Have you been up against your sibling?

I would like to see Ed give David a dead arm, a Chinese burn, and then break a wing off of his X-Wing Fighter.

That's how I roll.

Our Mam had two boys and she called us Cain and Abel, as it was the custom in our village to give names from the Old Testament. Abel and I quarreled for years but we settled it when both of us stood for election to the Chapel Committee. I slew him.

If my younger brother had even stood against me in such a situation, never mind won, I'd never have forgiven him.

Younger brother being boss doesn't work IMO.

If I were David Milliband, I'd be heading for a well paid job in the EU.

*NEVER* work with a sibling!

Mohamed Mire In mogadishu

Well. My IMediate Family is Normal Just My Parents ,My 10 Brothers And 3 Sister But Both Of My Parents Come from very large family so, My Extended Family Is Very Large i have 35 Cousin.

Our Family Gatherning Are pretty chaotic But Fun.We're Very Close-knit Family eventhough We Dont Live Together Any More The Family Ties Are Still Very Strong When Were little they wasnt Verymuch Sibling Rivalry Between Us

I Think It's Because We Have Very Stable upbringing , Both OF My Parents played very active-role in our school life and our home life. and they totally to resolve our conflicts in a very far way.

I Consider Myself Very Lucky That's My Family Backround

Islam Is The best way to solve every problem

Thanks,

[Personal details removed by Moderator]

They should fight it out like proper brothers - old navy rules - first one to die loses.

I scan see now that Liam thought the band was a competition, but i always saw it as more a family business - right up to the big split.

It goes against the natural order of things. I had 3 sisters, but we all (I think deliberately) chose very different hobbies, school clubs, friends, careers and lives.

You should never get 2 puppies from the same litter because they always fight.

Sibling rivalry is a good thing but they should present a common front, never be consumed by self-interest, make a private arrangement as to who should go first if need be but, never allow the rivalry to be the attraction in the public eye. To that extent, the Millibands have failed & I can have no respect for either. Cannot put their own house in order, how can you expect them to help the nation?

6. At 11:13am on 27 Sep 2010, Simon Hill wrote:
They should fight it out like proper brothers - old navy rules - first one to die loses.


Shame we can't adopt this method for solving most political issues: Prime ministers question time with sabres would beat the hell out of the current system.

Why are we now having two debates on the Milliband's.

Ed won David lost - end of!!

Many families work together quite harmoniously. Unfortunately I don't see it happening in this case.

I don't think the mighty David will be taking the defeat very well, and like a child will throw his teddy out of the pram and storm away sulking.

"12. At 11:51am on 27 Sep 2010, suzie127 wrote:

I don't think the mighty David will be taking the defeat very well, and like a child will throw his teddy out of the pram and storm away sulking."

To be fair I can understand why....

much as the rules are the rules and both brothers knew them when they entered the contest David was by far the most popular candidate with MP's and Party members. Ed won by combination of Union block votes and the 2nd/3rd choice factor. I can well see why David thinks he really won.

I'm all for a bit of healthy sibling rivalry. Possibly because I'm the favourite, so complain to the 'rents if I don't win.

When we were younger, mine and my sisters arguments resulted in one of 2 ways:

She won, I cried, my parents shouted at her for making her little sister win.

I wn, she cried, she was essentially told to man up.

:-) always nice to see the younger sibling win.

It's a well known fact the second child is always the best one. "First the worst, second the best" as the song goes!

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

My sixth form teacher compared me to my brother and sister saying I should get a job and give up on university.

A 2:1 Degree in Business, qualified accountant and £100k job, I think someone might have been a little wrong.

Never compare brothers and sisters.

"10. At 11:37am on 27 Sep 2010, Peter_Sym wrote:

6. At 11:13am on 27 Sep 2010, Simon Hill wrote:
They should fight it out like proper brothers - old navy rules - first one to die loses.


Shame we can't adopt this method for solving most political issues: Prime ministers question time with sabres would beat the hell out of the current system."

