The election attacks on Ed Miliband are getting weirder and weirder

This week Ed Miliband's personal ratings rose above David Cameron for the first time.

The Survation poll for the Daily Mirror gave the Labour leader an overall rating (the difference between people who think he's doing a good job and those who think he's doing a bad job) of +3.2 points, compared to +2.3 for the prime minister.

What's significant is that the poll arrived in a week when the Tories stepped up their negative campaigning against Miliband, led by defence secretary Michael Fallon claiming the leader of the opposition would "stab the United Kingdom in the back" just like he had "stabbed his own brother in the back".

Senior Tory MP Nick Boles meanwhile claimed that Russian president Vladimir Putin would welcome a Labour victory...

... which led to widespread ridicule.

Miliband described Fallon as a "decent man" but said he had "demeaned himself and he's demeaned his office". "National security is too important to play politics with," he added.

Today meanwhile the Telegraph, courtesy of its chief political correspondent no less, reveals how Miliband used to date former BBC economics journalist Stephanie Flanders. OK...

And the Daily Mail expanded on that theme to highlight how "Red Ed" has had sex with more than one woman.

The Mail also found time to accuse Miliband of racism for visiting a Sikh temple.

None of this is particularly new, as this was how some papers covered the aftermath of the leaders' debate, which polls showed no one had conclusively won.

But three polls this week put Labour ahead of the Tories, with a majority backing the policy to abolish non-dom tax status.

And it suggests the Tories will need more to their campaign than just attacks upon Miliband himself.

And photo opportunities.

More: [The best picture of the general election campaign so far]7