For some reason Jim Devine has withdrawn his question to the Prime Mentalist which was first on the order paper for Wednesday’s PMQs following Guido’s highlighting of it yesterday.

Wonder if the whips told him to keep a low profile? He is after all still receiving the Labour whip…

Yesterday Dave had a go at the hidden hand in our democracy:

Now we all know that expenses has dominated politics for the last year. But if anyone thinks that cleaning up politics means dealing with this alone and then forgetting about it, they are wrong. Because there is another big issue that we can no longer ignore.  It is the next big scandal waiting to happen. It’s an issue that crosses party lines and has tainted our politics for too long, an issue that exposes the far-too-cosy relationship between politics, government, business and money.  I’m talking about lobbying – and we all know how it works. The lunches, the hospitality, the quiet word in your ear, the ex-ministers and ex-advisors for hire, helping big business find the right way to get its way…

We don’t know who is meeting whom. We don’t know whether any favours are being exchanged. We don’t know which outside interests are wielding unhealthy influence. This isn’t a minor issue with minor consequences. Commercial interests – not to mention government contracts – worth hundreds of billions of pounds are potentially at stake.  I believe that secret corporate lobbying, like the expenses scandal, goes to the heart of why people are so fed up with politics. It arouses people’s worst fears and suspicions about how our political system works, with money buying power, power fishing for money and a cosy club at the top making decisions in their own interest.

We can’t go on like this. I believe it’s time we shone the light of transparency on lobbying in our country and forced our politics to come clean about who is buying power and influence.  Politics should belong to people, not big business or big unions, and we need to sort this out. So if we win the election, we will take a lead on this issue by making sure that ex-ministers are not allowed to use their contacts and knowledge – gained while being paid by the public to serve the public – for their own private gain.

Anyone involved in politics knows that lobbyists infest politics, lobbyists become politicians, politicians become lobbyists.  It is a sordid underhand, undemocratic trade practised out of sight of the voters and taxpayers.  Ex-ministers having to wait an extra year before profiting from their inside contacts is a minor improvement.  In the interests of having a transparent democracy we need to move towards a system where all contact between those who are seeking to modify, hinder or help the passage of any legislation have to declare and register their contacts with politicians and civil servants.  Lobbyists are covertly subverting democracy, it should be a criminal offence.

Is Dave really up for taking on the lobbyists?  Guido so wants to believe he would.  However look at the new Tory benches and the new intake of PPCs. Lobbyists and former lobbyists easily outnumber all other trades.  Obama said much the same thing, before he appointed lobbyists to his administration…

How many times has Dave met power lobbyists like Matthew Freud, Alan Parker and Roland Rudd? We know he socialises with them, parties with them, holidays with them and even hops on their private jets. Is that a bit too cosy?

Newsnight took the Yeo ding-dong off iPlayer for some reason, so Guy News is rebroadcasting it.  Hit the full-screen button and enjoy our funky new them tune.

If you subscribed (for free) to the Guidogram, you would have seen this last week when it was released…

Guido is speaking at a Westminster Skeptics event tonight on whether political blogging actually makes – or will make – any difference to the course of UK political events. Guido’s view is that the question has already been answered.

This graphic from ConservativeHome’s survey of Tory PPCs illustrates where influence lies nowadays.  The next Prime Minister and Chancellor of Britain are avid readers of blogs. Does that signify influence, does that make a difference?

On the panel with Guido are ConservativeHome’s Jonathan Isaby, Comrade Hundal from Liberal Conspiracy and Mick Fealty from Slugger. The event will take place at The Old Monk Exchange pub just 100 yards away from St James Station.

Head charge of £2.  The panel discussion starts at 7.30pm. (Facebook event page is here.)

Award for the most obscure story in this morning’s papers has to go to The Telegraph. Apparently Gordon is cutting down his intake of Kit-Kats, and replacing them with bananas. Sources close to the Prime Minister’s snacking preparation confirmed that he will now only eat Kit-Kats when under “extreme-pressure”. So that must be fairly frequently then.

Gordon better watch out though, too many bananas can have a dangerous effect. Eating up to nine bananas a day, such as the Prime Mentalist is reported to be doing, can cause a build up of potassium.  This can cause gastrointestinal problems, kidney failure or even cardiac arrest.

It is not known whether David Miliband has decided to try a different type of coup.

Oral Questions to the Prime Minister

Unless otherwise indicated the Members listed below will ask a question without notice.

*1 Mr Jim Devine (Livingston): If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 10 February.

The papers are reporting an emergency EU meeting over Greece.  Gordon is attending despite the UK not being in the Euro.  At the end of last week Guido learnt that next week Gordon is scheduled to meet George Papandreou, the socialist Greek prime minister who has led his country to ruin. Perhaps they can compare notes or put in a joint application to the IMF?

Until the recent Irish austerity budget the financial world talked about the risk of the P.I.G.S. (Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain) defaulting on their sovereign debt. Now Ireland is controlling government spending with swingeing public sector cuts they are not being talked about so much. Attention has shifted to the S.T.U.P.I.D. countries: Spain, Turkey, UK, Portugual, Italy and Dubai. These are the countries the City now fears to be at risk of sovereign default.

ZeroHedge has created a S.T.U.P.I.D. index, which they are charting, it is a Credit Default Swap index, so bad news means the chart goes up.  For the record, Guido thinks there is no chance of the U.K. defaulting because we still control our own currency, though losing our AAA credit rating and devaluing is a very real possibility.  The market is pricing in the credit risk from Gordon’s economic stupidity nevertheless…

Alastair has long revelled in his macho, hard-man, Malcolm Tucker image. He has gone through four Iraq inquiries and he gave no ground at the latest Chilcot Inquiry. He has also dealt with the “beyond doubt” question many times.  Why did Marr’s mild interrogation unsettle him?  Was it a cynical, calculated act or is Al cracking up again?

Bad Al is also said to have groomed Gordon Brown for his Piers Morgan interview, where he too tears up and gets emotional. Are they going for the sympathy vote?  Three months before the election Brown is blubbing for the cameras, having always claimed he was a private man and criticising Cameron (and by implication Blair) for doing the touchy-feely stuff.  Are they trying to fake up some kind of emotional connection with voters to compensate at the last minute for Gordon’s lack of EQ?

Guido is on Nicky Campbell’s breakfast show tomorrow talking about this topic.  What do co-conspirators think?

UPDATE : Bad Al has just blogged that his “exasperation button” was pressed.