Is it the start of something or will it fizzle out?

The news this afternoon of the move by the Government whip, Siobhain McDonagh, on the Labour leadership has taken many people aback and it’s hard to assess how serious it it.

On the face of it she seems prepared to sacrifice her job in order to bring the leadership issue out into the open. Whether it will or not we will have to see.

Clearly for such an initiative to be successful then something has to follow it up. It cannot just be a lone gesture.

Still after months of rumbling behind the scenes at least we have someone other than Charles Clarke being prepared to go public.

Mike Smithson