Iraq an issue in Labour’s leadership race?

While the new government was discussing the war in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq became an issue in the Labour leadership contest after two of the contenders, Ed Miliband and Ed Balls, said the conflict back in 2003 was wrong.

The former Foreign Secretary David Miliband urged Labour members not to make the Iraq conflict an issue in the race, insisting it was time to move on.

David Miliband, Ed Miliband, Ed Balls, Andy Burnham, Diane Abbott have all declared they are running.

Three of them spoke today at a conference run by the think tank Progress. It was a very New Labour event – full of young, earnest, true believers.

But for a party given a thumping at the general election earlier this month, they seemed surprisingly up for it.

Perhaps what this party needs to work out first is how fundamentally it needs to change – and not everyone agrees on that.

While they still work out their policies for the future, some candidates are trying to differentiate themselves on the past.

Ed Balls has renounced the Iraq War as a mistake – and Ed Miliband, who was not an MP at the time, says the same.

The tone of Labour’s debate is courteous – rather like the new government. They are anxious to show the public they can change their behaviour.

How long can they keep it up? That might be the real test of them all.