Ed Miliband would 'stab Britain in the back'

The Tories launched a highly personal attack on Ed Miliband this morning  by claiming the Labour leader was prepared to “stab the United Kingdom in the back to become Prime Minister”.

Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, warned that his failure to commit to replacing all four of Britain's nuclear submarines suggested he was prepared to scrap Trident in exchange for SNP support in a post-election deal.

Making a bizarre comparison to his decision to stand against his brother in the Labour leadership race in 2010, Mr Fallon said: “Ed Miliband stabbed his own brother in the back to become Labour leader. Now he is willing to stab the United Kingdom in the back to become prime minister.”

In a speech in London today, Fallon will announce that the Conservatives will include a pledge in their manifesto to build a new fleet of four Trident submarines to replace the existing system and provide a continuous nuclear deterrent and will put pressure on Labour to match their plans.

But he claimed Miliband's willingness to betray his brother in his "lust for power" was a sign of his weakness and suggested he was prepared to do a deal with the SNP over Trident.

“We saw in that leadership election just what he would do to get into power. We saw what he did to his own brother. We need to know what he would do.

"We can't be sure what kind of backstairs deal he is likely to do with the SNP... that is the uncertainty.

The Conservative party's decision to make the attack so personal was a sign they were “desperate” and “rattled” and resembled the "politics of the gutter" Labour claimed, while even Tory commentators such as Tim Montgomery described Fallon's rhetoric as “embarrassing”.

And Ken Livingstone, the former Labour Mayor of London, even suggested his party should use the country's nuclear weapons to get revenge on Fallon:

“We should stick pompous Michael Fallon on the end of a nuclear missile and fire it off into space. The world would be a happier place,” tweeted Ken Livingstone.