What happens in the Strangers’ Bar stays in Strangers’  Bar, or so they like to think. That rule goes out the window though if you’re a Labour MP who gives a Tory colleague “a Glasgow kiss”. Labour’s Eric Joyce was nicked last night after apparently headbutting Tory MP Stuart Andrew.

Witnesses tell Guido he “just kicked off” and start flailing shouting “There are too many Tories in the bar”. Tory councillor Luke MacKenzie got punched while trying to break things up. Guido is trying to work out what triggered it all and you can whisper what you know here.

Aside from one too many taxpayer subsidised pints of course…

UPDATE: Joyce wasn’t the only politico arrested last night. West Midlands MEP Nikki Sinclaire, who was forced out of UKIP, was arrested in Birmingham for conspiracy to defraud the EU Parliament.

Congratulations are in order to Toby Young who has landed the much coveted role of political columnist at the Sun on Sunday, which will likely mean that he will be the most read political columnist in the country. With Speccie editor Fraser Nelson now writing a column for the Telegraph, the Speccie contributor has effectively filled his bosses’ old Screws slot. Toby has apparently written about his new gig in the magazine tomorrow…

UPDATE: This could get spicy:

https://twitter.com/#!/vincentmoss/statuses/172382036215083008

UPDATE II: Slight amendment to the headline via @TimGattITV

Alan Milburn is not even trying to hide his membership of the reality based community any more. He tells tomorrow’s Staggers:

“The truth is this: the era of big public spending is over. Austerity is the new normal. It is not a temporary phenomenon. It will become permanent. Fiscal conservatism is the order of the day.”

His party colleagues should listen to him…

https://twitter.com/#!/IsabelOakeshott/status/172352766952472577

See also: Is Huhne a Psycho?

To Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, where at last night’s meeting Councillor Ann Holland, a Labour member for Droylsden West, was turning on the rhetoric:

“Where did Prince Phillip go when he was ill? Where did David Cameron go with his sick child? The NHS. Where did Margaret Thatcher go for her eyes – I dearly wish she’d go blind, but she went to the NHS.”  

The Leader of the Council, Kieran Quinn, tried to distance the council from her comments saying:

“We do wish her well and do not support any of those comments regarding her health.”

During this an enraged Ann Holland shouted “you don’t speak for me!” at her comrade. What a charmer!

Guido has spoken to multiple people in the room who confirm these quotes. He just got off the phone with Ann who refused to deny saying these things. After quizzing Guido on his sources she said “no comment… I have nothing to say. I’m going now.” Going, going…

“Why isn’t this government carrying on the precedents started by the previous government” squawked Burnham in the House a moment ago. Apparently this Risk Register is not the same as Labour’s Risk Register in 2009. If that is the case,  it is odd then that the reasons officials gave for not releasing the two Registers are remarkably similar. Almost as if they were written by the same civil servant.

Here is Lansley’s answer:

“Whilst conscious that there will be public interest in the contents of the Department’s Risk Register and assessments being made freely available, the public interest in preserving the ability of officials to engage in discussions of policy options and risks without apprehension that suggested courses of action may be held up to public or media scrutiny before they have been fully developed or evaluated has also been taken into account.”

And here is Burnham’s from 2009:

“Whilst we are conscious that there will be public interest in the contents of the Strategic Risk Register being made freely available, we have also taken into account the public interest in preserving the ability of officials to engage in discussions of policy options and risks without apprehension that suggested courses of action may be held up to public or media scrutiny before they have been fully developed or evaluated. “

Has Burnham forgotten his former position? Well yes it would appear he has. Health sources were most amused yesterday when a worried Burnham called the department’s civil servants to check whether he did indeed approve a decision not to publish his Risk Register. Whoops…