Fresh from going to Wall Street last week where in his own words he told us “I shall be talking truth to financial power”, the financial genius and intellectual titan of economics that is Chuku Ummunna rounded yesterday on the government over Barclays.

Ed Miliband’s PPS and Treasury Select Committee member Chuka said it was “shocking” that Barclays had paid so little in corporation tax in 2009:

This revelation underlines the government’s failure to take the robust action needed to make sure that the banks which caused the crash pay their fair share, and will stick in the stomachs of small businesses struggling to borrow and ordinary people…

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Ed Balls is the master of deficit denial, this week he has denied the deficit was a problem and told us the IMF, OECD and the governor of the Bank of England are all wrong and he is right. Now he is denying his own personal debts in Court.

Court papers obtained by Guido show that he has claims against him amounting to £1,966 over unpaid rent and damage to his Normanton constituency office. He refuses to accept the debt and has offered to pay only a few hundred pounds but the landlord has now had enough of his arguing about the debt and taken him to Court. We all know what Balls is like when it comes to admitting debts.

If only we could have him tried in the same way for running up the national debt…

The top story this week was based on idle speculation after Brillo tweeted that a senior LibDem was involved in a scandal. As the week progressed the rumours got more and more exotic, we await tomorrows papers with bated breath. Tim Farron has been vigorously denying he is involved in any scandal, telling Guido he is “far too boring“. He even posted in the blog’s comments.

Last week saw 74,085 visitors make 270,482 visits to view 370,717 pages. Hard news this week, such as it was, was cat-focused and the top stories in order of popularity were:

• More on that Alleged LibDem Scandal
• Fancy a Berger?
• The Rumour Mill
• Chuka vs The World
• Friday Caption Contest (The Public Don’t Like It Edition)
• Who’s a Lucky Boy?
• Hague’s Vague Bahrain Foresight
• Happy As Larry

You’re either in front of Guido, or you are behind…

As shots ring out over Bahrain, have a look at what a news agency out of Manama was reporting our switched on Foreign Secretary saying exactly a week ago:

“British Foreign Secretary William Hague paid tribute today to Bahrain’s tremendous democratic achievements brought about thanks to the wise leadership and reform project of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. He hailed the kingdom’s successful reforms expressing confidence Bahrain will build on them in the future.”

He went on to thank “Bahrain for its remarkable stances in the defence and security field adding that boosting consultation with the GCC countries regarding foreign policies is Britain’s top priority” Someone had their eye on the ball…

UPDATE: Given how much time Hague spent in Bahrain with his former SpAd, Chris Myers, you would have thought he would have clocked something was up.

According to his entry in the register of interests the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, (c/o the Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain, 30 Belgrave Square) donated the cost of hotel accommodation for two nights in Bahrain; £1,115.86 (9-11 January 2010) when he met the Foreign Minister of Bahrain. Perhaps he was distracted by something.

This just arrived hot to the inbox:

Graham might want to think about rephasing that…

It is a political rite of passage for the Leader of the Opposition to go and meet the troops. Often given a warmer reception than the PM, the footage is always carefully stage-managed. But what happens behind the cameras?

Guido’s man on the frontline reports that when Ed visited Afghanistan two weeks ago he decided he wanted to have lunch with some soldiers to talk candidly away from the scrutiny of the pack. All very well and good. Having sat down with some troops he was busy eating and chatting away before someone pointed out the American flags on their sleeves…