Arrogant Johnson's 'Reefer Madness'

Arrogant home secretary, Johnson, has sacked his top drugs expert for daring to do his job and speak his scientific mind. Now when a New Labour lackey spouts forth, it should be taken with a pinch of salt. It's not the truth - only what the Big Brother government wants you to think. All part of the wacky world of Johnson's 'reefer madness'.

Public trust in government advisers has been blown out of the water with the off-hand manner angry Johnson dismissed out of hand his chief drugs czar David Nutt over his cannabis stance.

The adviser strayed outside his scientific remit goes the spin, committing the cardinal sin of questioning government policy. Nutt has hit back, saying his views have been "devalued and distorted", accusing 'Luddite' Brown in particular of digging in his heels, playing irrational politics.

Forcing Nutt to quit for having the cheek to tell the truth with criticisms of half-baked New Labour drugs policy, Johnson, like his predecessors, took the easy option pandering to the likes of a Daily Mail 'drugs shock' bandwagon.

Debates over cannabis classification has been raging since the 70s, with Schofield separating fact from fiction in his ground-breaking book The Strange Case of Pot. The Orange Party well remembers slogging away on a post graduate thesis looking at the very question of when social issues becomes political hot potatoes.

Politicians can't get their heads round 'pot smoking' student days and the US scaremongering campaigns of the 1950s, with dope demonised as dangerous as heroin.

Here, the history of cannabis classification is a history of hapless home secretaries.

Compromises, yo-yos and U-turns on cannabis classification have come thick and fast, all the way back to Labour home secretary, Callaghan, who came up with a special class B/C half way house for cannabis.

Home secretary Blunkett, tried it on with a downgrade from B to C in 2002. Home secretary Smith rejected advice to keep cannabis at class C in 2008 and finally vetoed ACMD recommendations.

At the centre of the row is the idea that drugs should be classified according to the perceived physical harm they do and punishment meted out accordingly. But on that basis of physical harm, the sliding scale would put alcohol and tobacco up at the top.

Nutt's only 'crime' was to repeat his long-held view that illicit drugs should be classified according to the actual evidence of the harm they cause. But politically it's much easier to cave in to spurious newspaper campaigns and back up useless government propaganda, rather than produce a classification system based on scientific evidence.

There are, however, social as well as physical factors, not least if the masses should be allowed Huxley's "chemical crutch" to get them through days of despair and despondency. A subdued society stoned out of its mind keeps a lid on dissent but plays havoc with the work ethic.

Independent advice to the government on the vexed and highly emotive issue of drug use and classification is essential. Nutt is no two-bit crony promoted to the top echelons as a New Labour patsy or member of the elite Common Purpose.

Nutt is one of the most respected scientists in his field and that makes him a not so nutty professor. Now an independent scientist has been removed for reporting sound scientific advice and more advisers are set to follow suit.

But if scientists are barred from the debate, then who does the public listen to and believe? Who do they trust when trying to come up with an informed opinion? Home secretary Johnson or a respected scientist?

Where does that leave the supposed 'independence' of advice to the government?

In the Big Brother world of Johnson's home office, respected researchers and scientists are being treated like little Victorian children - who should be seen but not heard, only allowed out of the box if they toe the government line.

Note to spinners: He isn't a "nutty professor". Professor David Nutt is the Edmond J. Safra Chair of Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London and heads up the Psychopharmacology Unit at the University of Bristol.

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It's Still All In Dodgy ID Database

ID cards have bitten the dust in a whisper of lies, as the government clears the decks of controversy on the sinking ship. But only the compulsory plastic goes on the scrap heap. The sinister database, which lies at its heart, is sneaking in through the backdoor.

Determined the poisoned chalice of the home office won't be his graveyard, new home secretary, Alan Johnson, slipped in the scrapping of the compulsory ID card almost as an afterthought.

At a stroke, the government's hugely expensive and highly controversial scheme now joins the doomed Royal Mail sell-off and Trident left in limbo, as the fag-end government throws policies on the back burner in the run up to the election to take off the heat.

A welcome retreat but only half a U-turn here for the man who would be leader of Mandy's Party. The sinister database behind the scheme is left unscathed with moves to use passports to push in the scheme through the backdoor.

Johnson has left himself wide open to attack from Tories, LibDems and civil liberties groups with the most costly and controversial part of the scheme, the national identity database, alive and kicking civil liberties where it hurts most.

