Bob Crowe has been mouthing off for the last couple of days at the prospect of the Prime Minister addressing the TUC conference in the autumn. He is whipping up anger about the invitation and claims he will lead a walk out over the axe swinging public sector cuts. He is determined to humiliate Dave by having him speak to an empty hall. Imagine the TV footage…

Now Dave is back-tracking and Downing Street are making it be known he almost certainly won’t be addressing the baying mob – instead he is thinking of sending a braver replacement – Nick won’t mind a few boos for the greater-good, right?