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You couldn’t make it up – although Alastair Campbell did. Appearing before the Chilcot inquiry, Tony Blair’s former press secretary insisted he “defends every single word” of the “sexed-up” dossier on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. Mr Campbell did concede the dossier could have “clearer” about the threat from Saddam’s weapons. How? By stating that [...]

Ex-Tribune editor Mark Seddon should be permitted a wry smile at the antics of his bête noire Charles Clarke. Back in 2002, as Labour chair, the latter was responsible for excluding the former from the shortlist to determine the party’s candidate for the Ogmore by-election on the grounds that his interview performance had been “very [...]

Liberal Democrat cadet leader Nick Clegg wants to boast he is in touch with young people. What better to appoint a 58-year-old former rock star as his special adviser on youth? Better still that Brian Eno, former keyboard player and electronic wizard with Roxy Music, is a campaigner against Trident and nuclear weapons. Mr Clegg [...]

The Daily Mail is spot on as ever. Its astrologer Jonathan Cainer confidently predicted in his new year star gazings that the US would see the election of a female President. There’s a long way down the course yet, but after this week Mr Cainer, on whom the Mail clearly relies as a primary source [...]

Early contender for political dunce of the new year is Tory MP Douglas Carswell. The distracted MP for Harwich got his party wires crossed when he sent emails to Labour councillor Ian Beckett and Labour MP Ivan Henderson inviting them to join his campaign action team. He said he’d contacted “people I thought would want [...]

Gordon Brown’s claim to be creating hundreds of thousands of green jobs through moving to a “low carbon economy” is speedily going the way of “B****sh jobs for B****sh workers”. On Friday the Prime Minister is due to announce £100 billion worth of contracts to build offshore wind farms bristling with several hundred wind turbines. [...]

Gordon Brown is number one and it’s official. While he may be unaccustomed to topping polls, according to GQ magazine he is the worst-dressed man in the world. Even North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il is rated more dapper, coming in at number eight in the worst-dressed list. One wonders if it was worth the Prime [...]

Irish Green MP Paul Gogarty was not in as much hot water as some commentators thought he would be after he twice used the F-word during a robust debate on the budget. He resorted to what he conceded was “the most unparliamentary language” after being accused of “bleating and blathering” by Labour’s Emmet Stagg. However, [...]

David Cameron says all MPs and peers will have to pay taxes in this country if he becomes Prime Minister. And the Conservatives have been talking to the Liberal Democrats about rushing through legislation to make sure they do. You really do wonder quite what has been going on up to this point. But at [...]

Harriet Harman is in for some festive fun when Santa Claus, or at least Ben Westwood, son of award-winning designer Dame Vivienne, dressed as Father Christmas, pays a visit to her south London home next Monday (December 21). And has he got a surprise for her. Santa Ben will be accompanied by four latex-clad models, [...]