SAS hero Andy McNab on Labour MP Madeleine Moon’s call to end cheap beer for our boys:

“It can’t be one rule for them and one rule for the soldiers.

Are you telling me you don’t have politicians drinking to excess in subsidised bars in the House of Commons?

The difference is in the Armed Forces men and women need somewhere to bond and socialise to build the relationships that their lives depend on.

And when they go too far, they are punished severely – more severely than some MPs do for their drunken behaviour.

The Armed Forces are tribal and socialising in your own Mess is crucial to cohesion.

These MPs would be better off looking at their own drinking culture before looking at others.”

Ed Balls at Treasury questions:

“If this chancellor wants a discussion about whiplash, Mr Speaker, we can do that any day of the week. Mister, Mrs or Mistress – but let’s not go back to the biographies of the past.”

The NSPCC:

“Max Clifford has rightly been unmasked as a ruthless and manipulative sex offender who preyed for decades on children and young women. 

Clifford was a rich and influential man who dined with the stars but the way he manipulated and groomed his victims is typical of many sex offenders. He exploited their vulnerabilities, using lies and coercion to get what he wanted.

Intimidated by his power and wealth, many of his victims did not initially speak out. But the courage they have shown in telling police what had happened to them and giving evidence means they have finally got justice.”

Via @courtnewsuk, asked in court about Rebekah Brooks’ letter referring to waiting for 6 years, Andy Coulson says he had a “different interpretation” of their relationship.

Dan Hodges on Team Miliband:

“‘Poisonous’, was the picture painted by one former senior advisor. ‘Dysfunctional,’ said one shadow cabinet member. ‘A bunch of medieval courtiers, not an office,’ said another. The most positive description I could get was ‘It’s a work in progress. They’re learning. Slowly. But they are learning.’”

A confused Nick Griffin says Nigel Farage is a shill for the City, forgetting that City banks want to stay in the EU:

“Farage is a snake oil salesman, but a very good one. His supposed anti-immigration stance is all smoke and mirrors, as is his carefully cultivated image as a ‘man of the people’. The truth is that UKIP is a pro-immigration party that exists to lobby for the interests of the City of London.”