Guido hears that today’s Local Government Association Conference was a right hoot, well perhaps not, but Eric Pickles used his speech there to zero his sight and take aim squarely at The Guardian.

It seems he is coming good on Tories pre-election promise to put public sector job adverts online rather than using taxpayers’ money to subsidise the otherwise unsustainable Guardian business model. Without those public sector adverts the paper is going to be in serious trouble. Not even more deals with Apple will be able to save them. Tragic…