Yesterday’s broadcast of the Politics Show had Blair on, and someone who would have been familiar to him, his former speech writer. Though perhaps not familiar to the Beeboid staffer who compiles the credits. Apparently they tried to get the Education Secretary on the show too late, everyone knows You Can’t Hurry Gove. That’s Just the Way It Is…

UPDATE: In the comments Bill Quango MP, one of the blog’s favourite co-conspirators, points out the Beeboid got YAB’s MBE wrong, she sent it back over some imperialist outrage or another.

It does not sit easy knowing David Cameron’s constituency chairman Christopher Shale had multiple contacts with Downing Street before his “unascertained”, suspected heart-attack, at Glastonbury. We await toxicology reports…

It is claimed that Shale was told not to worry about the leak by Dave’s spin-mistress, Gabby Bertin, and that he also spoke to others. Given the varying accounts that emerged last week regarding Mark Pritchard and what a friendly chat from No.10 can consist of, there are still questions looming.

What was said on the phone, we will never know, but Guido has got hold of the full memo that was the basis for James Forsyth’s Mail on Sunday report. The plans were meant to be unveiled on Tuesday 6, October, the day after “DC’s” conference speech. Sad that this might have been the last thing he ever discussed. 

Just as the LibDem’s attempt to spin that Huhne was out of the woods was beginning to take hold, he’s smashed straight into a tree and gone through the windscreen, his career once again looking like a slow-motion car-crash. As Guido suggested, a thorough police investigation could not have taken place without getting hold of the taped conversation in which Huhne orders his estranged wife to partake in a cover-up, and the document she signed promising to support her allegations in court. A court order has now demanded that be handed over.

The Sunday Times are said to be “considering an appeal”, but that strikes Guido as somewhat unlikely, given how big a story it would be for them if these two pieces of evidence were the final nail in the coffin for the slippery Secretary of State. Sources have suggested that the wind has once again changed direction and doubts about Huhne’s future in government have returned to mid May-levels. Olly Grender has been very quiet today.

Dermot Murnaghan pushed a favourite question on his Sky News show yesterday morning. He forced Sadiq Khan down the awkward “is Miliband Michael Foot?” avenue. As you can see the Shadow Justice secretary’s answer was a full, frank and rousing defence of his leader:

“Look at the two most recent opposition leaders who have gone on to become Prime Ministers, Tony Blair brilliantly done, became leader in 1994, a number of years, 15 years after we had been kicked out of power.  David Cameron himself became leader of the Conservatives in 2005, eight years after they…”

No wonder the one time confidant and campaign manager is now considered a liability by Ed’s team…

Ever the strategist, Ken Livingstone calls the LibDems:

“a venal sub-species…”

Guido couldn’t quite believe it when he saw one of the Sundays had been briefed that the government is preparing a ban on the practice of paying union officials out of the taxpayer purse. However when he saw that Mad Frankie Maude had floated the idea in all of the broadsheets, he was more than a little chuffed. Guido has been campaigning on this issue for months, starting with the big-mouth of the delectable Nurse Pilgrim in Tooting, and taking the campaign all the way to the Prime Minister. It looks like it’s getting some real traction. The public don’t like it, and it seems someone is listening.

As the first wave of strikes look set to begin on Thursday, Guido hears that PCS boss Mark Serwotka (£86,244 + £25,441 pension + 1,076 housing allowance pa,) wanted to rally his troops in the Department of Communities and Local Government. Whitehall sources say his request to come in and encourage members to walk out on Thursday was flatly rejected by Pickles. Apparently the slap hasn’t gone down well…

Team Miliband has earned plaudits for promising to end elections to Labour’s shadow cabinet team. There has been an outbreak of support for Labour’s version of the Führerprinzip from all corners. While this may put a block on the more loony elements of the Labour left getting into the shadow cabinet, perversely it may increase the control of the unions. They put Ed Miliband into office and they pay the Labour Party’s bills.

He who pays the piper calls the tunes: Miliband will not be able to resist demands from union bosses for their placemen to be in the Labour cabinet. Unite already have a well developed programme of putting their approved candidates on the parliamentary list. They will soon be able to control the composition of cabinet. No wonder Labour is too craven to stand against children being locked out of schools with single-parents being forced to lose income staying at home to care for their children. Union-owned politicians are not in the public interest.