Gordon came into office promising change with an end to spin and a return to the primacy of parliament with government announcements made first in the House, not on the Today programme.

The E-borders deal (worth £500m, £650m, or £1.2bn, depending on whether you believe the Sun, the Mirror, or the Home Office) was announced not on the Regulatory News Service, or via a statement to the House of Commons, but at the bottom of a story in the Sun, in an article by one G. Brown.

Market sensitive information, put out in a tabloid. So much for “change”…