Today in Politics: Cherie and the battle of the books

By Andrew Grice

I'm told that Tony Blair spent much of his final weeks in Downing Street censoring the diaries that Alastair Campbell was itching to publish the minute he stood down. No doubt many references to the running battle between Blair and Gordon Brown were excised. It seems that the Blair red pen has been in action again, toning down the memoirs of his wife Cherie, which emerged unexpectedly early at the weekend. Yes, there was some embarrassing material, like her statement that Brown was "rattling the keys" as he tried to persuade Blair to quit. And there was her claim that Blair would have stood down earlier if he had trusted Brown to see through his plans to reform health, education and pensions. All plausible, but hardly great revelations. I suspect Cherie could have produced a much more damaging memoir if TB had allowed her.

Today in Politics: Watch Jack Straw

By Andrew Grice

Just when some Labour people thought things could only get better for Gordon Brown, they are getting worse. Today's edition of The Economist depicts him, Jesus-like, with arrows stuck in various parts of his body (with a smiling Tony Blair looking on). And the Sun has a devastating opinion poll which puts Labour on 23 per cent, its lowest since polling began in the 1930s, with the Tories on 49 per cent and Liberal Democrats on 17 per cent. Only one poll, true, but even worse than Labour's 24 per cent share of the vote in last week's local elections. There's no reason to doubt internet pollster YouGov, which got the London Mayor result spot on.

Today in Politics: A honeymoon for Boris

By Andrew Grice

Boris Johnson should enjoy his honeymoon while it lasts, because all good things come to an end. Few people will begrudge him his time in the sun, after his remarkable victory in the London Mayoral election. Labour MPs are already whingeing about the "soft" treatment of Boris in the media, dubbing the London Evening Standard "the Daily Boris", and wondering how they can lay a glove on him.

Today in Politics: Another fine (Brown) mess

By Andrew Grice

You couldn't make it up. At a time when Gordon Brown has enough difficult balls to juggle, he's been lobbed another one by his very own Scottish Labour Party. Its leader Wendy Alexander, a Brown ally, has thrown into her own net by challenging the Scottish National Party to "bring on" the referendum on whether Scotland should break away from the United Kingdom it plans for 2010. Just about the last thing Brown needed when he needs to rebuild bridges with Middle England after last week's local election disaster - and is planning to launch a Bill of Rights to further his "Britishness" agenda. Oops.

Today in Politics: PR@PMQs

By Andrew Grice

A good day to have my ringside seat for Prime Minister's Questions. From my perch in the Press Gallery, I can see the faces of Labour MPs, but not those of the Tories. There was ritual rather than genuine support from Labour backbenchers as Gordon Brown swatted away predictable questions from opposition MPs about when he would stand aside for a younger leader, spend more time with his kids, garden etc. The Glums, the ministers sitting alongside Brown on the front bench were... well, pretty glum. They looked like they were thinking about last Thursday's election results.

Today in Politics: Brown's Black arts

By Andrew Grice

There seems to have been a timely bit of briefing by allies of Gordon Brown against Wendy Alexander, Labour's leader in Scotland, over her surprise call for an early referendum on Scottish independence. In today's newspapers, her move is variously described as "incredibly stupid" , "madness" and "the last thing we need" by Labour sources. They may be right but surely if Brown thinks that, he should say so rather than get the message out through anonymous sources.

Today in Politics: the 10p by-election

By Andrew Grice

David Cameron is trying to turn this month's Crewe and Nantwich by-election into a referendum on Gordon Brown's disastrous decision to abolish the 10p lower rate of tax. At his monthly press conference this morning before heading off to Crewe, he said: "The people of Crewe know that the more of them vote Conservative on May 22, the clearer the message will be for Gordon Brown to do more to help those who suffered from the 'tax con Budget'." He warned that if Labour wins, Gordon Brown will breathe a sigh of relief and tell Labour MPs demanding compensation for the losers from the change to "get lost".

Today in Politics: Exit Red Ken

By Andrew Grice

The defeat of Ken Livingstone after eight years as Mayor of London is a big moment with implications way beyond the capital. We might well look back on Boris Johnson's remarkable victory as the time when the tide turned against Labour and could not be turned back by the general election.

