When did Patrick Stewart get his OBE? Not a trick question for Trekkie fans, it just came to mind when Guido reflected on that strange begging email Labour sent out yesterday. With New Labour nowadays anything is possible, so an email from a multi-millionaire based in Los Angeles asking for money for the party is no surprise to Guido.

As an actor whose work stretches from science fiction to Shakespeare, I am often asked why I am Labour. No matter how many times the question is put to me, it always takes me by surprise. I could not imagine being anything else.

He got his OBE in 2001 on Blair’s recommendation after he had donated £120,000 to Labour funds. Guido could not imagine anything else.

Francis Maude tells The Guardian about one of Blair’s great achievements;

The whole thing about David being a privileged Etonian hasn’t got any traction at all. John Prescott tried to make it run, stuff about ‘Bring back the class war’. What he failed to understand was one of the great achievements of New Labour is to take class out of politics.

What were the others Francis?

The Guardian has been passed the idiot notes or “Top Lines” prepared by Labour officials for the Labour leadership attending Wednesday’s local election campaign launch, including Blair, Brown and Prescott to spin to the media. At the event in the end they did not risk media questions. The two journalists say they got it from Brown’s people – Guido applauds Oliver King and David Hencke for saying that, something the more lickspittle lobby journalists should do rather than lazily “protecting their sources”. That phrase usually means the journalist is effectively an unpaid spinner for one faction or another.

King & Hencke focus on the arrogance of the Labour attitude to the police investigation – basically the bottom line of the Top Lines is “they can’t touch us”. We’ll see about that, Guido thinks Yates of the Yard is made of the right stuff, he won’t be spun like a hack.

Something missed in the King & Hencke report was a blatant lie in the briefing -To this day Labour has not revealed who provided the millions of pounds to finance the “blind” trusts operated by Blair, Brown, Prescott and Beckett during the late 90s. As we have seen with the expose of Levy‘s more recent Downing Street funding operation, the real big money comes via extra-party routes. The Labour Party revealed donations above £5,000 that went directly into the party coffers, but not who gave the many millions that financed the New Labour machine in its earliest days. We can easily guess which of the 292 peers Blair has created where donors, but why should we? Why doesn’t Labour fully declare all the people who who gave donations to the secret trusts?

If you want to ask Cameron a question for tomorrow lunchtime you can here. It will be webcasted live tomorrow here from 1.15pm.

Indy columnist Michael Brown was a Tory MP exposed by Mazher Mahmood for going on holiday with a twenty year old man. The Fake Sheik plied a young friend with alcohol, gave a bribe of £10,000 and stole some holiday snaps to get his story.

Michael Brown was forced to resign. He is ecstatic to see Mahmood exposed. The News of the Screws has just sent around a begging letter to editors emphasising the risks Mahmood faces if they print his picture. Like the Judge said, the risk is he won’t be able to expose teenage soapstars indiscretions if his picture becomes well known.

They have caved in. So bloggers are vindicated, Mahmood made a fool of himself and that is that. Galloway will of course be insufferable.

Guido wonders can gagging injunctions work in a world with millions of citizen publishers? Secrets are difficult to keep when one person can broadcast to the world. Interesting. Pledgebank could be very useful in the future as well.

UPDATE : If you received the Gagging Order you may have a case for claiming costs. Undertaking (1) specifies “If the court later finds that this order has caused loss to the Respondents, and that the Respondents should be compensated for that loss, the Applicant will comply with any order the court may make”. The respondents were Galloway and his sidekick Ron McKay, but arguably if you were given the notice the same may apply to you. Guido didn’t go to the trouble of removing any pictures (oops) so can’t really claim. Recess Monkey charges a monstrous hourly rate and must have spent some time on his removal of the picture. Undertaking (6) specifies “If this Order ceases to have effect the Applicant will immediately take all reasonable steps to inform in writing anyone to whom he has given notice of this Order, or who he has reasonable grounds for supposing may act upon this Order, that it has ceased to have effect”. The Judge directed Mahmood’s solicitors and you can all accordingly expect to receive a grovelling letter.