In his most outspoken interview yet Mr Derek Simpson (pictured above), the joint general secretary of the UNITE union, raised the possibility of a New Labour civil war by describing Mandelson and Miliband as “thick” and “Tories”. The insults threatened to overshadow the start of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) conference in Liverpool today and the impending month-long political party conference season, which looks set to be dominated by fresh speculation of a leadership challenge to Brown. Mr Simpson, whose union has 2 million members and gave New Labour £15 million in contributions last year, is obviously flexing his muscles. And to be fair, the pair of banal losers he has highlighted are incompetent charlatans – but so is Brown for that matter.