Worried about a Tory bounce, Labour are desperate to try to play down the relative success of the Jubilee – Watson has been slagging off elites on Twitter and orders have been sent out to stir up the “slave labour” of young volunteers being “forced” to camp. The Tories are looking for apologies and distancing by Ed.

The BBC took the two Guardian’s unnamed sources and ran with them, though it seems they didn’t bother trying to contact other trainee stewards. The Mail did:

Robert Cooke, 30, from Plymouth:

“Organisers found somewhere for us to shelter, and said that if any of us wanted to get into our sleeping bags to keep warm, then we could. Most of us just stayed up chatting. It was a good laugh, and we had access to the portable loos the whole time. They have paid for all the training for my licence and an NVQ in crowd safety. They gave us boots worth £80, and a uniform. We worked out that what they’ve spent is the equivalent of us being paid £45 an hour.”

Kirsty Nicholls, 23, also from Plymouth:

“I would like to thank CPUK for the amazing experience I was a part of this weekend.  I am extremely grateful for this opportunity. We were treated with the utmost respect and highly praised for the work we had done. I personally volunteered to do all three days work as I found the experience incredibly pleasurable. I look forward to a long career with CPUK.”

Markus Hanks, another volunteer, said:

“Thanks for a great time at the Diamond Jubilee. Brilliant company to work for, great staff, brilliant atmosphere between everyone, looking forward to working with Close Protection UK again at the London 2012 Olympics. I’m supporting you and the Close Protection UK 110%.”

Paging the Today Programme…