Amusingly the reason that there are two red lines running the length of the carpet in front of the benches in the house of commons (and no MP is allowed to cross those lines during a debate) is that the lines are the length of two swords apart, thus preventing MP's from duelling each other.

"My wife was all her early life, Her brother was the best at every thing top marks' in every subject in school, "The golden boy" it made her give up in school, and have no confidence in herself. it was only many years later that she overcame it.

15. At 12:41pm on 27 Sep 2010, Planet Mars wrote:
I cannot stand my brother. He is arrogant, loudmouth, conceited, argumentative, cocky, always thinks he's in the right, anything that doesn't agree with him is 'stupid' - quite simply, he's like that John James guy from Big Brother this year....

[edit extensive rant]

...you lose your train of thought. what do you call people like that - arrogant? conceited?


Boy... I hope that this writer felt a sense of catharsis after that prolix explosion.
May i suggest that he seeks some councel to help him along?

13. At 12:09pm on 27 Sep 2010, Peter_Sym wrote:
"12. At 11:51am on 27 Sep 2010, suzie127 wrote:

I don't think the mighty David will be taking the defeat very well, and like a child will throw his teddy out of the pram and storm away sulking."

To be fair I can understand why....

much as the rules are the rules and both brothers knew them when they entered the contest David was by far the most popular candidate with MP's and Party members. Ed won by combination of Union block votes and the 2nd/3rd choice factor. I can well see why David thinks he really won.
........................................................................
When the other candidates were withdrawn the second and third votes that went to Ed did so because they obviously didn't want David. There is no he really won.

Isn't this a similar system most of you want brought into parliament?

Good old Labour....even fight with their own family.

Some say that a new sibling can produce regressive behavior in the older one. Sounds perfect for Labour as they are of course all 'brothers' anyway.

I have two cousins who were set against each other by their parents at a very young age.

Daughter No.2 was described as very clever and daughter No.1 as a genius.

No.2 became a brilliant respected doctor whilst genius No.1 became a primary school teacher who throughout her life has been mentally unstable.

Parents are in my opinion to blame for the rivalry between siblings which can be the cause of many family's taking sides and ultimatley division.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Hey Planet Mars 15, I think we are talking about the SAME brother! Dad!?

16. At 12:59pm on 27 Sep 2010, Slave to the System - I am not a number wrote:
"My sixth form teacher compared me to my brother and sister saying I should get a job and give up on university.

A 2:1 Degree in Business, qualified accountant and £100k job, I think someone might have been a little wrong."


Not entirely wrong though. You did only get a 2:1. I assume to get your job you left that off your CV and said you were in prison for those 4 years, just to make it look better.

Planet Mars:
Sorry for interfering, but why on earth don't you try keeping a distance from your brother then?
The fact that you are biologically related does not mean that you have to constantly endure his character, which apparently you cannot tolerate.
If his presence/influence has such a negative effect on your self esteem, then nobody will blame you if you do something about it.

I'm the elder sister and I did 4 years of uni to work in a job earning less pay than my sister whose 4 years younger and went straight into her job.

Do I moan about this? Yes of course.
Will that change anything? No

Such is life, some people are born into an easy life and others work like donkeys and get little for it.
No matter who you are there is always some who have it better and some who have it worse.
Throwing your toys out the pram (or quitting) doesn't make it easier.

(She's thin and pretty too ... c0w)

15. At 12:41pm on 27 Sep 2010, Planet Mars wrote:
//I cannot stand my brother.//

Maybe you could encourage your brother to sign up to HYS!

Ah, the pleasures of sibling rivalry... The first time I beat my brother at tennis, I was 15 and he was a strapping, 6 foot, 23 year old. He was so used to crushing me at sports, he threw his racquet clean over the wire fence surrounding the court and into someone's back garden. He actually had to go round to their front door and say, please can I have my racquet back.

