Activate the sisters! Fun-killing Labour MP Kate Green has demanded that ‘Top Totty’ ale be banned from Strangers:

She can unleash the faux-hysteria about a picture, but not a peep about the taxpayer subsidy. Priorities…

Picture via Tony Grew 

UPDATE: She’s actually serious:

leader of house of commons agrees with me guest beer top totty should be withdrawn now from parliament bar. Demeans women—
Kate Green (@KateGreenMP) February 02, 2012

Guido hears whispers that any extra cash to the IMF is unlikely to be pledged before April, which means he could well be running around Smith Square naked on St Paddy’s Day as promised. A man of his word…

That hasn’t stopped the Tory whips preparing the troops for the potential vote though. Yesterday the chairman of the Treasury Select Committee Andrew Tyrie wrote in the Wall Street Journal:

“Some have been arguing that the U.K. should stand aside from any increase in IMF resources and let the euro zone stew in its own juice. That would be a mistake—the cost to the U.K. would be high. Instead, Britain should respond to the IMF’s own conclusion that it has financing needs of an additional $500 billion in coming years by agreeing to our share of a global loan.”

He lays out the argument for more borrowed bail-outs and Tory whips are circulating the piece, clearly trying to soften the ground. With a large chunk of the Tory backbenches loathed to contribute more money, coupled with the prospect of Labour opposing it too, it’s going to take more than the odd article and email to win this one.

Yesterday Guido pondered why there was no retribution for Peers who are convicted criminals and that it’s  just unpopular Knights that get shredded. Well it seems to have got the ball rolling…

Tory MP Matthew Hancock tells the FT: “I don’t see why the rules for peers should be entirely different to the rules for MPs”. As Jim Pickard points out, legislation has already passed that, with an amendment or two, could make this happen. The 1917 Deprivation of Titles Act was used to strip Peers who supported Germany in WWI…

Poor old Ed even gets thinly veiled attacks from his brother in his good weeks – The Telegraph have splashed David’s intervention. Luckily for Ed, on the back of his Commons outings this week, David’s subtle dig won’t cause too much of a headache for the Labour leader, but it fits with the overall pattern of David’s behaviour that Guido mentioned yesterday.

The seven point plan for rehabilitation that he sets out in his Staggers article doesn’t seem to have a shelf life…

Mirror hacks are spitting feathers this afternoon as 75 job losses are announced. Given how heavy they have been going on the banker bonus bashing, their own remuneration scheme is coming under attack:

“The total directors’ pay and pensions bill for Trinity Mirror last year was £3.9million – £1.3million of which was cash bonuses. Of that, Sly Bailey’s package of pay and pensions was a staggering £1.7m, including a cash bonus of £660k. However, the share price for Trinity Mirror today is 48p whereas 12 months ago it was 90p.”

The NUJ estimates that more than fifty of those editorial jobs on the line could be paid for with this money.

And the hacks know it.

UPDATE: More news coming out of Canary Wharf. Guido understands that Trinity CEO is currently in Barbados. She left it to Mark Hollinshead to break the redundancy news to staff. When he asked if there were any questions, the entire staff walked out in silence…

There is now a clear and public split between the Miliband brothers over matters of strategy. As Guido reported earlier, David Miliband isn’t taking orders from anyone, and you can sure as hell bet that his piece in this week’s New Statesman was not approved:

“For some, this will be seductive. Reassurance about our purpose, our relevance, our position, even our morals. Reassurance Labour feels good. But feeling good is not the same as doing good – and it gets in the way when it stops us rethinking our ideas to meet the challenges of the time. And now is a time for restless rethinking, not reassurance. Our attacks on the Tories will not work if we are not clear about what we did. We should say loud and clear where we made mistakes, but we should also insist that the list of gains far outstripped the mistakes. After all, even David Cameron said on coming to office that Britain was better in 2010 than 1997.”

In the call to arms he also says the big state is a “political dead end”.  Nobody seems to have told his brother though…

Government whips are going into overdrive this afternoon. All slips have been cancelled and things are looking so tight that Transport Minister Thresera Villiers has been called back in, despite recovering from a bike crash that left her with a broken collar bone. Guido is chasing up rumours of three other sickly Tory MPs being dragged through the lobby. On the other side, Gordon has come to bless the opposition with his support…

UPDATE: Seems the Standard’s Craig Woodhouse tweeted this at the same time.

UPDATE II: Big day for Tory rising star Sam Gyimah. He’s covering as Dave’s PPS today. “Dessie is away on military manoeuvres this week.”

Guido just broke from his lunch to chuckle at this breaking news. With overwhelming public support for the benefit cap, this is risky for Ed. A couple of good PMQs performances is not vindication for his entire outlook. Developing…

UPDATE: This graph from the Speccie a few weeks ago says it all:

Just as it was all going so well for Ed…

Usually the rule in politics is: don’t ask a question you do not know the answer to. It goes without saying that you do not ask a question when you have already been told the answer in writing. That would be a waste of time and money.

Gordon Brown MP has tabled a rare written parliamentary question about a constituency issue in a belated attempt to catch up on a growing concern of his electors. The written reply doesn’t convey the full contempt…

Radioactive Waste: Dalgety Bay

Mr Gordon Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to his planned visit to Fife in the week of 30 January 2012, if he will visit the sites at Dalgety Bay now under scrutiny for radiation contamination.

Mr Robathan: I am, this day, at Dalgety Bay and am visiting these sites. My office notified the right hon. Member’s office of my visit on 19 January.

Gordon tabled the question on January 26. He isn’t really paying attention is he?