Newsnight took the Yeo ding-dong off iPlayer for some reason, so Guy News is rebroadcasting it.  Hit the full-screen button and enjoy our funky new them tune.

If you subscribed (for free) to the Guidogram, you would have seen this last week when it was released…

Guido is speaking at a Westminster Skeptics event tonight on whether political blogging actually makes – or will make – any difference to the course of UK political events. Guido’s view is that the question has already been answered.

This graphic from ConservativeHome’s survey of Tory PPCs illustrates where influence lies nowadays.  The next Prime Minister and Chancellor of Britain are avid readers of blogs. Does that signify influence, does that make a difference?

On the panel with Guido are ConservativeHome’s Jonathan Isaby, Comrade Hundal from Liberal Conspiracy and Mick Fealty from Slugger. The event will take place at The Old Monk Exchange pub just 100 yards away from St James Station.

Head charge of £2.  The panel discussion starts at 7.30pm. (Facebook event page is here.)

Award for the most obscure story in this morning’s papers has to go to The Telegraph. Apparently Gordon is cutting down his intake of Kit-Kats, and replacing them with bananas. Sources close to the Prime Minister’s snacking preparation confirmed that he will now only eat Kit-Kats when under “extreme-pressure”. So that must be fairly frequently then.

Gordon better watch out though, too many bananas can have a dangerous effect. Eating up to nine bananas a day, such as the Prime Mentalist is reported to be doing, can cause a build up of potassium.  This can cause gastrointestinal problems, kidney failure or even cardiac arrest.

It is not known whether David Miliband has decided to try a different type of coup.

Oral Questions to the Prime Minister

Unless otherwise indicated the Members listed below will ask a question without notice.

*1 Mr Jim Devine (Livingston): If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 10 February.

The papers are reporting an emergency EU meeting over Greece.  Gordon is attending despite the UK not being in the Euro.  At the end of last week Guido learnt that next week Gordon is scheduled to meet George Papandreou, the socialist Greek prime minister who has led his country to ruin. Perhaps they can compare notes or put in a joint application to the IMF?

Until the recent Irish austerity budget the financial world talked about the risk of the P.I.G.S. (Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain) defaulting on their sovereign debt. Now Ireland is controlling government spending with swingeing public sector cuts they are not being talked about so much. Attention has shifted to the S.T.U.P.I.D. countries: Spain, Turkey, UK, Portugual, Italy and Dubai. These are the countries the City now fears to be at risk of sovereign default.

ZeroHedge has created a S.T.U.P.I.D. index, which they are charting, it is a Credit Default Swap index, so bad news means the chart goes up.  For the record, Guido thinks there is no chance of the U.K. defaulting because we still control our own currency, though losing our AAA credit rating and devaluing is a very real possibility.  The market is pricing in the credit risk from Gordon’s economic stupidity nevertheless…

Alastair has long revelled in his macho, hard-man, Malcolm Tucker image. He has gone through four Iraq inquiries and he gave no ground at the latest Chilcot Inquiry. He has also dealt with the “beyond doubt” question many times.  Why did Marr’s mild interrogation unsettle him?  Was it a cynical, calculated act or is Al cracking up again?

Bad Al is also said to have groomed Gordon Brown for his Piers Morgan interview, where he too tears up and gets emotional. Are they going for the sympathy vote?  Three months before the election Brown is blubbing for the cameras, having always claimed he was a private man and criticising Cameron (and by implication Blair) for doing the touchy-feely stuff.  Are they trying to fake up some kind of emotional connection with voters to compensate at the last minute for Gordon’s lack of EQ?

Guido is on Nicky Campbell’s breakfast show tomorrow talking about this topic.  What do co-conspirators think?

UPDATE : Bad Al has just blogged that his “exasperation button” was pressed.

The Taxpayers’ Alliance has calculated that the three Labour MPs charged with theft from the taxpayers; Jim Devine, David Chaytor and Elliot Morley, will share between them a pay-off totalling £151,552 come election day.  They will also get generous gold-plated pensions. This is an outrageous piss-take.

Given that they are unlikely to have their day in Court before election day, the House of Commons should pass a resolution that any member facing criminal charges for financial impropriety should have payment of resettlement grants and pensions suspended until the result of the charges are known.  If found guilty they should lose all their pension rights.  They will still be drawing their parliamentary pay every month in any event.

This is what would happen to a servicemen or police officer who was found guilty of gross misconduct.  It would be bordering on obscene to expect the victims of the crime – taxpayers – to pay hundreds of thousands to those convicted of thieving from them.  Guido completely accepts the principle that these three are presumed innocent until proven guilty, but can see no legal reason why the payments can not be suspended until the Courts have resolved the issue.

Is there not one good MP who will put a motion to this effect before the House?

If you were not one of the 57,385 visitors viewing 381,867 pages over the last seven days, here are the seven most popular stories (in order of popularity) that you missed:

• Labour Will Have a Khrushchev Moment of Truth in the End
• Jim Devine Explains Everything
• Tim Yeo’s Green Networking in Parliament Pays Off
• Another Day, Another Fluffed Tory Announcement
• The Defendants
• Brown Under Pressure for Misleading House, Again
• Kirsty Makes NewsnightMore Exciting

You are either in front of Guido, or you’re behind…