Today in Politics: Contrite Brown

By Andrew Grice

A new, more contrite Gordon Brown emerged this morning from the wreckage of Labour's worst local election results for 40 years. Less than a year after Brown took over from Tony Blair, Labour has come a humiliating third behind the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. It is the stuff of nightmares.

And there is (almost certainly) more bad news to come: Labour fears that Ken Livingstone will lose to the Tories' Boris Johnson when the London Mayor election result is announced tonight. The Brown camp had been desperately hoping for a 1-1 draw. It knew it would lose in the country but hoped that Red Ken would hang on. Now it looks like a 2-0 defeat.

Today in Politics: Labour inquest begins

By Andrew Grice

Even before the votes are counted in today's local and London Mayor elections, a debate has begun in the Labour Party about how Gordon Brown should fight back. Which, even allowing for the pre-match spin by all the parties, tells us that Labour folk are expecting Brown to get a very bloody nose.

Labour MPs tell me that things were bad enough before the row over Brown's abolition of the 10p bottom rate of income tax. That proved the final straw, alienating both the low paid and the better off, who felt it was unfair to clobber those at the bottom. The compensation package announced last week seems too late to limit the damage, Labour MPs report from the doorsteps. No details have been disclosed, and angry workers have been marching into MPs' constituency offices waving the payslips showing they are already paying more tax.

Today in Politics: Prime Minister rules out 42 days U-turn

By Andrew Grice

A slow-burning Prime Minister's Questions finally caught fire with David Cameron's final question. He is allowed up to six and often saves the pre-prepared soundbite he wants the TV news bulletins to gobble up until last. So does Gordon Brown, who has the advantage of the final word.

The Tory leader had a good line of attack. After Brown's climbdown over compensating the losers for the abolition of the 10p lower rate of income tax, Cameron argued that he should back down now over his plan for terrorist suspects to be detained for up to 42 days without charge. Cameron was on the money since some Labour ministers are thinking the same and privately urging the PM to back off.

Today in Politics: Awkward squad strikes Labour again

By Andrew Grice

Last week, it was the independent-minded Frank Field who ran rings round the Government by winning compensation for some of the losers from the abolition of the 10p tax rate. Today, his partner-in-crime Kate Hoey has stirred the pot in the London Mayoral election.

The Labour MP for Vauxhall has agreed to act as an adviser on sport to the Tory candidate Boris Johnson if he becomes Mayor.

A triumphant Johnson hailed Hoey as the first member of his administration - quite a coup. The news sent Labour into a tailspin, and the Chief Whip Geoff Hoon was asked by journalists whether he would discipline Ms Hoey.

Today in Politics: Tories land biggest poll lead

By Andrew Grice

If Gordon Brown was hoping that the row over his decision to abolish the 10p lower rate of income tax would not damage Labour, he'll be very disappointed by the latest monthly ComRes survey for The Independent. The Tories have doubled their lead since last month from seven to 14 points, the biggest since ComRes began polling for the paper in September 2006.

Today in Politics: Tories steal Labour's (old) clothes

By Andrew Grice

The Tories have rightly accused Labour of copying their policies on issues such as inheritance tax and foreign residents with non-domicile tax status. But David Cameron is not above a bit of jackdaw politics himself.

Today the Tory leader is making another raid into Labour's traditional territory by making a speech on poverty as he tries to exploit the Government's turmoil over the 10p tax rate. But his big policy announcement, a free financial advice service, is hardly new - because the Government is already setting one up.

Today in Politics: A tale of two Davids

By Andrew Grice

A ray of hope for Labour during dark days. David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, outshone David Cameron, the Tory leader, when they gave separate interviews on the Andrew Marr Show on BBC TV just now. Miliband had the advantage of going last and came up with a brilliant resume of Cameron's interview. He told Marr: "He is a good salesman, but what is he selling? The minute you push and prod in any area - be it the economy or Grangemouth - actually he has nothing to say about the future of the country. It was very, very revealing on the economy that he wasn't able to do that."

Today in Politics: Naked Ken loves Lib Dems

By Andrew Grice

Ken Livingstone has admitted going naked in his pursuit of votes in next Thursday's London Mayoral election. Well, almost.