The big issue with ID cards was never about the cards themselves, it was the issue of compulsion and the massive database lurking in the background snooping around.

A database which has become a disturbing feature of the Big Brother state and the unrelenting quest for control over the individual.

Plans to make the cards compulsory have been dropped. Plans to foist the cards on airside workers and some pilots have been scrapped in the face of threatened industrial action.

The lame excuse that the cards would be a powerful weapon in the fight against terrorism? Forget it - that was a "mistake" anyway, blurted out a beaming Johnson.

But it's business as usual for the £5 billion project. Now entirely voluntary and a complete waste of taxpayers cash.

The Tories say they will kill off the cards and delete the database.

For all Johnson's politicking trying to win over support, he’s offered nothing to grass roots members who hate his guts as a Blair prop.

But what he has offered on a plate is a big stick for the Tories to beat the boys from the New Labour brand and renewed vigour for campaigners fighting for an end to the disgrace of the database.

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Zzzz-Team Sends Voters To Sleep

Bullet-ridden Brown is wearing Mandy's crown. The Zzzz-Team has begun a fantasy fight-back sending voters to sleep. Dreaming up anything to cling to power, Brand Brown has a smug grin until the next time.

A mighty mandate for government change was delivered in the Euro election wipe-out but after beating off a limp challenge from lily-livered MPs, vengeful voters have to put up with the clap-trap for a little longer.

Bruised, beleaguered, battered and broken, it's not all bad news in the Bunker. Beaming Brown lives to fight another day in a fag-end government of the living dead, propped up by a self-serving bunch of yes-men henchmen.

The Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) was Brown-beaten into submission in a carefully stage managed show of sweetness and light for the Dear Leader. Paul Waugh over at the Standard has a blow by blow account of the gory details.

Some put their heads above the parapet. Few wanted to be cut lose from their cushy jobs as lowly ministers and pay roll MPs. In the end greed, self-serving interest and blackmail won the day.

Few had the guts to stand up to the bully boys. Team Brown played the final blackmail card: stick with me or lose your cushy seats. But there's no reason for the Dear Leader to look so smug.

New Labour MPs must be kicking themselves. Todays poll for the Independent shows starkly what many including the Orange Party were saying all along. With Johnson at the helm, the Party stood a fighting chance of beating off the inevitable Tory landslide saving some dignity and some seats with a well-hung parliament.

Now if this squalid spectacle is allowed to run its dozy course, bully-boy Brown is well and truly stuffed and MPs will only have themselves to blame. They blew it and now they and the country have to live with it.

And things can only get worse. Listeners had to put up with the mind-numbing garbage of banana-boy Miliband gabbling away on the Today programme. Spewing out the Party spinning line made for excruciating listening.

To cap it all, even the smoke and mirrors economic recovery miracle was wheeled out as an example of what New Labour can do. And all that from the boy who would be king. No wonder the Party would rather just curl up and die.

The only bit of reverse ferret policy to come out of the whole sorry mess is that it seems Mandy's back-door plan to sell-off Royal Mail may disappear up its own fudge in a move to keep the backbenchers sweet.

Lessons have been learnt. Next time there will have to an organised, cabinet-level coup led by someone the Party takes seriously, instead of fannying around going off half-cock.

Have another go they will. New Labour will do what it always does in time of trouble - tear itself apart.

A couple of bloody noses in bye bye election defeats, more of the ruthless smearing tactics of the Downing Street reservoir dogs and here we go again. Brown will be breaking out into a sweat and the knives will be out perhaps at September's Party conference.

For now it's Carry On Regardless Up Their Convenience as broken Brown and his cabinet cronies dream up anything just to cling on to power for power's sake.

But what has become clear is that the fate of the struggling Supreme Leader won't be decided by voters, parliament or the PLP. Power lies in the grubby little paws of an unelected and unaccountable First Secretary of State rewarded with a whopping bunch of ministerial underlings for saving battered Brown's skin.

Mandy is lovin' it. He's got what he's always wanted. All the powerful pleasure of being prime minister without responsibility. No Party spin line, no speech, no strategy, no policy, nothing will come out of Number 10 unless it has the blessing of the blessed lord Mandy.

When Mandy decided to move against Brown he will. The power behind the throne is wearing the crown. It's third time lucky for Mandelson.

What a sad day for democracy, the Labour Party, the parliamentary process and the country, when the fate of a prime minister is decided on the whim of an unelected First Secretary who's living up to his grand title and putting himself first.

