Hearing that yesterday Milburn met with Tessa Jowell, John Reid and Stephen Byers (in Byers’ office) before he went for a two hour meeting with Blair himself. Suggestions that it was to work out his modernising bottom line demands are surely wrong, it was probably to discuss his new work-life balance.

UPDATE: Stephen Pollard’s analysis has the ring of bitter truth about it. Milburn is to be Tony Blair’s consiglieri.