Sometimes it’s impossible for a politician to avoid the Hague Rule – never get photographed in a hat:

An old favourite of Ed, but there’s a touch of Berlusconi to Dave in Delhi  today.

Biographer and chronicler of the Brown years, Anthony Seldon, has a damning letter to Ed Balls in tomorrow’s New Statesman:

“The time has come for you to fall on your sword.

After 20 unbroken years at the heart of politics, quitting in the next few months until, say, 2017 would undoubtedly benefit your leader, your party, your wife and even yourself. Let me explain.

Ed Miliband would be a much stronger leader without you. Forgive me, but you stop Ed breathing fresh air.

With you close to him, his breath will always be stale and smell of a toxic brand. Without a prolonged period out of the public eye, neither you nor the party will ever rid yourselves of the opportunistic, negative and bullying image of the Gordon era.

Without you, Labour could present itself as a clean party, free of the factionalism and brutalism that so tarnished it when Brown was boss and you were his consigliere.

If Labour loses in 2015, you will be blamed and your career will be damaged beyond repair. If it wins, you would return to the front bench in 2017 a redeemed and respected figure. You might even one day become leader, your long-held ambition.”

Worth noting that Balls’ version of his 10p tax debate with Gordon differs markedly from what Seldon claimed in his book. A dangerously respected critic for Balls.

Via @politicshomeuk

I'm sorry to say that I won't be returning from maternity leave to edit guardian.co.uk/law, as that job has been abolished…—
Ros Taylor (@rosamundmtaylor) February 20, 2013

Rosamund Taylor, the now former editor of Guardian law, has been literally left holding the baby.

Prince Philip to a Filipino nurse earlier:

“The Philippines must be half empty – you’re all here running the NHS.”

Meet Glynn Davies-Dear, the weirdy-beardy former LibDem mayor of Eastleigh who has jumped ship to UKIP ahead of next-week’s by-election.

“Why did I leave the LibDems? I left in disgust at the lies and the broken promises. The Liberal Democrats no longer care about the people, they only care about themselves.”

Former LibDem councillor Andy Moore has also crossed the divide this afternoon. Ouch.

UPDATE: Amusingly he appears on a leaflet for Maria Hutchings.

@WikiGuido @GuidoFawkes But also features on the Tory leaflet for Maria Hutchings: ow.ly/i/1ylXs—
Stace (@stackee) February 20, 2013

Not only could the jury not understand the English language,  they also failed to reach a verdict.

Over to the CPS to decide if they want a retrial…

UPDATE: Vicky Pryce will face retrial next Monday. Unlikely now that Huhne will be sentenced before the by-election. Big blow for the Tories.

George needs to find a billion pounds fast – what would you do…

Party funding figures for the last quarter are out. Excluding public money, between October and December last year the Tories received £3,309,109 in donations, Labour £2,592,885 and the LibDems just £570,959. The three biggest donors were Unite, Unison and the GMB, who funnelled over £1.5 million of their gold to you know who. Things don’t change…

Explosive row on LBC earlier as IDS went head to head with their resident lefty James O’Brien over the workfare scheme.

14 hours of deliberations later and Mr Justice Sweeney has agreed to accept a majority verdict on which at least ten agree. He is giving answers to ten pretty extraordinary questions the jury asked him yesterday.

Getting closer…