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Rotting Cabinet Chokes On Its Own Greed

Bad apples in the cabinet have been caught out troughing and fiddling at the taxpayers expense in another scandalous abuse of public money. But are there signs of remorse and doing the honourable thing? Are there heck.

Laying bare a greedy cabinet rotten to the core, beleaguered Brown's "smearing" side-kick Balls tried it on with a claim for Remembrance poppy wreaths and nine cabinet cronies used taxpayers cash to pay for accountants to fiddle their expenses.

On a day when they should hang their heads in shame, the smug and arrogant bunch of spivs and crooks grandstand with the smokescreen of electoral reform and bunkered Brown brings chaos to the country, refusing calls from the people for an early election. 

The rotten core at the heart of government comes in the latest revelations from the Telegraph with the seedy greedy cabinet back in the firing line with taxpayers forking out for a mind-boggling list of extras as the scandalous cabinet fleeced the public for all it's worth. 

Top of the dung heap is schools secretary Balls, already up to his neck in damaging allegations over triple flipping his second homes with treasury minister wife Cooper. Well shielded by Downing Street, he now faces the damning, damaging allegation that he tried to claim for the cost of two Remembrance Wreaths before his claim was thrown out by the fees office.  

And to top it all, Brown's golden cabinet couple claimed £30,000 for car and train journeys, including £4,100 for their four young children, according to the Mail.

Having a laugh at the taxpayers' expense, nine cabinet members, including hapless Darling had the gall to get their tax advice on the taxpayer, charging the public for accountants to do their personal tax returns. 

While ordinary folk struggle knee-deep in paperwork with self-assessment tax forms, the cabinet bunged the expenses on expenses and sent taxpayers the bill. 

Trying to claim the cost of an accountant to fill in a tax form as a legitimate business expense wouldn't get past the taxman. And that now begs the question - if Darling can't handle his own tax return, how the hell can he cope with the country's finances?

But it's the revelation over miserly Balls and his poppy wreaths which sticks in the throat. Only recently Tory MP James Gray, caused outrage when he was accused of doing the same thing. He faced instant calls for the sack, rightly branded a "copper-bottomed shit". 

But a Tory backbencher is one thing, a top government minister with his eye on the treasury top job, it seems is quite another. 

Bunkered Brown has already branded bleating Blears dodgy claims as "completely unacceptable". Will he now come out of hiding to castigate most of his rotten cabinet? Highly unlikely. If just one greedy fiddling cabinet minister does the honourable thing and quits, the whole rotten pack of corrupt cards collapse. 

MPs are spending another long break at the taxpayers expense counting the cost of their expenses and facing the wrath of voters now desperate for a general election. Left shocked and disgusted wondering if it could really get any worse, today it did.

The chancing chancellor was among nine members of the cabinet who used taxpayer funded expenses to pay for an accountant to complete their personal tax returns, disclosed by the Telegraph.

 

Darling, along with others including Blears, Hoon and Smith, all claimed for the costs of accountancy advice, using expenses intended to fund their parliamentary and constituency offices.

Most of the cabinet are already up to their neck fiddling expenses and dodgy second homes deals. Only Johnson has a totally clean bill of health. Now several cabinet ministers stand accused of manipulating the expenses system for personal gain by claiming for accountants. That's fraud in anyone's book.  The Taxman and Knacker of the Yard should be on the case.

Other ministers who claimed for personal tax advice include foreign secretary Miliband, environment secretary Benn, work and pensions secretary Purnell, and international development secretary Alexander.

Some secretaries they've turned out to be. Instead of claiming for run of the mill office running costs and stationery, ministers are charging taxpayers for life's little luxuries. 

Taxpayers have been coughing up on media trainers for three members of the cabinet including Brown's deputy Party leader, Harman.

Fancy a free digital camera or camcorder? No problem. Eight ministers, including chief secretary to the treasury, Cooper and Blears bought digital cameras or camcorders using office expenses.

And several ministers were warned by the commons authorities for trying to use parliamentary expenses to fund "overtly political campaigning".

An iPhone for the other half? Not content with taxpayers footing the bill for hubby's penchant for porn, two homes secretary Smith claimed for one for her husband who works as her assistant.

Dithering Brown is under pressure to heed the will of the people and call an early election to clear the air of the rotten stench at Westminster and the disgrace of those MPs up to their necks in sleazy scandal.

But instead of facing up to their crimes, Brown and his cabinet cronies hide away in the bunker of shame, playing for time,  hoping it will all go away. 