I think that how we both felt might not be a million miles away from how the Milibands feel.

#20 "When the other candidates were withdrawn the second and third votes that went to Ed did so because they obviously didn't want David. There is no he really won.

Isn't this a similar system most of you want brought into parliament?"

Is it? Prior to this election I had no real problem with the first past the post system and the outcome of the last election while weird is at least "correct" in that nearly 60% of the electorate voted either lib-dem or con, whereas previous govts have had majorities in parliament with less than 40% of the vote. The single transferable vote seems a hell of a lot of effort for little real change.

In any case I suggest you re-read what I wrote. I didn't say David was cheated or anything else. I said I can understand why HE feels he should have won. In a first past the post election he would have, however under the rules that he should have fully understood before running he lost fair and square.

15. At 12:41pm on 27 Sep 2010, Planet Mars wrote:
I cannot stand my brother.......

You need to move out. Find your own digs, share with mates, rent one grotty room, go abroad, but please, move on. This relationship is ruining your life. You will never be happy and eventually become angry as your default setting.
Get out. Get sucessful, get a girl, get revenge - by being happy. He'll hate it. And you won't even care any more.

#15 Planet Mars

Oh go on, admit it, you love him to bits and he loves you.... Where would you be without each other?

Have you been up against your sibling?

Nope. I'm an only child, thank goodness. LOL

Have I worked or competed against a sibling?
Yes - we both survived, in similar fields. I guess because I - though younger - was indisputably the more intelligent and capable of the two. It was only my sister who failed to realize this; she kept trying, God bless her!
Silliness aside, sibling rivalry should be replaced with "Do the best you can with what you've got."
Why compare yourself with anyone else? Why be jealous?
I remember a story that I once read.
A man named Thomas Didimus died. When he got to the golden gate, he said: "God forgive me. I wish I could have been more like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."
And God said: "Why? I already have an Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. What I wanted from you, my son, was THOMAS DIDIMUS."
So, be yourself. Do what is in your heart, and if you are lucky enough to have siblings don't waste time in jealousy. It takes away from compassionate love. God is not looking for you to be like anyone else or beat anyone else.

15. At 12:41pm on 27 Sep 2010, Planet Mars wrote:
I cannot stand my brother.......

32. At 2:28pm on 27 Sep 2010, sd wrote:
"Get out. Get sucessful, get a girl, get revenge - by being happy. He'll hate it. And you won't even care any more"


Better yet, get *his* girl.

And let the tyres down on his BMX.

No.

I don't believe an accident of birth makes people sisters or brothers. It makes them siblings, gives them mutuality of parentage. Sisterhood and brotherhood is a condition people have to work at.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

21. At 1:21pm on 27 Sep 2010, Sepenenre wrote:

Good old Labour....even fight with their own family.

===

Good old Coalition... beat up disabled people.

Ed Milliband is not the right choice for Labour Leader. He may be good for the Union, but I will think twice before I cast my vote. I may be voting for the green. If he can stab his own brother in the back, he can stab the nation. Family loyality is very important to me and Ed does not know the meaning.

Maybe the Milliband brother's should fight it out. Like a wrestling match.

With mud.

Yes.

He got seven years, I got life.

28. At 1:53pm on 27 Sep 2010, Charlie Patey wrote:
I'm the elder sister and I did 4 years of uni to work in a job earning less pay than my sister whose 4 years younger and went straight into her job......... (She's thin and pretty too ... c0w)
Poor you Charie.
Anyway, could you give me her number please?

41. At 3:21pm on 27 Sep 2010, Enny2012 wrote:
Ed Milliband is not the right choice for Labour Leader. He may be good for the Union, but I will think twice before I cast my vote. I may be voting for the green. If he can stab his own brother in the back, he can stab the nation.



Err... when did he 'stab his brother in the back'? I hadn't realised David was the anointed leader and it was treacherous to stand against him. I don't especially like how the Labour party choose a leader either but as I said in my post #13 both brothers knew the rules when they chose to stand.

