Chris Huhne has hired John Kelsey Fry QC, the barrister who successfully defended Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp against accusations of tax evasion. In court today they were bailed over until May for an early October trial expected to last two weeks. So Huhne will cast a shadow over the LibDem party conference which precedes his trial.

Kelsey did manage to get Redknapp off his tax evasion charges by relying on a dog having a bank account. Can Huhne come up with a pet-related alibi, a shaggy dog-tale perhaps?