That “source close to Maria Miller” is undertaking another round of her own particular brand of crisis management. The new suggestion is that Mary MacLeod – PPS to the Culture Secretary – was acting on her own back when she texted MPs asking them to support her boss while citing Leveson and appeared in a crash interview with Kay Burley on Sky News:

MacLeod was confronted on air with Guido’s text scoop and resorted to smears and innuendo about Miller’s kids, and claimed that Miller had been cleared on all counts. Which is just a blatant misspeak.

“She wasn’t acting under instruction” says Special Adviser Jo Hindley, adding mystically “lots of MPs have gone on the telly to support Maria”. Guido must have missed that.

Are we seriously expected to believe that MacLeod went out to bat via text and telly on a whim? Hindley has not replied when asked if her, or Maria, had spoken to MacLeod today.

Guido is just going flag up that he thinks this is BS.