeted: "Glasman. You know sod all about politics, economic policy, Labour or solidarity. Bugger off and go 'organise' some communities. Those who can, do, those who can't, 'advise'."
As his comments were seized on by political opponents, Lord Glasman, the architect of the Blue Labour philosophy, denied attacking Mr Miliband - insisting his comments made clear he remained "fully supportive" of the party leader, and that he had been quoted out of context.
He also denied being a "senior" adviser to the party leader, but his article in The New Statesman is a blow to Mr Miliband.
In the article, Lord Glasman said his leader had "flickered rather than shone ... Old faces from the Brown era still dominate the shadow cabinet and they seem stuck in defending Labour's record in all the wrong ways: we didn't spend too much money, we'll cut less fast and less far, but we can't tell you how."
The Opposition, he added, "show no signs of winning the economic argument" and had failed to demonstrate Labour offered any constructive alternative. "We show no relish for reconfiguring the relationship between the state, the market and society. The world is on the turn, yet we do not seem equal to the challenge."
The Labour peer highlighted some achievements by the party leader - notably his championing of the living wage, his attack on "predatory" capitalism and avoiding party splits. But he added: "Now is the time for leadership and action. So far Ed has honoured his responsibilities but has not exerted his power. It is time that he did so."
Conservative co-chairwoman Baroness Warsi said he had exposed Labour as "weak and shambolic".
