Hilary Benn, like his father Tony, makes a strong claim to moral authority. His years as Secretary of State for International Development saw him campaign against the inequities that make life difficult for the developing world. Chief among those inequities is the functioning of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In 2006 Benn railed against the farm subsidy regime:

“Through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), two fifths of the EU budget goes on subsidies and support to Europe’s farmers who represent 5% of Europe’s population, and produce less than 2% of Europe’s output. Most is not spent in the poorer parts of Europe where it is needed. Most goes to the biggest farming companies and landowners, not small farmers.”

Hilary Benn is now at DEFRA. His tune has changed as well, now the developing world’s small farm exporters are the competitive enemy and he is leading the British effort to ensure that there is no limit to the subsidies that the biggest landowners in Britain claim. The European Commission proposed to redistribute subsidy money away from farmers receiving more than €300,000 a year. DEFRA opposes even this sensible modest suggestion.

Hilary told the NFU conference this week that “We’re alive to some of your concerns about limiting higher levels of payments. We share them.“

Hilary’s father Tony, the second Viscount Stansgate, has now retired to the family seat, Stansgate Abbey Farm on the Essex coast. From this satellite picture it appears to be a working farm. Guido wonders if the family farm benefits from CAP subsidies?

Scotland Yard is not playing ball with Ken’s request to investigate a crime that no one said Jasper had committed. So this means the “no running commentary on an ongoing police investigation” strategy to push the issue off the agenda has come unstuck.

Brian Paddick, the ex-Scotland Yard Deputy Commissioner and LibDem candidate for Mayor puts it succinctly:

“Last week, Ken Livingstone suspended one of his closest aides, Lee Jasper, saying he wanted to enable the police to investigate the allegations of malpractice and corruption made against him.

We now learn from Scotland Yard that there is no such police investigation taking place. It begs the question why was Lee Jasper suspended in the first place?”

The GLA will now presumably be able to cross-examine Jasper. The police are still investigating six companies which have enjoyed the LDA’s generous patronage…

Guido is not making this up, this is the official advertising campaign for the Fijian Visitors Bureau:Gordon gave permission for the use of his image according to the advertising agency behind the advert “so long as it was not derogatory and it did not appear that he was endorsing the islands in any way. We showed them the image of the Prime Minister with the red flower behind his ear and they said it was okay to use”. Presumably the PM just wants to show solidarity with another unelected PM?

UPDATE : Have just been looking into the situation in Fiji, widespread human rights abuses, suppression of pro-democracy activists, violence against activists by the dictatorship and the jailing of independent bloggers in the forefront of the widely suppressed anti-government media. You can see the attraction for Gordon…

Guido will give a prize to the wittiest 200(ish) word long description of Gordon’s ideal day in the style of A Day in the Life.

A full 24 hours please (remember Gordon is rumoured to be suffering from insomnia – those demons torment him). In the comments please, closes Friday morning. A book to the winner…

Guido is a bit hungover this morning. (Cuba Libre’s topped off by Irish Coffees at 2 a.m. with cheese and port to follow – seemed like a good idea at the time). So you’ll just have to make do with a girl in hot-pants and bra waving a gun, singing about Mike Huckabee over on GuyNews.TV.

Guido will be down in Bar Cubana, Waterloo (map) this evening drinking to the ill health of Fidel Castro. The bar is owned by blogging ex-Tory MP Phillip Oppenheim and he has been prevailed upon to contribute a few drinks to celebrate the end of Fidelismo. So if any of you fancy dropping in after work…

(Oppenheim was called a “c**t” by Shadow DFID Minister Andrew Mitchell over this blog story).

Guido has heard that it was made clear to Steve Morgan, Peter Hain’s sleazy campaign manager, that this year he was not welcome at the recent Welsh Labour Party conference. Guido has checked with the Labour Party press office and they will only confirm that Morgan did not attend. (Nor incidentally did the disgraced former Secretary of State for Wales).

That is a little strange for a man who likes to think of himself as an important Welsh Labour Party mover and shaker, usually he can be found glad handing and ingratiating himself with the Welsh Labour Party’s big-wigs in the bars. Wonder why he didn’t attend? Why miss out on all those photo and client-opportunities?

Could it be that he was a little embarrassed about his efforts on behalf of Hillary Clinton? Surely not. Could it be that despite all the spin from Morgan Allen Moore about the lobbyist industry’s APPC professional standards investigation going nowhere, it is getting seriously embarrassing for Morgan?

Morgan spun a line to the public affairs trade press that the complaint had been lodged by an aggrieved Tory ex-employee and would go nowhere. However when the APPC Management Committee met on 5 February they concluded there was a cause for complaint and referred it to the APPC’s Professional Practices Panel.

International spin merchants Grayling were rumoured to be on the verge of a multi-million pound takeover deal for MAM until this scandal blew-up and they pulled out days before the deal was to be agreed. Grayling were one of the founders of the APPC. Guido tried to get confirmation from David Thomas, Grayling’s finance director, without success…

In Bishop Auckland right now the “People’s Bank” is attempting to make Darren Minnikin homeless.

Claim 8PA12900:
Northern Rock plc versus Mr Darren Minnikin

Congratulations Mr Minnikin. You are the first victim of socialist economics today…

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