At the urging of Ed Balls, David Bell, the Permanent Secretary in the Department for Education has ordered a leak inquiry which has sent his department into semi-paralysis. First thing to realise is that the desks and personal effects of ministers are cleared before a new administration comes in. So the source can not be political if we accept at face value Balls is telling the truth that the last he saw of the documents was in his old office. We know better than to accept anything Balls says at face value.

Could it be a civil servant? Why would Ed Balls, a secretive plotter by nature, leave such incendiary evidence lying around for civil servants to pinch. It shows that a PM had plotted against the former PM. Guido’s instinct is that this comes from within the Labour Party…

UPDATE: A source close to Gove tells Guido: “Like with Sharon Shoesmith, Ed Balls is pathetically trying to blame officials. He should ask his best friend Damian McBride how these things get leaked.” Ouch…