Following discussions with the Metropolitan Police, the Electoral Commission has decided to suspend temporarily its enquiries into past loans to political parties pending the outcome of the related police investigation. The Commission is therefore postponing further discussions with the parties on this matter.

Anti-Blairite pressure group Compass are getting excited and planning for the post-Blair era – they are having a conference where they will “shape and influence a manifesto to change our world over the next 20 years.” Twenty more years? Guido doesn’t think so.

This is the manifesto that Compass is preparing for launch in the Autumn ’06 that you can debate and contribute to at this event. Every workshop and seminar will be asked to prioritise key ideas for inclusion in the most radical and wide ranging manifesto the democratic left has ever written.

The thinkers who will lead us into the future include Polly Toynbee and, err, Billy Bragg. Sounds all so 1987 and well, leftie. So last century darling.

Ed Balls will apparently be there, representing Grumpy Gordon in a sort of benign, non-endorsement hint that his master might be sympathetic to them.

The Imagine Party (which is a new centrist party) advertises here and their latest advert is for a competition to design a pair of flip flops. According to www.CameronFlipFlops.com if you can draw a professional caricature of David Cameron this is the competition for you.

They’re planning to get pairs of Cameron flip flips printed to help with fund raising and need an original cartoon of David Cameron to print on the flip flops.

So email your design to : cameronflipflops@imagineparty.org

Yes, if you want a shameless plug to a hundred thousand plus political junkies every month, you’ll need to advertise here as well. Advertising rates Sales@Order-Order.com

Mrs Fawkes said over breakfast “Darling, Downing Street, Murdoch’s Fake Sheikh and the Queen’s solicitors. Don’t you think you have annoyed enough people this week?”

Hmm. Anyway, for those of you who are interested, Guido’s people wrote to Mahmood’s people. Read it here.

UPDATE : Pledge to Defend Freedom of the Press