In a code that Guido has managed to decipher, Alan Milburn said it would be ‘an enormous privilege’ to lead the party. That suggestion pisses off supporters of the Chancellor, who regard their man as having bagsied the top job whenever it becomes available. ‘It would be an enormous privilege to be Labour leader, but there isn’t a vacancy’, Mr Milburn said at a fringe event last night, adding: ‘Who knows what the future is going to bring?’

Tough code eh? Are the Blairites deliberately using Milburn to wind up Brown, to focus his ire away from Blair?