The Times this morning had a story about about a million-a-year trader fired for stealing from the canteen. The picture was of Lee Cain, the Prime Minister’s Director of Communications and was probably the best press he’s had all week. Still not the worst picture mix-up of the day…

The gentlemen of the Lobby are as thin-skinned and status conscious as a gaggle of gay hairdressers on a night out, currently they are up in arms about Downing Street insisting that their briefings be held at their offices. Usually ebullient Lobby chairman Christopher Hope is complaining that they now have to nip across Parliament Square and pop into Downing Street to hold the government to account. The truth is it is way past time to open up the government’s briefings, make them transparent and disintermediate the gatekeepers of the political news agenda.

In a digital world where news happens in realtime, not to inky deadlines, it is time to just put the briefings out live, streamed to everyone on all platforms. During the election Boris livestreamed his “People’s PMQs” on Facebook, demonstrating there is no technological reason why the briefings can’t be broadcast via a free digital feed to everyone. Hacks will still get to ask the questions, they just won’t be able to spin off-camera, privately delivered answers as they do now. 

The reality is that it isn’t in the interests of hacks to open up the Lobby system or insist more often that quotes are on the public record. Intermediating allows them to more easily introduce their opinions into their new reports. Transparency will devalue their role because information scarcity makes their possession of a spokesman’s phone number so much more valuable. A start to improving and opening up the system would be to put the people’s briefings into the open, in realtime as it happens…

Following their treatment over tonight’s absurd climate debate, Lee Cain has formally complained to OFCOM about channel 4’s bias. Read it in full here:

Speaking on GMB this morning, Jennifer Arcuri revealed when attempting to phone the PM two Sundays ago, Boris’s mobile was snatched by an unspecified male aide who bizarrely started talking to her in a fake Chinese accent. Guido doesn’t know which aide, there is a Mr Lee in Downing Street…

The Daily Mirror reveals that Lee Cain, the long-time spinner for Boris who has been appointed as his Downing Street Director of Communications, used to dress up as the Mirror’s chicken to taunt the taunt the Tories in 2010. According to the Mirror he was pictured being led away by police as David Cameron and his wife Samantha looked on in the background. Guido called him last night for an eggs-planation but he refused to sqwawk…

Despite being given the chance to make a clean breast of it all, he refused to crack. Looking back, Cain pulled off quite a coup that we didn’t find out this nugget of information when Boris crossed the road to avoid a TV debate. The media would have roasted him…

At some point in a politico-media career everyone dons the chicken suit. It is the mark of someone who will hen-dure…

Guido understands Boris has hired Number 10 spinner Lee Cain as his new media SpAd. Cain is a former Fleet Street journalist so he gets news, he’s popular with the Lobby, is a big Brexiter and knows BoJo from his days running the broadcast operation at Vote Leave. Also a move which shows the relationship between Number 10 and the Boris camp is perhaps better than some have suggested. Good hire for Boris and good to see another big job for a Leaver…