Guess the source(s) in the comments. Italian media mogul PM? American Casino operators? NHS contractors? Nuclear power companies? Wannabee Barons?

As predicted the Boy Miliband has started his blog and it is crap (as also predicted). Humourless, colourless and personality free – or maybe that is his personality. Things are all “brilliant”, “effective” and full of New Labourspeak adjectives.

The comments don’t appear till the next day, which will make the comment thread very unlively. Somehow Guido suspects his comment on Miliband’s Housing post requesting an introduction to Mr Mills for help with arranging an offshore mortgage won’t appear.

UPDATE : At 2.16pm somebody claiming to be David Miliband posted in this blog’s comments – see for yourself – the IP log shows that at 2.16pm somebody was visiting for their 163rd time from:

gateway-202.energis.gsi.gov.uk
IP Address	195.92.40.49

Philip Dunne, the newly elected Tory MP for Ludlow is really going overboard with the whole tie-less Cameroonie thing – this is his official piccy.

Any more stripping Tories’ pictures out there?

Fatty Pollard is, as usual, seeing anti-Semites here, there and everywhere, particularly at the Gruaniad. Guido usually finds the incessant complaints of Melanie Phillips and Pollard tiresomely obsessive. Most of the anti-semitism of the left seems (with a few nasty exceptions) to be really anti-zionism and anti-capitalism (they control the banks!)

But after the piece on Lord Levy yesterday (the Sleaze Master General) the comments section of this blog was over-run with dozens of unpleasant snide posters, making not very subtle comments. Just so those retards understand, the piece was critical of Levy’s shenanigans, not his religion or his ethnicity. (Guido is in any case a supporter of the state of Israel and the IDF assassinating terrorists who seek to destroy the only Western democracy in the region.) Maybe Mel and Polly get this kind of treatment every day, which would confirm their view that anti-semities are everywhere. They certainly seem to be making concerted use of the comments sections of the Guardian’s blogs, which are not moderated and instead rely on a “report abuse” system. Tom Happold needs to be quicker at dealing with reported abuse.

FYI : Guido’s policy is to delete whatever comments he feels like if they irritate him, the comment makers got wise to this and started posting in the comments section in various different names, including Guido’s own.

The Economist’s editor Bill Emmott is bowing out with an anti-Blair goodbye cover story. Betfairare offering 6/1 on him going by the end of this month.

Some Brownites and Cameronites have mixed feelings about him going too soon. Some Brownites want him to stay and take the blame for anything they can stick him with until their shiny new Mr Clean takes over and the Iraqi withdrawal can be ordered by PM Brown, other leftwing anti-Blairites just want rid of him and the sooner the better.

Some Cameronites, and Guido suspects Dave himself, want a wounded, rotting administration to remain limping to the bitter end when Cameron will claim his inheritance. They would like nothing better than for the likes of Byers and Blunkett to return to office to sit next to Blair and Jowell. A team like that would just suit them down to the ground. Other Cameroonies look at the polls which consistently show Brown is far less popular than Cameron in a head-to-head fight. They are eager for the main event and expect that with three or more years in the PM’s office, Brown will be terminally damaged goods by the time of the election. Recess Monkey reckons Brown might however find an excuse for a snap election – a suspicion that Cameron himself outlined in a recent speech to Scottish Tories.

Guido will declare an interest, having wagered a good amount on Betfairthat Blair will go around the time of the Labour party conference. Betfairwere giving 10/1 that he’d go between July and September. That’s my top tip. (Beef or Salmon at Cheltenham is my other – but perhaps that one is best ignored).

Baby Ms Fawkes will be celebrating her first St Patrick’s today. We’ll be cheering on whichever Irish nag looks like winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

And of course on Saturday England play Ireland in the rugby, and Guido fancies Ireland’s chances.

Guido has convinced Mrs Fawkes that yesterday’s ill health was due to the mussels consumed at lunchtime and that a few restorative Guinnesses will be appropriate today.

Happy St Patrick’s Day.

With bookies making a hung parliament favourite, Cameron is being nicer to LibDems. The wooing of the Orange Bookers has spread even to the Institute of Economic Affairs, where the keepers of the Thatcherite flame are having a shindig to mark the 25th anniversary of 364 economists getting it wrong. David Laws from the LibDems will be there on the panel.

For those who can’t remember this is what 364 Keynesian economists wrote to The Times.

“We, who are all present or retired members of the economics staffs of British universities, are convinced that:
a) there is no basis in economic theory or supporting evidence for the Government’s belief that by deflating demand they will bring inflation permanently under control and thereby induce an automatic recovery in output and employment;
b) present politics will deepen the depression, erode the industrial base ofour economy and threaten its social and political stability;
c) there are alternative policies; and
d) the time has come to reject monetarist policies and consider urgently which alternative offers the best hope of sustained recovery.”

Guido won’t be there tonight because he still has the hangover from hell. Incidentally, has anyone seen my scooter?

The real treasurer of the Labour party is Lord Levy, Jack Dromey (a.k.a Mr Harman) has the title on his business card, but admits that he knows nothing about what is going on and that the real money is raised via No. 10.

Levy first came to Blair’s attention in the mid-90s, when he was introduced to the then leader of the opposition by an Israeli diplomat, the ex-music business accountant went on to raise £7m for Blair’s “blind” trust that ran his office. That trust was closed amid allegations about the lack of blindness of the trust and the rewards that went to suppposedly anonymous donors.

The level of coincidence between getting a 7-figure shakedown from Levy and a peerage by return post is approaching mathematical certainty. Levy is certainly adept at manipulating money, the Bentley driving millionaire managed famously to get his tax bill down to £5,000 one year (a fact he went to court to suppress being published by the Sunday Times – and lost). Jack Dromey has timed his intervention well, Blair is looking a bit wobbly today and an extra round of Downing Street sleaze stories will not help. A cynic might wonder if Jack Dromey is not positioning to ingratiate himself with the left-wing union where his future beckons.

Labour sleaze is of a different order to the Tory sleaze of old. The figures are of a different order and the money sloshing about went through No. 10, with the knowledge of the PM he admitted today. Neither Thatcher nor Major would ever have got involved in rattling the begging tin so directly.

N.B. Google now has a mere 115,000 references to “Tory Sleaze” versus 485,000 references to “Labour Sleaze“.

Eric Forth is having a good day so far, and it could get better. When Ming slowly stood up at PMQs (unsupported) to venture a question on pensions, the magnificent Forth heckled “Declare your interest!”, the whole house laughed and Ming was mortally punctured.

The expectation is that Eric will not vote with Blair and Cameron for the Education Bill tonight, which is what Blair was seeking, rather pathetically, to capitalise on. Dave retorted effectively that Blair should concentrate on whipping his own party and leave him to worry about whipping the Tory party.

Forth will do what he wants, but the hope is that he finds something other to do. You know, like give a few cyclists a kicking, send some children up chimneys or just basically any of his hobbies besides voting against Blair.

The latest “Fly” has not been officially released as a streaming video by CCHQ, but it was on CCHQ’s server and Guido has a copy. Rehman meets Cameron and Maude. “Ray” is obviously not completely on-message yet, he is still wearing a tie and speaks like a member of the Royal family. Ray, mate, sort out an Estuary accent and lose the neckwear. You look too Old School Tory posh…

Hat-tip : ConservativeHome.Com