The correct technical term for what’s currently going on in Number 10 is “a flap”. Sir Paul Stephenson claimed early in his evidence that a “senior Number 10 official” advised, or even asked, the Met not to reveal information about  former News of the World deputy editor turned spinner Neil Wallis, due to the fact it would embarrass the David Cameron and Andy Coulson. The hunt is on and Downing Street is being bombarded with calls. The hunger for a political scalp that Guido mentioned earlier has shot up. Sir Paul Stephenson suggested the committee asked Mr Yates who it was. We wait with baited breath…

It’s not just the left that are putting the squeeze on Cameron. Yesterday Guido noted the dearth of Tory MPs coming out to support the PM, and though Nick Boles was put on Newsnight, he didn’t exactly cover himself in glory by describing the government’s current problems as a “little local difficulty”, though he did give Harman as good as he got. This morning ConservativeHome launched a tirade against the Tory leadership, slamming their handling of the crisis:

“The Downing Street team isn’t hanging together to push the Prime Minister’s case.  And they don’t hang together, they’re in danger of hanging separately.”

The Telegraph’s leader this morning said Cameron “has not been frank with the public”. Though there is no love lost between the Cameroons and the paper, their allegation has not gone down well. It’s ironic that the PM  has had to cut short his trip to Nigeria, of all places, to come back and fight corruption allegations back home. Tories are openly questioning whether jetting off was the wisest move in the first place. It’s hard to find anyone enamoured at Craig Oliver’s attempts to put out the flames licking the No.10 door and suggestions are floating around that he is a little out of his depth in the current crisis. It is so bad that some of his former detractors are joking that they wish Andy Coulson was back. Oh wait…

Given the fact heads have rolled in the media and the police already, there is a growing hunger to see a political scalp. Cameron’s Chief of Staff Ed “I didn’t tell the boss” Llewellyn is looking increasingly vulnerable, but surely Steve Hilton’s reputation is forever tarnished if he didn’t see the need to tell Cameron directly what he had heard about Coulson. As he claims. Knowledge is power in politics, and thus it seems a little odd that these two were so muted…

Rupert Murdoch has changed his tune dramatically, apologising publicly and meeting the Dowler family. As Edelman PR go into overdrive with a series of full-page “We’re Sorry” adverts for News International, Downing Street are using the old-bury-bad-news-on-a-Friday-afternoon trick. It turns out Coulson, the man who links the Prime Minister to a guy with an axe in his head, was invited to lunch at Chequers in March, two months after his resignation, but before his old news editor Ian Edmondson was nicked. Yet another blinder from the PM.

Downing Street are releasing the full list of every meeting Cameron has had with media types since the election by the close of play today. As if the Sundays didn’t have enough to go on… 

UPDATE: The full list of meetings is now out.

As a poll shows Cameron is taking a hammering over this crisis, the Downing Street fall-out from the arrest of Coulson is leaking out. Steve Hilton is blaming Ed Llewellyn, the PM’s chief of staff, for not passing on warnings to Cameron from the Guardian about Coulson. The most neuralgic issue is that there was one degree of separation between the PM and an axe-murderer. The Guardian told Steve Hilton, who in turn told Ed Llewellyn, that Andy Coulson had hired knowingly hired a criminal, Jonathan Rees, after he got released from a seven-year sentence for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice by planting cocaine on an innocent woman even though he was on remand for conspiracy in an axe murder. Rees had been charged with conspiracy to murder Daniel Morgan, a former business associate, who was found dead in a pub car park with an axe in his head. Nice.

Ed didn’t pass on the warning to Cameron. Hilton says he is at fault for not doing so. Ed counters that if Hilton thought it so important, why didn’t he tell Dave himself? The image of the PM employing people who employ people who associate with axe murderers is not a good one…

Asked if he was accusing the Prime Minister of lying about what he knew regarding the information passed to Steve Hilton, the increasingly confident Labour leader said “I’m not going to throw around allegations, but… what I’m saying is the Prime Minister has a whole series of unanswered questions on this issue.” And he’s right…

If they want this angle to die down, Number 10 need to get their line on this clear today. The longer they leave the speculation of who knew what, and when, the longer it looks like they cannot, or are not willing to, provide an accurate narrative. It’s very simple – did Steve Hilton discuss the two Guardian contacts with his boss. Yes or no?