Incidentally I'm probably the most right wing Labour voter ever and certainly don't like the power of the unions but the Labour party IS a workers movement in origin hence the union powerbase.

David should consider himself lucky. If he was Hyena Ed would have killed and eaten him!

(really... hyenas normally have twins and the stronger twin kills the weaker. THATS sibling rivalry.)

8. At 11:23am on 27 Sep 2010, sd wrote:

It goes against the natural order of things. I had 3 sisters, but we all (I think deliberately) chose very different hobbies, school clubs, friends, careers and lives.

You should never get 2 puppies from the same litter because they always fight.

= = = = = = =

Actually not true - puppy siblings usually get along quite well - it is humans that usually mess it up for the pups.

Racing greyhounds are raised in litter groups together for the first year - most live happily together.

I know a good number of greyhounds that have never fought for their entire lives.

This debate is getting nowhere.

Gosh I didn't know my post at 15 was that long! Sorry for the long rant but he's been a real pain as of late and had to speak my mind.

I am an only child so had no brother or sister; however I am the oldest of all my cousins on my mother’s side of the family and the youngest on my father’s side.

Cousin rivalry has certainly taken place - especially on my mother’s side since the younger ones tend to want to impress more and the youngest of them all (about 13 years younger than me) is the worst for this trying to denounce me wherever possible.

I don’t know what he is like as a brother but I certainly don’t fall for his tricks.

I haven’t witnessed any on my father’s side.

This topic is about sibling rivalry. can people go to the labour leader one if they want to drag politics into it.

Personally, I beat my brother into second place in the second form history exam at grammar school - out of the entire year - by a couple of points thanks to an inspired guess at a multiple choice question on a subject we'd not actually been taught anything about.

But it meant he didn't then have to sit through all the speeches at speech day like I did, so he didn't mind.

When david made his speach today he sounded better and more passionate than his brother ed and i think the conference knew that.Without the chains of goverment,this labour rethink of the past just might get back in govement.

I was put in the same class as my elder sister at school. It was very good for my political skills. I had to avoid making friends with any of the golden group (hers). I had to always be less good than her at sports. My pride wouldnt let me do badly academically but she didnt care about results so I was fine. All in all it was a pretty unpleasant experience but I pride myself that she never suffered any indignities from having her little sister in her class and thats all that counts. She is my sister after all.

At 12:59pm on 27 Sep 2010, Slave to the System - I am not a number wrote:
My sixth form teacher compared me to my brother and sister saying I should get a job and give up on university.

A 2:1 Degree in Business, qualified accountant and £100k job, I think someone might have been a little wrong.

Never compare brothers and sisters.

********************

I assume you're known as "The Smug One" in your family........

I was in constant competition with my twin brother and elder sister during all my childhood and early adult years. We were never nasty to each other but we were often in conflict. we remain very jealous of each other. We speak rarely to each, and I have not seen my brother in the last two years and my sister in the last five. It's a shame.

I have no time for Labour now so don't really care who leads the party, however when the results were announced it would have been amusing if Ed Miliband had shouted loser at his brother whilst making an "L" shape with his fingers before administering a wedgie on him.

My older sister has cut me off completely without even having the decency to explain why. I can only assume that this is due to unresolved sibling rivalry.

I did better at school, got to Oxbridge and had a good start to my career; she had a more difficult time at school but got to uni, had a successful marriage and 3 lovely children.

I leave it to you to judge for whom the grass was actually greener. But the situation is hurtful to the rest of the family, epsecially as it is pointless.

I hope the Miliband brothers remain friends.

Did David ever beat Ed up? Did Ed get his revenge by stealing his toys? Whatever happened, they seem to have put it in the past. I am glad the Millibands seem so close, but I would be embarrassed to hug my brother in front of the world's cameras. I think that if DM does go into the Shadow Cabinet, he will simply take the focus away from Ed. He should weigh things up very carefully before he stands.

