LibDem MP for Solihull Lorely Burt has given her husband a parliamentary pass. On first inspection this might not be such a big deal and many members give their spouses access to their offices without actually employing them, however any passholder is obliged to declare their outside interests. Mr Burt has not done this.

Now Mr Burt is not a man of leisure, far from it. He is in fact the Campaign Director of the non APPC registered BTP Advisors who seemingly have a lot of interests down in West Africa. Mr Burt even boasts of the work he has done for the LibDems in his own bio and plays up his connections to Parliament in an attempt to woo clients. He is less keen to big himself up in the parliamentary passholders’ register though. Why? Mrs Burt’s office claim that it’s a cock-up that he is on the staff list, and said Mr Burt didn’t need declare his interests as he had a spouse pass. All very convenient.

The sob story nearly worked – the jury were sent back after failing to find a verdict and spent six hours deliberating.

Taylor has now been bailed pending sentencing.

There won’t be a lighter sentence for pleading guilty for Taylor…

Brown popped up to represent his constituents in Kirkcaldy on the American news channel CNBC earlier. Guido is sure Ed Balls was as happy as he was to see him. Given Osborne has spent the last six years systematically trashing Gordon Brown’s reputation, it must hurt when he is compared to the old Prime Mentalist. However there are those that suggest the two have more in common than just recent appearances, particularly in regard to the politicisation of the Treasury. It’s not every day that you get such a clear comparison though. Who was it that said:

“Then we had a terrible month of weather which hindered transport and communications in business in the country.Obviously it has been a difficult few months. But that just shows just how fragile the recovery is.”

Yep, Gordon Brown in April 2010 blaming the less than encouraging rise in growth on the snow rather than his own taxation policy. Surely Osborne wouldn’t follow suit…

Ed Balls gave a point blank denial to Brillo that he had ever criticised Darling’s plans to halve the deficit on the Daily Politics. As you can see, the Shadow Chancellor has barely been able contain his glee at the frosty numbers, but he seems to have forgotten exactly what he told Bloomberg in his pitch for job:

“I told Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling in 2009 that – whatever the media clamour at the time – even trying to halve the deficit in four years was a mistake. The pace was too severe to be credible or sustainable.”

Just like he never briefed behind anyone’s back…

The half-point fall in GDP has serious political ramifications. If we get a second quarter of what Gordon Brown would call “negative growth” we will be in recession. Ed Balls will have been proved right and George Osborne’s credibility will be shattered. One policy change could prevent that happening. Suspend the VAT hike.

The short-term political hit of executing a u-turn versus the wrecking of the long-term mission to cut the deficit is a calculation that George Osborne won’t like to make. He is touring the studios saying that he “won’t be blown off course by bad weather”. The trouble is he is making the bad weather with this VAT hike.

The VAT hike depresses GDP growth, adds to already rampant inflation and hits the poorest hardest. If GDP in this forthcoming quarter is slightly negative, he’ll have only himself to blame. Why maintain a tax hike that suppresses the very consumer spending necessary for growth?

Everyone hates snow.

Today is the day that Tom Watson predicted Andy Coulson would resign. He was clearly woefully inaccurate, out by 96 hours, but then he also said it would be over by Christmas. In the same long rambling piece from a couple of weeks ago, Watson suggested that the same excellent source told him the Cameron was planning to go to the country in May. Needless to say most people dismissed the idea immediately, and they are highly likely to be right, however since Watson’s Coulson tip nearly came true, Guido has been thinking. The CCHQ research department has been restocked after being raided for SpAds, the press office has been boosted by the unexpected return of Henry Macrory and the digital team is beefing up. Are they on a war footing?

The LibDems would be obliterated by an early election and Miliband has not had enough time to settle into the role, so you can see the logic. The only problem being that Dave doesn’t want to obliterate the LibDems.

UPDATE: Eagle-eyed commenters notice that Political Betting suggested yesterday that Tom Watson’s source should be revisted. Guido hadn’t seen the piece, it was the jobs in CCHQ that got him thinking, but they do point out another factor – the Tories are certainly the only ones who could afford an election.

John Bercow’s political journey is now complete. Newsnight reports that the Speaker has allowed Gerry Adams to resign his seat without taking up one of the ceremonial Crown positions that every other MP wanting to quit has had to do. In wanting to avoid giving the republican a headache, Bercow has altered the British constitution forever . It is now possible, following this precedent, for any MP to walk away with a simple letter to the Speaker.

Guido wonders what Bercow’s old singing companions from the Rangers supporters club would have to say about him sparing Adams the humiliation…