Ed Balls, Negotiator? Really?!

Things seem to be moving in Westminster towards some sort of coalition - and it appears that talks between Labour and the Liberal Democrats are over. No doubt there's more to follow... but I just wanted to comment on something I heard earlier in the BBC coverage of the Hung Parliament. Apparently the talks between Labour and the Liberal Democrats suffered because Ed Balls was too hard on the Lib Dems. So can I just ask this question - who in hell thought it would be a good idea to have Ed Balls as a negotiator?

Seriously, the man has the diplomatic manner of a broken bottle in the face. He is someone who has studiously built up his dubious reputation as a political thug, as the acolyte of the now discredited and on-the-way out Brown. Why on earth would someone make this boorish oaf a negotiator with the Liberal Democrats? You may as well send a rabid pitbull in to supervise a room full in kindergarten children.

It is almost like Labour wanted the negotiations to collapse...