The milliband choice of brothers just shows how pre-planned and remotely controlled and manufactured the illusion of choice and democracy is I think.

I can't compete. My brother definitely inherited the nutty professor genius gene.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

What a pointless, dumbing down debate.

My brother and I use to play cricket as teenagers. Often felt a bit sad when I took his wicket.

In the field of Games, a competition within the members of the same family is a welcome event being the aim and objective of entertaining the spectators is better meet with when both play the Games holding appropriate spirit of the Game by each without attracting a difference between each other so long we all able to absorb the beauty of the Game being so arranged in front of us. Under such circumstances both derive pleasures out of doing so to deliver a better performance to the spectators who are witnessing it and hence it constitutes oneness between each other than doing of a division between each other. Hence both individuals are putting more attraction into the Game than looking it otherwise of reflecting of a division between each other, irrespective of who wins it.

However, in the field of Polities, such competition is not encouraged for securing the same position which depended upon attracting of votes in one’s favor over the other from the same assembly of August gatherings being if happen, it shall show or reflect a division within us which might carry forward by one over the other into a future date too, overriding arriving of a compromise between each other. Under the said circumstances, both competitors might become looser in case a 3rd strong Candidate is available from within the gathering having a similar value for offering us an identical aim and objective. Such option of one might defeat the desires of both to deliver nothing to us even though both carry enough of beauty with them individually.

Therefore we must act according to the demand of the situation for meeting the exact aim and objective of conducting of an event.


(Dr.M.M.HAZARIKA,PhD)

To paraphrase Icebloo: Pointless dumb debate.

I think it inappropriate for a boss to have his brother round the same table - too much potential for conflict (and I don't mean fighting).
This is a straightforward case of conflict for everyone that would be questioned in any business - two relatives in the same unit (the Cabinet).
I am surprised the press has ignored this.
For the Milibands, in my view, a winner was always going to result in one leaving.
David should not join his brother, and more importantly, the press and compliance people should be shouting this out as pure conflict of public interest.

The question is about HYS contributors experience of sibling rivalry and what advice they would give the Miliband brothers.

My experience of this started at birth, being an identical (monozygotic) twin. In those days (50s) , twins were dressed the same and expected to behave the same. From an early age, my brother and I found this extremely annoying, as we were the kind of identical twins who did not want to be the same or be treated the same, but you didn't argue with your parents at that time.

Rivalry only really began at grammar school, where we were both in the 'fast' stream and constantly ranked for all subjects. I was always a few placess ahead of my brother. We coped with this by choosing different subject groups (languages and science) , O levels and A levels. In the sixth form we travelled to school by different routes and had different friends. We went to the same University, but a year apart, and whilst there hardly encountered one another.

Since that time we have had completely different jobs and family lives, and that is the way we like it.

So the advice is: differentiate early and as completely as you can.

What should the Miliband's do? Ed should get on with leading the Labour party, David should take up an academic post in a good University and stay in touch with politics through think tanks and advisory groups. His time may come at a later date.

On the natural assumption that he, like everyone else, cares more about his family than his country, what a very sad indictment it is that his career is more important than his family.

What a terrible little man. I hope he fails.

My sister and I never really did sibling rivalry. Once I accepted that I would always be known by all and sundry as Sue's mad big brother we got along just fine and still do.

My brother and I are both in our 60's.
I am the younger.
I was bullied by my brother as a young child and have never really liked him in adult life.
I am a liberal in my lifestyle, whereas he is a right wing couch racist sexist homphobic bore who still dominates our very elderly mother and cannot see or respond to her wider domestic and social needs.

Give them both a chinese burn I say......

