Despite her obvious desire to reclaim the money owed to her, Mercer’s mistress Sarah Coyle wasn’t seeking publicity. She certainly didn’t sell her story to the Mail on Sunday. She did approach the Conservative Whips though to see if they could intervene to see that Mercer coughed up after getting cold feet on leaving his wife, for the second time. As Guido mentioned earlier he refused to leave his wife, despite Coyle being £8,000 down from establishing the love nest. How did the story get out though?

Emerging from the Whips meeting who did Sarah see strolling down the corridor deep in conversation? None other than Mercer…

Coyle could not restrain herself from berating Mercer in front of his companion, who, sadly for the wandering Member, happened to be a Mail on Sunday journalist…

Another week and another headache for the beleaguered Defence Secretary. Neo-Con head-bangers the Atlantic Bridge have been slammed by the Charity Commission for their close ties to the Tories. Set up by Fox in 2003, like the Smith Institute and Labour, they never really made any attempt to hide their political affiliations. Quite how they thought could get away with endorsing the Conservatives and maintain their neutral status beggars-belief.

The “charity” has been given a year to play by the rules or lose that all important status and the tax break it brings…

Vince Cable wakes up and says: “Government is not fun.”

‘Tis a hard life – not many men could nip into their office, produce £4,000 from the safe and pop it into an envelope – with the (so far unfulfilled) promise of more to come, moments after being confronted by their spurned lover. But then not every cheating husband is an MP.

Step forward Patrick Mercer, who the Mail revealed this weekend got cold feet about ditching his wife for another Member’s secretary. Funnily enough, Mercer’s own £15,000pa “Junior Caseworker” wasn’t in the office at the time. What with her, coincidently, being his spurned spouse, Cait.

Mercer has employed his wife in dubious circumstances since 2001. With his novels and the thousands he takes off of shady security firms The Olive Group and Red Amber, quite why he needs to pay his wife for what appears to be very little work remains a mystery. The £135,000 he has paid her in the last nine years has not been ”scientifically calculated” in terms of hours worked, and indeed many have questioned quite what her role actually is…

In what can only be described as a shrewd move, David Miliband twisted the knife a little further and went round to Bigot-gate star Mrs Duffy’s house for a wee chat. She helped kick Brown saying:

“I felt David really listened to my points of view and shared my concerns on the issues that matter to working people.”

Whose idea was that?

Gordon Brown’s as-yet-untitled tome on why he was right about everything and the nasty Tories got the global financial crisis all wrong will be published in November by Simon & Schuster. The fact all the profits will be donated to charity does not excuse the fact the taxpayer will be picking up the tab while Gordon taps the keys.

He is said to be churning out some 10,000 words per day, while moonlighting as a part-time MP. Despite popping into Westminster occasionally, he has entered the House he was elected to just twice since resigning as Prime Minister. Without a Member voting on their behalf, the people of Kirkcaldy are completely disenfranchised.

Gordon told Laura Kuenssberg at the weekend that he will remain an MP, but what use is he to his constituents?

My Constituents are ‘Primitives
Who Hold Their Trousers Up with Bits of Twine’
Rory Stewart MP