James Murdoch has given the British establishment another lesson in mid-Atlantic business speak this morning. The long drawn out discussion has thrown up some interesting snippets so far. Not least was the discussion around a Christmas dinner foolishly attended by the Prime Minister at Rebekah Brooks’ house, which Guido broke a day before the Guardian claimed the scoop. You read it right here first…

Murdoch Jr. confessed that the BSkyB bid had come up at said dinner: “It was a tiny side conversation, it was not a discussion.” Which is somewhat different to what government spinners have said previously. A nervous No.10 will be thinking it could have been a lot worse, but this is still a potential breach of the Ministerial Code as Labour pointed out at the time.

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt was not so lucky though. Murdoch coughed that Hunt was essentially his back-channel point man for the deal after Vince Cable made clear that a meeting was not going to happen. The chief inquisitor Mr Jay called him Hunt a “cheerleader” and his statements made to the Commons on the matter are looking a little shaky this afternoon…

UPDATE: Rumour reaches Guido that correspondence between Hunt, his SpAds and the Murdochs in regard to BSkyB will be published by the inquiry later. It is said to be very bad news for Hunt.

UPDATE II: Hundreds of pages of emails will be released covering conversations with Hunt’s staff and Murdoch staff. At 4pm…

After Guido suggested here last week that it was rather odd that a member of the Labour Party Executive board and deputy Chief of Staff to the leader had managed to breeze into the candidacy for a nominally safe Labour seat, Lucy Powell has resigned from both her roles. Funny that she didn’t think it was appropriate to do so before her stitched up selection…

Russell Brand has been talking drug legalisation at the Home Affairs Select Committee this morning. On the way out he said “Theresa May’s up next, check she knows what day it is…” That sort of public humiliation for a Home Secretary this close to a reshuffle must be doubly uncomfortable… 

While all eyes are on a different courtroom this morning, the inquest into a the dead spook in a bag has already taken a fiction worthy turn of events. Channel Four reported last night, but have not written up on their website, the evidence submitted to the inquiry by the estate agent who managed the Pimlico pad where Gareth Williams was found dead and locked in a bag, saying it was rented from a company in St Hellier by an unnamed Secretary of State in September 2003. MI6 reports to the Foreign Secretary – if the flat was leased by anyone else then this will look very dodgy…

Jack Straw was Foreign Secretary at the time, and what with being sued for allegedly clearing extraordinary rendition, this is yet another very awkward headache for the elder statesman. It’s not yet come out whether the lease was transferred to subsequent Foreign Secretaries, but tongues are wagging…

Miliband talks up Ken’s chances in Prospect magazine:

“You know, we’ll see.” 

Bob Crow, the RMT union boss hated by London’s commuters, has put the union’s money behind an attempt to stop the “Not Ken Again“ advertising posters attacking Ken’s cronyism. He is wasting the RMT’s money because all the evidence is that he is Ken’s crony.

Team Ken have deliberately tried to keep London hate-figure Crow and his militant transport union out of the picture at all times during the campaign. Above is a mock-up of what would happen on May 4 if Londoners “Got Ken Again”.

The RMT boss is trying to get the crony posters blocked, yet Ken’s candidate for deputy mayor Val Shawcross is a member of the RMT and supports their strikes. During Livingstone’s first term Bob Crow served on the Transport for London board he chaired between 2002 and 2004. The records show ‘the chair welcomed Bob Crow to his first board meeting’. The favour was well received, last year Crow told LBC “I’ve never been apart from Ken. We have differences like I have with my brother and sister but overall, Ken’s a good bloke. Give us a shout Ken when you want some money”. Spoken like a true crony.

UPDATE: With perfect timing the RMT are planning to go on strike this afternoon.