Been away? Well this memo prepared by the cross-party alliance who have hamstrung the Speaker – tells you everything you need to know about the row over who will be the new Clerk of the House of Commons and whether the job will be split:

Bercow will face scrutiny about what looks remarkably like dirty tricks in his attempt to install his preferred external candidate into the role:

“The internal candidates were given less notice of the presentation required and of its subject than the external candidates (the former on the Monday before interview, the latter the previous Friday). The external candidates were offered a briefing meeting with the Speaker as Chair of the Board; the Clerk candidates were not. Some of the questioning appears not to have accorded with best practice. It is also reported that the Speaker gave the panel the benefit of his personal views of the Clerk candidates. All this may be explored in Tribunal proceedings.”

Just ten days after twisting arms on the selection panel, he has backed down and realised just how much trouble he is in. It would appear he greatly underestimated his opponents…