Further to Guido’s speculation earlier about whether Steve Hilton had passed information about Coulson, given to him by Alan Rusbridger, on to Cameron. Downing Street have confirmed this afternoon that Rusbridger discussed the hacking scandal “in general” at a breakfast with Hilton on 12th November 2009, and deputy editor and Mr Mumsnet Ian Katz called him on 25th February last year regarding an imminent story going to print.

This is hardly the specific warnings Rusbridger claims he gave, but it beggars-belief that Hilton would not mention it…

It does not sit easy knowing David Cameron’s constituency chairman Christopher Shale had multiple contacts with Downing Street before his “unascertained”, suspected heart-attack, at Glastonbury. We await toxicology reports…

It is claimed that Shale was told not to worry about the leak by Dave’s spin-mistress, Gabby Bertin, and that he also spoke to others. Given the varying accounts that emerged last week regarding Mark Pritchard and what a friendly chat from No.10 can consist of, there are still questions looming.

What was said on the phone, we will never know, but Guido has got hold of the full memo that was the basis for James Forsyth’s Mail on Sunday report. The plans were meant to be unveiled on Tuesday 6, October, the day after “DC’s” conference speech. Sad that this might have been the last thing he ever discussed. 

As Downing Street’s Digital Communications guru takes the money and flies off to Dubai to work for mega-spin-shop Hill and Knowlton, speculation turns to policy guru Steve Hilton’s future. Sam Coates in The Times suggests that there is a “50-50 chance” of Hilton walking out within six months, disillusioned with the realities of governing from Downing Street and having lost key battles to Osborne. Hilton was an advocate of big-bang reforms, Osborne is more cautious about securing a Tory majority.

It isn’t only Osborne he has been losing out to, Andrew Cooper has been providing an evidence-based reality check and pulled Cameron on to the right side of the argument over Ken Clarke’s discounted jail terms for rapists. Craig Oliver is also competing successfully for Cameron’s ear. So speculation mounts that Hilton may be on the way out…

Last night’s Channel Four News pointed the finger of blame at Steve Hilton for the messy week that the Prime Minster is having. The list of things for Miliband to pick up on at PMQs is endless, but not everyone is having the same nightmare. Next door at No.11 Osborne couldn’t have asked for much more in the last couple of days. The day after a handful of dubious academics criticised him, the thousand-economists-strong IMF patted him on the head. Balls and the rest of the B-team have been unable to spin very much, and the sharpest critics have been those calling for harder and faster cuts. To cap it all off Moody’s have said Britain’s AAA credit rating could be under threat if there “slippage in the government’s fiscal plans”. In other words if the B-team get their way.

It’s noticeable that all of the u-turns have stuck to Cameron, despite Osborne being in the nerve centre too. The forests, the books, the prisons etcetera, are small change compared to Osborne’s overall deficit reduction strategy. A Chancellor getting his own way while keeping his powder dry? We’ve been down this road before…

Another day and another government u-turn, though it has to be said this one makes sense. As well as playing Health Secretary yesterday, it seems the PM was also acting Justice Secretary. In a victory for the Sun and Mail, Ken Clarke’s controversial plans to half the sentences of people that plead guilty have been given the boot. Given No.10 originally backed the plans, you might say Cameron has ducked another fight…

Downing Street are in a tricky position here, Ken Clarke has been in Parliament longer than George Osborne has been alive. They are making it clear they are not briefing behind Clarke’s back, but this is a hugely embarrassing and very public dressing down for the old man. They don’t want to sack him, but might find the he tells them where to go…