Happy New Year all - Health, Wealth, Happiness and all that :)
The Tories made similar representations and complaints re BBC political coverage at the height of Blairs pomp, so I would dismiss this as desperation.
Its a sign of Labours exasperation that they are not doing better in the opinion polls, despite this age of austerity, the public spending cutbacks, rising unemployment, major NHS reforms etc. Ed Milliband seems unable to make any kind of positive impression on the electorate, and has had few standout successes in the Commons. Sometimes, simple narratives can create a stranglehold on perception.
2 simple narratives firmly held by a wide section of the public need to be overcome before Labour stand any chance of being seen as a credible alternative to the coalition.
The first is that Ed Milliband is not to be trusted, because how can you trust someone who stabbed their own brother in the back?
The second is that Labour were profligate and reckless with the public purse in their last term in office - and that those responsible for such spending are still in positions of power, namely the 2 Eds. That idiotic message left by Liam Byrne has only served to reinforce the notion.
The public spending cuts announced by the Coalition have yet to be take full effect, and that will probably increase some support for Labour. It is likely that unemployment will rise further in 2012, another potent driver of support - but to me, until they come up with a distinctive narrative on how they propose to deal with the structural deficit, whilst at the same time protecting public services, they do not represent a credible alternative.