Emily Thornberry has silenced her eminent father-in-law from speaking out to the press about Ed Miliband and the White Van Dan row. After Edward Nugee was contacted by a diarist from the Daily Mail, Thornberry called the paper back threatening to report them to IPSO and claiming that her husband’s old man was non compos mentis.

For some context ‘Ted’ Nugee remains a practising QC and recently wrote at length to the Times about the legal intricacies concerning sanctions on Russia. But according to a raging Thornberry, the octogenarian was confused because he’s sick and ailing.

When the journalist then phoned Sir Ted to apologise, the QC denied anything of the sort and said he was jolly cross at the suggestion. In fact Nugee Sr. later apologised to the journalist in question for causing them any trouble.

Guido has, to coin a phrase, “never seen anything like it before“.