Today squeaky clean Blairite prop Johnson threw his hat in the leadership ring, put up as a smokescreen to change the narrative grandstanding grand ideas about electoral reform while trying to wrong foot the Brownites and the Tories with Mandy pulling his strings. 

Corruption at the very heart of government is eating away at itself. The public have had enough. Electoral reform, constitutional reform? Political posturing. That is then, this is now. 

A new government will have a clear mandate from the people to clear up the squalid expenses mess once and for all. Only next time, with the public on its back, the new kids on the block will have to keep their word, instead of making cheap promises on the steps of Number 10.  

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Chaos In Brown's Big Brother House

The fag-end government is fighting a rearguard action to brown-beat voters and cling onto power. Tarred with the brush of sleaze and scandal, Brown is bringing his own brand of chaos to his Big Brother House. 

Parliament is powerless. Democracy a joke. The people are revolting. The Queen is not amused. In the second English Revolution, chaos is descending on Brown's Big Brother House and the long-suffering public are the losers.

A parliament for the people has been exposed as a rotten house prostituting itself to the iron grip of a shamed and discredited government. 

In the thick of it is a deluded Supreme Leader using the scare tactics of "chaos" against anyone who dares question his iron will. That sticks in the throat.

Bent on a desperate last ditch bid to fool some of the people some of the time, disturbing signs of delusions of grandeur are setting in.

Ridding the commons of the spivs and crooks with a purge of MPs should be self-selecting and deselecting. 

Instead angry, disillusioned voters are being forced to sit through the squalid spectacle of a game of cat and mouse as the truly rotten eggs try to keep their cushy numbers and cling on to power.

Leaders from all parties have a magic bullet in their armoury to deal with the bad and the ugly faces of politicians. 

Withdrawn the whip and without the Party comfy cushion, an MP will be forced to stand down and force a by-election. But will Brown use it and risk losing it? Will he heck. 

Bold, strong leadership is being cast aside in his squalid game of tribal politics and brinkmanship being played out at Westminster. 

Cameron's Conservatives and the LibDems are coming out on top but only because with fewer MPs, the odds are stacked in their favour and the top tiers of Osbourne, Hague and Cable have come up squeaky clean. 

But as the expenses scandal unfolded, clear water began to emerge. In the main, Tory toffs were caught lording it up on lavish expenses while the New Labour wannabe elite made the most of their mortgages with crooked second homes fiddles. 

A mixture of chancers, spivs and downright criminals left the poor taxpayers in the middle. You pays your money, now you takes your choice with a handful of honourable and decent folk who can hold their heads high and now ride out the storm. 

Cameron's lot are being forced to bite the bullet. Brown's lot hiding away in the bunker of shame playing for time. The chaos is set to get worse the longer Brown and his tight cabal of cronies try to put off the inevitable day when power is prised from their cold dead fingers. 

Bleating Blears, set up for the chop as a lamb to the slaughter, is now being backed by Blairite cabinet colleagues, leaving beleaguered Brown and his government in tatters as they struggle to contain the fall-out in the squalid world of self-interest. 

Her 'crime' is no worst than most others among the smug arrogant bunch in the cabinet highlighted here. Sacrifice Blears and the whole rotten pack of cards will come tumbling down.

Only ex-postie Johnson and the useless Miliband brothers are coming up clean. Get rid of the cabinet crooks and there'd be few left to fight another day. 

The disgraced speaker was finally ousted through the 'will of parliament' as Brown faced up to the stark home truth that it was either his pal or him. With the downfall of a disgraced speaker came the downfall of democracy.

Now voters in their droves are calling time on the government and calling for a general election. 

Brown tried to ignore the 'will of parliament'. Now he's trying to ignore the will of the people. But he does so at his peril. Behind the will of parliament and the will of the people lurk powerful dark forces lying in wait in the true 'national interest'. 

After the expected Euro rout of June 4, stand by for the spin of a cabinet reshuffle with the same old cronies sliding up and down the greasy pole and a grand "national plan", a magic cure all for all the country's ills in the last chance election saloon. 

The cheap trick is to turn the agenda back on what only deluded Brown thinks is his election strength - the economy - already featuring heavily in the June 4 campaign for what is supposed to be an election about, er, Europe. 

This has all the hallmarks of a phoney general election war set up before the dark nights of autumn and before the legals kick in and force fair, balanced broadcast news.  

