After doing a whip around the banks, are we about to see the end of the company that started excursions in 1841?

As a result of the uprising in Egypt people seem less keen on packing their bags for Cairo to see the pyramids. Turns out people haven’t been Thomas Cooking it. 

The proposed bail-out of political parties, to the tune of £3 a vote, or £100m over the duration of a parliament, isn’t going to happen, but not for the right reasons. Both Labour and the Tories oppose the proposed cap on big donations. Given they are both used to hundred grand bungs here and there, the cap of £10,000 on individuals, companies or unions is laughable in their eyes. Obviously Labour are also refusing to play pall with the union reform proposed in Sir Christopher Kelly’s report, published later today, that would see an opt in rather than an opt out to the millions of hard earned workers union subs that are poured into the Labour Party coffers every year. No surprises there…

Only the LibDems hit the nail on the head by pointing to the fact that at this time of cutting and shrimping, would the public really put up with this sort of money being poured into an already pretty unpopular section of society? Though before we give them too much credit, given their expected vote share at the next election, such rules would probably break them too. Party finance is a mess, but taxpayers cash is not the solution…

Guido understand’s that Allegra Stratton is the new Newsnight political editor, a welcome successor to Michael Crick. She actually started years ago on Newsnight, before going on to the Daily Politics and This Week in the not too distant past. She hails from the left whilst sharing a pillow with the Spectator’s James Forsyth, which provides her with a reality check. She will be a fresh, younger face for late night political telly. Guido will try to stay awake…

He’s on thin ice, but Morgan ain’t wrong here:

https://twitter.com/#!/piersmorgan/status/138656556794396672

What’s that quote about enemies and friends?

Last Friday Guido noticed a speech that Nigel Farage had given in the European Parliament a couple of days previously was creeping up into the thousands of views on YouTube. So he decided to give it a bit of a push. It was one of the most retweeted stories from this blog for months:

The savage take down of the European-elites and their frankly shocking disregard for democracy in the face of a threat to their golden project had all the hallmarks of a Hannan-style sensation. Guido predicted it would hit a million views and he stands by that. Just four days later it’s at 300,000. The truth is powerful…

Adam Boulton tweets that the new Political Editor of Newsnight is set to be announced imminently:

https://twitter.com/#!/adamboultonSKY/status/138637625195106305

Jon Pienaar would keep things internal, with a return to the screens from Radio 5. Boulton’s other tips Anne McElvoy and Nick Watt have been popping up a lot on camera recently, on the Daily Politics and particularly This Week. A bit of screen testing? 

The Guardian’s Allegra Stratton worked at the BBC before and is wired in more than most, especially to the left, which would make a change from her would-be predecessor Michael Crick who had them running to the hills rather than dripping tips in his ears. Beeboids suggest that the fact that the show isn’t doing so well will make it hard to pull a big new name for the gig, making it more likely to be someone with some clout in the building already. Guido would put a readies on Pienaar if there was a book open…