I have a sister and two brothers, i'm the eldest and there's only 6 years between the four of us. We've never really had any rivalry at all - I didn't go to Uni and have a boring uninspiring job whilst my sister and brothers all did great at Uni and and pursuing fantastic careers - i'm so happy and proud for them that it never occurs to me to be jealous (i cried more than my mum did at their graduations!). We are very close though and spend a lot time together even though we're all in our twenties and live apart. We had a tough start in life though while growing up, so maybe that makes us a bit more grateful for each other now.

I have 5 brother, 2 older, and 6 sisters, 5 of which are older. Sibling rivalry is fierce, and mostly kept hidden, especially from our parents. When ever more than 3 or us are together the family mentality takes over and we lose control of our own identity. I would not want to work in any area that my brothers did, though the 5 youngest all worked in the same restaurant one summer 30 years ago. The rivalry has meant i have limited connection to my oldest brothers, whom i felt where happy to thwart my progress if they could do it un-noticed and it made them look better, not supportive at all except 1 sister 1 year older than me.

"Well. My IMediate Family is Normal Just My Parents ,My 10 Brothers And 3 Sister But Both Of My Parents Come from very large family so, My Extended Family Is Very Large i have 35 Cousin...I Consider Myself Very Lucky That's My Family Backround.

Islam Is The best way to solve every problem"


Perhaps not overpopulation!!

In response to all the “what a pointless debate” remarks:

The site is called “Have Your Say”, not “Have A Heated Debate And Nothing Else”. Some topics are meant to create an interesting debate, others are here as a forum to allow people to share their experiences and thoughts on an issue inspired by current events. Personally I usually prefer these more conversational questions, as the debate topics all just end up with people taking it in turns to blame Labour/Thatcher (delete as appropriate).

This particular topic is not a debate. Nobody is making you read or contribute to it, you are entirely free to ignore it and spend your time on the subjects you find more worthy. I’m continually amazed at the number of people who spend their time posting on HYS just to complain about it.


To reply to the actual question, I always felt like I was in competition with my more outgoing and "cooler" sister – until a drunken conversation revealed that she felt exactly as overshadowed as I did. We ended up having quite a surreal argument along the lines of “No, Mum and Dad love you more!” “No, they’re more proud of you!”…

I think the only time I've ever competed with my sibling was in the womb (fraternal twins). When we were youngsters, we fought like cats & dogs, but that was it.

No.
Next question.

Failed siblings are desperate. Their mad attacks and feigned sexuality are due to frustration and delusional thinking.

Fortunately I have not had a younger brother who betrayed me and courted cheap popularity by criticising a war against a Hitlerian styled dictator.

If this Miliband is the best Slave Labour can offer, then let them be damned for all time! And FREEDOM for Iraq, thanks to those who had the guts to bring down a dictator who invaded the independent state of Kuwait and allowed so many children to die because of UN sanctions that would not have been necessary if the Americans and their allies had been given free rein in the first Gulf War to finish the job properly,

Milibrand? A total nonentity, as far as I'm concerned - proof that his party bends in the softest of breezes.

Glad he's not my younger brother!!

All this user's posts have been removed.Why?

74. At 4:49pm on 28 Sep 2010, Lou wrote:

The site is called “Have Your Say”, not “Have A Heated Debate And Nothing Else”. Some topics are meant to create an interesting debate, others are here as a forum to allow people to share their experiences and thoughts on an issue inspired by current events. Personally I usually prefer these more conversational questions, as the debate topics all just end up with people taking it in turns to blame Labour/Thatcher (delete as appropriate).

This particular topic is not a debate. Nobody is making you read or contribute to it, you are entirely free to ignore it and spend your time on the subjects you find more worthy. I’m continually amazed at the number of people who spend their time posting on HYS just to complain about it.

*********************

Hear, hear.

Yes, even though I dearly love my younger brother, he once went against me in a small matter, but one where I needed his support. It hurt, especially when I thought that I would have supported him if I had been the youngest. I did not let the hurt show - out of my love for him, but it took me a couple of years to get over it.

