http://twitter.com/#!/GregHands/status/47312041526042624

You can imagine the fingers of blame pointing already…

As we reported back at the time, when Jonah Brown last went to Japan he attended an 8-course dinner with the theme “Blessings of the Earth and Sea”. It goes without saying that on the same visit he agreed a nuclear fuel re-processing deal for Sellafield (which he also cursed). Let all the corners of the earth know and be warned that the one-eyed, accursed son of the manse brings disaster of biblical proportions to everything and everywhere he touches…

Alison McGovern hasn’t had a glittering career outside of politics. According to her website she was head girl at school in 1998, don’t you know, then on to UCL. She worked briefly as a researcher at the House of Commons before going to spin for Network Rail. She was elected in May, and as Guido reported at the time, immediately promoted to the dubious role of Gordon Brown’s PPS. Though no longer a frontbencher, or even a participating Member of Parliament, Gordon found it necessary to recruit such a minion.

You would think that after Brown’s abject failure to turn up to Parliament to represent the people of Kirkcaldy, Alison would have quietly dropped the laughable non-job description, but no, she is still using it today to promote her role as a Labour Yes2AV spokesman. So how has Gordon been keeping his PPS busy?

The  job normally entails:

• Being with the Minister at all times in the Chamber and for meetings on the Parliamentary estate. Gordon has given one backbench speech in an adjournment debate since May 2010 and asked a handful of written questions.
• Liaising between Commons and your bosses Government department. Gordon doesn’t have a department.
• Controlling access to the boss for other MPs who want to see him. Would anybody be seen dead seeking Brown’s advice?

Many would argue there is little point to Gordon Brown in his current role, let alone his PPS.

As Cameron touches down in Egypt, it seems the root of all the Middle-East trouble and other problems to blight world leaders has emerged:

Pictured left-to-right: Egypt’s Mubarak (gone), Jordan’s Abdullah (forced to preempt trouble by sacking his entire government), Scotland’s Jonah (gone) and Italy’s Berlusconi (awaiting trial). Going well for all of them…

And after forty years of uncontested rule, it was never going to end well for Gadaffi after this:

The curse is never far away…

Old blog favourite Sir Ronnie Cohen’s political journey is almost complete. Having gone from keeping Gordon Brown in his pocket and throwing wads of cash at that disaster, he has warmed to Cameron and is coming on board with the Big Society bank. Having donated some £1.8 million to Labour, Guido highlighted that Ronnie was caught spinning for Dave on a BBC Four program about the big society a couple of weeks ago:

It’s going to be tough for Baldwin to find a line to bash this particular dodgy non-dom city donor.

Given the level of denial about Gordon’s little problems, mainly concerning anger and throwing things, it was good to see Ed Miliband finally acknowledge there was a problem after all. He put down an off-balance and angry Dave with “don’t let your anger cloud your judgement… You’re not the first PM I have said that to.” Ouch…

A well scripted line that bashes one with the other, but why did Ed turn a blind eye in the bunker? The clear ploy to whack his predecessor came at an interesting time. Why, when on the front foot already, did he choose that moment to drag up the past? Almost as if he was distancing himself from Gordon Brown…

UPDATE: For those wondering what Dave’s prop was in the chamber today it seems someone in Ed’s office had the not so brilliant idea of giving out notebooks to get members to contribute ideas called New Politics, Fresh Ideas. It was blank, and quietly dropped.