Johnny Mercer’s bid for the Defence select committee chairmanship is the subject of a spoiler attempt by Janus-faced Labour rivals. Mercer is the MP for Plymouth Moor View. His neighbouring MP, Labour newbie Luke Pollard, has said he wants to work with Mercer to represent the city, claiming he would endorse him for the role if Mercer commits to opposing defence cuts and base sell offs. Mercer has indeed made those commitments. Yet for some strange reason Pollard is still refusing to back him…

Why the trickery? Pollard is no doubt wary of Mercer further increasing his profile and there are suggestions he has been trying to convince Labour MPs to vote against his Plymouth neighbour. Mercer has a 5,000 majority and some in Labour are prioritising designs on his seat over actually voting for who they think is the best candidate. Grown-ups like Dan Jarvis, Chris Bryant and Stephen Kinnock are not playing games and have nominated Mercer. Don’t forget the incumbent Defence chair Julian Lewis is Bercow’s best mate, you can expect a number of the Speaker’s allies in the Labour Party to try to block Mercer’s bid…