The real treasurer of the Labour party is Lord Levy, Jack Dromey (a.k.a Mr Harman) has the title on his business card, but admits that he knows nothing about what is going on and that the real money is raised via No. 10.

Levy first came to Blair’s attention in the mid-90s, when he was introduced to the then leader of the opposition by an Israeli diplomat, the ex-music business accountant went on to raise £7m for Blair’s “blind” trust that ran his office. That trust was closed amid allegations about the lack of blindness of the trust and the rewards that went to suppposedly anonymous donors.

The level of coincidence between getting a 7-figure shakedown from Levy and a peerage by return post is approaching mathematical certainty. Levy is certainly adept at manipulating money, the Bentley driving millionaire managed famously to get his tax bill down to £5,000 one year (a fact he went to court to suppress being published by the Sunday Times – and lost). Jack Dromey has timed his intervention well, Blair is looking a bit wobbly today and an extra round of Downing Street sleaze stories will not help. A cynic might wonder if Jack Dromey is not positioning to ingratiate himself with the left-wing union where his future beckons.

Labour sleaze is of a different order to the Tory sleaze of old. The figures are of a different order and the money sloshing about went through No. 10, with the knowledge of the PM he admitted today. Neither Thatcher nor Major would ever have got involved in rattling the begging tin so directly.

N.B. Google now has a mere 115,000 references to “Tory Sleaze” versus 485,000 references to “Labour Sleaze“.