A national plan, national unity, national government with a power-crazed megalomanic and a tightly knit bunch of cronies ruling the country with the iron fist of a Nasty Party. This is all starting to sound scary. 

One person, one party and one voice to save the country and save the world. "One Folk, One Party, One Leader" has a very nasty ring to it. Churchill will be turning over in his grave.

The only hope for the doomed and discredited New Labour brand is Johnson. Other left-wing backbenchers sure, but that's wishful thinking best left for the big debate after New Labour is left licking its wounds ousted and outed.   

Johnson may be despised by the grass roots Party as a Blair prop. The Orange Party's big concern is that it would be Mandy and the gang pulling his strings. But he's a decent sort of chap and, as an added bonus, he used to have a proper job before he took the Blair shilling. 

Johnson would sure as hell give Cameron a good run for his money in that much needed general election. And that would make for healthy politics all round. 

The Party should pull its finger out now before it's all too late and the iron fist turns into an immovable iron grip and a new Brown Order of crooks, smearers, spinners and bully boys crawls out of the chaos.  

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Swine Flu-Aren't You Pig Sick Of It?

The country's gripped by swine flu fever, the world is on the brink of a global disaster and ministers are milking it for all it's worth. Battered Brown is down with a bout of the U-turns. A dose of flu is just what the spin doctor ordered.

Hundreds die in our filthy hospitals, millions die of malaria around the world and no-one blinks an eye. But a few coughs and sneezes and the country goes crazy.

Overwritten, over-hyped and way over the top, the BBC proclaims: 'Too late' to contain swine flu. "The deadly swine flu virus can no longer be contained, says a WHO official, as the health agency raises its alert level." Scary stuff if it was true.

Dad's Army ministers are rushing around with corporal Johnson leading the fray - Don't Panic! Statements are made in the House, COBRA convenes in the bowels of Whitehall, newspapers clear the front pages and the headlines come thick and fast. Brown is on fine form promising to "do all he can to tackle the global crisis."

Does anyone really believe this swine flu fever is kosher? There's nothing like a global disaster of epic proportions to bury bad news and bad headlines - and this is nothing like a global disaster. Whipping up a fake crisis does wonders for pharma firms profits, set to make a packet out of anti swine flu vaccines.

The message is stay calm, everything is under control. Well yes of course we should and yes it is. There are enough stockpiles of anti-viral drugs and cute face masks to set a new fashion trend.

Brown's bunch has tried to play the terrorism card and that didn't work so how about a dose of flu.

You can just imagine what's going through the minds of Downing Street spinners as they press the panic button and swine fever wipes away the doom and gloom from the headlines at a stroke.

But where was the illustrious health secretary when thousands of people were dropping like flies from MRSA in our filthy hospitals?

Where was the outrage, accountability and responsibility from ministers when scores of NHS patients were killed during the country's deadly outbreak of the hospital C.Difficile superbug at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust?

And that's just here at home. What about the millions killed by malaria, filthy water supplies and heroin? Don't they count as full blown genuine world health emergencies.

The Orange Party was always taught that coughs and sneezes spread diseases - so trap them in your handkerchief.

The current outbreak tells more about the poverty and vast overcrowding in Mexico City, with a population of over 20 million struggling to cope with its health care system and a country caught on the hop without the resources to buy in and stock-pile anti-viral drugs which could allay nasty symptoms of flu.

If we've got enough to treat 33m people why not send a million over to Mexico to help them out? Or is that not the sort of global crisis Brown is keen to tackle?

Mexican health officials say the "suspected" death toll from swine flu had risen to 152 but of that number, only 20 have been confirmed as swine flu.

There have been a few cases in America and around the world and here in Scotland. But outside Mexico, people have been only mildly ill and have made a full recovery. No-one outside Mexico has died.

This is clearly a nasty bug and people can die especially the old and vulnerable but flu outbreaks happen all the time.

The World Health Organisation is always on the alert for the next nasty around the corner and some, like Avian flu and SARS can be killers of epic proportion if they are not kept in check. But often the outbreak is down to the poverty, squalid living conditions and pathetically poor health care and hygiene rather than the bug itself.

Bird flu turned out to be a damp squib in this country with only a washed up dead swan to show for all the trouble. Here it's MRSA and C.Difficile which are the true indictment of the slowness of ministers to come to grips with our filthy hospitals aided and abetted by a target chasing management.

Interestingly it's the Sun which today puts it all into perspective. Often derided for working on the tried and trusted principle of 'Never let the facts get in the way of a good story', it's the Sun wot doesn't flam it up.

