The BBC understands that the Tory MP who was arrested and has now been bailed is Andrew Bridgen MP for Leicestershire North West—
BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) June 09, 2011

We found the taxman doling out our hard-earned cash to the grateful Indian spaceman watched over by a rather chippy Cafod staffer. India remains the biggest recipient of British development aid, having received more than £800 million over the last three years. allowing it to equip an aircraft carrier, run a nuclear weapons programme and make progress on India’s ambitious space programme. We saw no sign of the newly hired Cafod lobbyist for foreign aid, Damian McBride…

Red Ed saw another bandwagon he could jump on at his press conference on Monday. He lashed out at “financiers who creamed off millions”, blaming them for the near collapse of the UK’s largest care-home provider Southern Cross, which is laying of thee thousand staff as it cannot afford its £250 million rent bill. American investors Blackstone made a £134.5m profit from their sale of the company in 2007. As they held their shares for two years after floating the business, they only had to pay Capital Gains Tax on 25% of this profit, which worked out at £33.6m. If they had paid CGT at the usual 40% rate on 100% of the gain, they would have had a tax bill of £53.8m – £40.4m higher than they paid. But who was it that enabled them to “cream off millions”?

In April 1998, the government introduced taper relief for business assets, whereby the CGT rate was charged on only a proportion of the gain made from the disposal of an asset. In 2002, the Treasury increased this taper. Rather than a taper of 50% for a business asset held for two complete years, it was reduced to 25%. And who was running the show while these changes were thought up and implemented? 

Please step forward Treasury Special Advisers Edward Miliband (1997 -2002) and Edward Balls (1997 – 2004).

Cafod, Oxfam, Action Aid and other assorted campaign groups have put together a little jamboree in Westminster where activists are demanding that the international aid budget goes up from 0.7% to 1%. At a time when the UK can’t even afford an aircraft carrier, most people are baffled by the idea of giving our money to nuclear powers like India and Pakistan.  But at least they appreciate it right?

A spaceman from the Indian Space Research Organisation came along to say thank you to the taxman…

UPDATE: Guido and the spaceman were escorted out of the building so we were unable to speak with Cafod’s new comms hire Damian McBride. Nor could we hear Andrew Mitchell boast how much hard-earned taxpayers’ cash he is exporting to corrupt Mercedes-driving aid recipients.

After the government threw down the gauntlet to the unions yesterday, regarding their taxpayer funded staff, the bruvvers have kicked off in an appropriately pig-headed style. The GMB’s eloquent and inspiring Brian Strutton frothed last night:

“All trade union representatives have a statutory right to time off for trade union duties, which includes providing representation in grievances and disciplinary matters where individuals have a legal right to representation.”

Granted, but the taxpayer shouldn’t be shortchanged by such activity. The unions should pick up the cost of time lost and under no circumstances should it be full-time. 

“Bob Neill is either ignorant of the realities of trade union work or he is deliberately pedalling an anti-union line which is totally unjustified. I would suspect that Mr Neill’s action amounts to unlawful victimisation of trade union representatives and I’ll be taking legal advice on this.”

Go ahead and waste your money, the legal advice will point out that what Neill said was protected by parliamentary privilege, and believe it not, most people would rather see their hard-earned money being spent on front-line services instead of lining the union pockets. It’s war…

Yesterday morning Boris joined the police on a drug raid. The suspect was a little surprised to see him:

“What the f**k are you doing here?”

The Daily Mirror seems to have decided Ed Miliband is a loser. Even at the end of the dark, sad days of the Brown tyranny the Mirror loyally claimed every day that the sun shone out of his fiscal black hole. The paper still bashes the Tories with relish but it betrays no enthusiasm for the Labour leader. Kevin Maguire is, between breaks from appearing on GMTV and Rupert Murdoch’s Sky News, the Mirror’s political editor. Despairing of Ed he seems to have dropped his usual panglossian prose.

On Monday he tweeted from the GMB union’s conference “90.8% of union activists at GMB Congress think Ed Miliband should do better. No jokes please about other 9.2%”. It was the GMB which put Ed Miliband’s picture on the envelope containing the ballot slips that saw him scrape in past his brother David on the back of union votes. If the GMB paymasters no longer back Ed he is in real trouble.

Yesterday our Kev’ was gutted after Miliband bombed at PMQs:

“Cameron escaped PMQs. Miliband should’ve had U-turn Dave begging for mercy. But didn’t.. Cameron should play Monopoly with Sam tonight to use that “Get Out of Jail Free” card from Miliband at PMQs.”

Last week Maguire ominously warned Ed over plans to water down union influence:

Young Miliband’s picking a ­needless fight if he insults loyal members and treats steadfast unions like lepers. The lifeblood of Labour is its members and they deserve to be heard clearly, not muted or ignored.

Maguire has always been in the Balls camp and is a drinking buddy of Damian McBride, who is now back in Westminster lobbying for more taxes to be sent overseas in foreign aid. The old gang seem to be readying to do what they do best: undermine a Labour Party leader.