Continuing his quest for the title cynical political operator of the year, Hunt has used the phone-hacking scandal to bury bad news.

At 11am – literally the same moment that the CPS were announcing charges for Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson – the Culture Secretary revealed the embarrassing news that 1,200 extra troops would be called up to provide security at the Olympics following the G4S debacle:

BREAK RT @danhewittITV – Hunt announces he is calling up 1200 troops on standby. >> good moment to bury bad news

— lucy manning (@lucymanning) July 24, 2012

Ah the tricks of the trade…

UPDATE: As Kevin Maguire points out, there are now more troops on the streets of London than in Afghanistan.