Miliband denies there’s any crisis of confidence

Ed Miliband has denied there is a crisis of confidence in him as he insisted it was a “huge privilege” to lead his party.

The Labour leader has faced days of intense speculation about his future, with deep unrest among backbenchMPs and claims that some of his top team are plotting against him.

He tried to brush off the reports, saying he agreed “you shouldn’t believe everything you read”.

Appearing at the CBI conference in London, Mr Miliband – who beat his brother David to the Labour leadership – was asked if he wished “the other guy had won”.

Mr Miliband said: “Definitely not. It is a privilege doing this job. What excites meis the waywe can transform this country.”

Asked if he agreed there was a “crisis of confidence”, he replied simply: “No.”

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper dismissed suggestions she was preparing a leadership bid as “complete nonsense”, saying: “There was stuff in the papers people have put for their own reasons.”

A letter signed by 100 Labour candidates – including many in key marginal and target seats – called for an end to the “campaign to destabilise Ed. Published by the LabourList website, it said Mr Miliband had “led our party to within striking distance of government”.