Guido has heard that it was made clear to Steve Morgan, Peter Hain’s sleazy campaign manager, that this year he was not welcome at the recent Welsh Labour Party conference. Guido has checked with the Labour Party press office and they will only confirm that Morgan did not attend. (Nor incidentally did the disgraced former Secretary of State for Wales).

That is a little strange for a man who likes to think of himself as an important Welsh Labour Party mover and shaker, usually he can be found glad handing and ingratiating himself with the Welsh Labour Party’s big-wigs in the bars. Wonder why he didn’t attend? Why miss out on all those photo and client-opportunities?

Could it be that he was a little embarrassed about his efforts on behalf of Hillary Clinton? Surely not. Could it be that despite all the spin from Morgan Allen Moore about the lobbyist industry’s APPC professional standards investigation going nowhere, it is getting seriously embarrassing for Morgan?

Morgan spun a line to the public affairs trade press that the complaint had been lodged by an aggrieved Tory ex-employee and would go nowhere. However when the APPC Management Committee met on 5 February they concluded there was a cause for complaint and referred it to the APPC’s Professional Practices Panel.

International spin merchants Grayling were rumoured to be on the verge of a multi-million pound takeover deal for MAM until this scandal blew-up and they pulled out days before the deal was to be agreed. Grayling were one of the founders of the APPC. Guido tried to get confirmation from David Thomas, Grayling’s finance director, without success…