Brooks was pushed on Cameron’s texts:

“He would sign them off DC in the main.. occasionally he would sign of LOL – Lots Of Love – until I told him it meant Laugh Out Loud.”

It gives new meaning to “Ed  Miliband had me on the run – LOL” 

Via @QuigTheDude

UPDATE:  The well known Total Politics Magazine shareholder tweets:

https://twitter.com/#!/IainDale/statuses/200905346590572544

Another media proprietor in inappropriate relationship shocker…

Steady as she goes chaps…

Given that it was Elliot and Hanning’s last tome on Dave that revealed how a mysterious call from Buckingham Palace had helped him get a foot in the door at Conservative Central Office, you don’t need much salt with their latest suggestion that Palace officials had warned the then Leader of the Opposition about employing Andy Coulson in Downing Street. Given he was the editor at the time William was hacked by Clive Goodman, it’s not hard to see why the were concerned…

With convenient timing their new book serialised in this morning’s Times also gives the first inkling as to how cringeworthy Dave’s texts to Brooks are going to be when they are revealed at Leveson. Allegedly texting her after the story had blown up last summer, “Charlie Brooks told friends” that Cameron said to “keep her head up and she’d get through her difficulties.” Hardly a killer blow, but red faces all round…

Oliver Letwin’s quote looks like the first attempt at a fightback: “If you are on the same side as her, you have to see her every week. This was how it worked.” Probably true, but unlike with Blair and Brown, Dave has a paper trail…

The Cameroons believe down to their DNA that a governing majority is to be found at the centre of politics.  Last night where UKIP stood they polled 14% on average, the BBC calculating that for every 10% UKIP polls, the Tories lose 5% of their support. UKIP is clearly gaining traction as more than just a Euro-election voting option. The Cameroons kid themselves that they can be more credibly centrist and win more votes from the centre party without losing their right-of-centre base.

Last night Baroness Warsi smeared UKIP by associating them with the BNP. Their own activists don’t believe it, it is noticeable just how many activists the Conservative youth and students wings are haemorrhaging to UKIP.  This decade long splintering of the right-of-centre vote is madness, a huge opportunity for sanity is opening up ahead of the next election, one which it seems even Lord Mandelson is willing to embrace. He has briefed The Sun this morning:

“I believe a referendum on this will be necessary because parties can’t reconcile their own differences and come to a final conclusion. A referendum would be a healthy means of re-establishing a consensus among Britons about Britain’s place in the world and role Europe should play in that.”

An In/Out referendum is a chance to settle the Europe question for generations and re-unite the right-of-centre majority in Britain. UKIP and the Tories would be campaigning on the same platform. Farage and most of UKIP would in those circumstances come back into the fold, the Conservatives would then have their best shot at winning a majority in decades. Before the 2015 general election David Cameron needs once more to make a  “big, open, comprehensive offer” and secure his place in history by winning an In/Out referendum. Nigel Farage doesn’t want to be in Brussels a day longer than he has to be, it is time to bring him home…

Coulson on Thursday, Brooks Friday. Any bounce Dave is hoping to get from a win in London could be short-lived as a result. Peter Oborne reports that there were “dozens” of texts between the Prime Minister and his flame haired friend. Will she exact revenge for his disloyalty?

As for Coulson, well there’s a man with some scores to settle with News Corp…

The Speaker has just granted an Urgent Question on the Hunt situation, meaning that the last day of the session will be dominated by Murdoch and the Culture Secretary. This will not go down well with No.10, especially as many saw Labour’s demand for a statement as over-playing their hand…

UPDATE: After failing to land a punch last week, Guido recommends that Ed has a read of this post from legal blogger David Allen Green.

UPDATE II: The statement will be at 15.30.

UPDATE III: Guido would also recommend that Ed turns Theresa May’s Qatada line on it’s head:

“If any of my officials made a mistake, that is my responsibility…” 

This could get messy…