As Fergus Shanahan puts it: "But the scare does give Brown a breather after his lousy Budget. If he really wants the sympathy vote, I wouldn’t put it past him to start sneezing himself. No doubt his sleazy aides have already suggested it."

Though it seems the PM is taking no chances as he prepares to face the wrath of the commons and the country.

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Downing Street Can't Keep Lid On Smeargate

Downing Street's feeble efforts to keep a lid on 'Smeargate' has blown up in its face, with pressure mounting on the beleaguered prime minister to explain exactly what he knew, when he knew it and who else was involved. 

The Tory sex smear email scandal has rocked the rotten government to its core. 

Despite the best efforts of Saturday's Daily Telegraph pre-emptive spoiler, to allow Downing Street a chance to play down the squalid affair, 'Smeargate' exploded in the Sunday newspapers and on the world stage with US Drudge giving it the prominence it deserves. 

For government ministers their only hope would have been to sit tight and try to ride out the storm over the Easter holidays or get it all out in the open - quickly. Instead the rotting carcass is set to be picked over and over. 

With an amazing lack of political judgement, postie turned Blairite pasty, Alan Johnson, popped up on the BBC Today programme to defend his boss in the latest salvo to spin away from Brown, destroying any credibility he had left among rank and file Labour Party members.

Burying his head in the sand, health secretary Johnson said he was "surprised shocked and disgusted" by the e-mails but Brown should not personally apologise, suggesting the prime minister could not be held responsible for everything that people who surround him get up to.

With some disreputable spinning footwork of his own, Johnson tried to neatly side-step the crucial issue. McPoison was no lowly two-bit player. He was at Brown's side in the spinning Downing Street propaganda war room, a senior and trusted Brown aide and strategist.

Johnson's comments won't help Brown, in fact they move the story on and once again point the finger at the Supreme Leader and his digitised minister, Tom Watson who seems to have gone to ground after a quick burst of denial.

Peter Oborne writing in today's Mail makes the point which chimes with those of the Orange Party, made here yesterday. To say Brown was not involved is laughable: "The prime minister is up to his neck in this squalid affair."

The political fall-out dealt a bitter blow for Brown, after one of his most senior aides, Damian McBride, dubbed McPoison, was fingered by political blogger, Paul Staines, aka Guido, over emails discussing vile and unfounded sex smear stories about top Tory MPs, sent to New Labour blogger, Derek Draper, to be used on a scurrilous New Labour pre-election website, 'Red Rag'.

Former ambassador and legal brain, Craig Murray reckons there is "the clearest of prima facie cases that McBride has committed the criminal offence of misconduct in public office. There appears a strong prima facie case also against Mr Charles Whelan."

Today Guido drives the nail into the coffin: "Derek Draper’s “Red Rag” anonymous smear site was registered on November 4, 2008 according to publicly available records.  Draper had lunch at Chequers with Gordon Brown on Sunday 16, November 200 ... Draper boasted to many people that he was helping Gordon Brown.  Did he not discuss with Brown what he was doing for him?  Was Damian McBride also at the same Chequers lunch?" 

The smear campaign, spun by Number Ten as a "juvenile and inappropriate" prank by two blokes, has back-fired. Anyone who thinks this will end New Labour spin is living in fool's paradise. 

During his time in Downing Street, Brown's attack dog McBride did the job at his master's bidding. Brown may not have been in on the detail but would be aware of the broad outline of the cunning pre-election plan. 

Over at the Sun, Trevor Kavanagh makes the point Brown lives and breathes plotting: "Caught red-handed, the scandal-mongers tried the old trick of pretending it was all juvenile high jinks and never intended for publication. Don’t fall for it. This was a sinister and unscrupulous operation to malign the next government. It was intended to hurt anyone in range, including innocent bystanders."

As pressure on Brown to apologise intensified from both Tories and within Labour ranks, the Orange Party believes a personal apology is the least the Tory leader should expect but Brown should be forced to make that to the house of commons and a vote of confidence would have to follow. 

The lies, smears and deceit go to the heart of a rotten government bent on trying to cling onto power in its dying fag-end days. The stench of corruption fills the air. A commons no confidence vote means ministers and pay-roll MPs would have to stand up and be counted before election day, when voters then will have their chance. 

UPDATE 1.57pm: Even Blair's spin doctor, Alastair Campbell, believes Brown should apologise. This won't go away.

Picture: Trumble, Sun

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