Even though I am not a Labour supporter, I did "feel" for David Milliband. I think he must feel very hurt at his younger brother stopping him from achieving the very high position of leader of the party that he obviously worked very hard for - and believed in with all his heart.

I think out of brotherly love and respect, Ed Milliband should have done the decent thing and not entered the leadership contest. He (Ed) would still have figured strongly in the Labour party anyway - and who knows, he may have aspired to higher office in a few years time when his older brother retired.

I don't think good will come of what happened.

Phil Edwards.
North Wales.

I don't believe either Lost, more that the Milibands Won, and it's the other's duty in Assisting the prevailer to Succeed.
It could be a MAJOR Plus for UK, two Brothers who placed First and Second 'Representing' 100% membership of Labour Party. There needs be no 'Mending'.

Who better than a RESPECTED Brother to represent you in times of need.

Sibling rivalry could be a powerful motivator. But it could also lead to destruction of loving homes. Some parents are caught up in the impossible situation where they have to take sides. Impartiality is a virtue. But it is so difficult to reprimand children especially when they are grown up and are so fixed in their opinions. The real test comes when parents draw up a will. When children find parents have taken sides all hell is let loose! What a pity. Loving brothers and sisters could be such towers of support in good times and bad times. After all blood is thicker than water! Ed and David could show the British nation how exemplary they are! However it is too early to say. David may yet charter his own course showing that sibling rivalry is after all so potent!!

I have an older brother and one slightly younger. As children, we had a family photograph taken and when I look at it today I see resentment written all over my elder brothers face. We are all in our middle ages now and I have heard the elder brother comment several times on the things that we used to do in our youth. He would say for example, "do you remember when we did cross country running at..." The truth is, he never ran, ever. Another time he remarked about the time when he drove across the States, he doesn't drive, my younger brother was at the wheel for the whole journey. I went on to a Military career and I once heard him say that he was a Sgt in the Army, I do think he may have been a cadet "Private" for a short time, deluded, totally, in my opinion.

Luckily I, my brother and sister all have diverse jobs and interests. Choosing to compete directly with you siblings in the workplace is always going to cause tension in the family.

What I want to know though is what poor old Mrs Milliband did too deserver two sons in politics; I bet Xmas dinner is not much fun. Mind you if you marry a Marxist theorist you’re asking for that sort of trouble.

Anyway I agree at the very least David should give Ed a dead arm for stealing his toy (the labour party).

"Have you been up against your sibling?"
That is a bit of a personal question!

Sibling rivalry was never an issue for me. My two sisters are nine & ten years older than me & have a different dad so maybe that's something to do with it. Also my father was the universal figure of hate in our household, NOT a very nice man at all, so me & my sisters always had that in common.
When I was very little I was a much treasured accessory, dressed up & made a part of countless games (lord knows what a couple of 12 year olds used to do to me aged 2!). Apparently they used to fight over who got to put me to bed, which I don't remember but I do recall them having competitions to see who could read the best bedtime story (the oldest always won, she did Winnie the Pooh with all the voices!) When I got old enough to be annoying instead of cute they'd both gone to college so we never really clashed, as we've got older they have become two of the greatest people I know, They can always make me laugh & feel better and have been incredibly helpful whenever I've been going through tough times. Sis & other Sis you rule, I couldn't have got through my childhood without you.

Only when we used to compare our heights as children.

Yes I have one sibling a mad sister whom I have never liked no matter what others said as we have aged I was right she is bonkers so I say away and why should people have to put up with people they do not trust or like because they are family? As for the Millibands well that is all play acting it does not matter who gets in as long as there is one or the others.

How lucky for you all to have siblings. Being an only child I had it a lot harder. There no one to cover your backside or to take the blame, no one to compete with, no one whose Ideas could be pinched, no one who could support you or be critical of you, no one to kick a ball about with and no one to compare with. I have a sneaky feeling that Only Children are very different because they have had to make hard decisions earlier in life. I also feel sorry for siblings because of course they need to make their identity something special.