On BBC's Question Time last night, Ken confessed that he and his Tory rival Boris Johnson were scrabbling for the second preference votes of people who will support Brian Paddick, the Liberal Democrat candidate - which may well decide the election. If no one wins more than 50% of the first preference votes, the top two candidates (almost certainly Ken and Boris) go into a run-off and the second choices of those who backed other candidates count.

Today in Politics: The devil's in the detail of 10p tax climbdown

By Andrew Grice

On the morning after the great climbdown over the 10p tax rate, the compensation package offered by the Government may not be as generous as Labour MPs had hoped. In an email to Labour colleagues, the leader of the revolt Frank Field says that the deal he struck with Gordon Brown would cover everyone who lost out from the abolition of the 10p rate and be backdated to this month (the start of the financial year).

But the Government is not quite going that far and the Tories already smell a rat. The Chancellor Alistair Darling has promised that the compensation for 60-64 year-olds, probably through the winter fuel allowance, will be backdated to the start of this financial year.

Today in Politics: Prime Minister's U-turns

By Andrew Grice

A rowdy session of Prime Minister's Questions was inevitably dominated by the climbdown in which the Government will compensate many of the losers from Gordon Brown's decision to abolish the 10p lower rate of income tax. If Brown thought that rushing it out just before PMQs would give him an easy ride, he was wrong.

Today in Politics: 10p tax rate climbdown

By Andrew Grice

Government whips are warning Labour MPs that next Monday's vote on the abolition of the 10p tax rate amounts to a vote of confidence in Gordon Brown. The implicit threat is that the PM would call a general election if he loses a central plank of his last Budget as Chancellor.

The truth is more complex: for there to be an official vote of confidence, Brown would have to table a motion of confidence in HM Govt, which would be debated next Tuesday. But the prospect of the Government losing that vote would be minimal, since 34 Labour MPs would have to vote against Brown to defeat him. With Labour behind in the opinion polls, turkeys are unlikely to vote for Christmas.

Today in Politics: 10p tax revolt grows

By Andrew Grice

Thirty nine Labour MPs have this morning signed an amendment (pictured) to the Finance Bill demanding immediate compensation for the low paid workers who lose out as a result of Gordon Brown's decision to abolish the 10p in the pound starting rate of tax. It has been tabled by Frank Field, the former Minister for Welfare Reform.

The number is significant: it is enough to wipe out the Government's majority of 67 if all the opposition parties join forces with the Labour rebels (as they are likely to do). Interestingly, there are 12 "new" Labour names on today's list. By my reckoning, that takes to 86 the total number of Labour backbenchers who have gone public in their opposition to Brown's tax shake-up - either by backing today's amendment or three earlier Commons motions. So that shows that the rebellion is growing, not diminishing.

Today in Politics: Labour's holiday blues

By Andrew Grice

It must have seemed a good idea to send fractious Labour MPs away from Westminster for the past two weeks so they couldn't make more trouble for Gordon Brown. In fact, the late Easter recess which ended today was fixed months ago, but it's true that government whips breathed a sigh of relief when their troops trooped off to their constituencies (or in some cases, decided to fight the Tories on the beaches).

Today in Politics: Defective Tory tactics

By Andrew Grice

The Tories appear to be talking up the possibility of a high-profile defection from Labour. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, David Cameron heaps praise on Blairites Lord Adonis, the Schools Minister, and the former Cabinet ministers Alan Milburn and Stephen Byers.

It is true that there is some common ground between the ultra-Blairites on public service reforms. It must also be tempting for the Tories to try to further destabilise Labour when it is in turmoil over Gordon Brown's decision to scrap the 10p lower rate of income tax, which will be debated by MPs this afternoon.

Today in Politics: Why Brown loves Bush

By Andrew Grice

Why was the body language between Gordon Brown and George Bush at their White House press conference so much warmer than at their frosty first joint appearance at Camp David last July? Camp Brown would argue that the PM is going positive so that he can move transatlantic relations into a new phase in time for the new President who will take over in January. He's making a big speech on his vision for the "post Bush era" in Boston today. Described as his "letter to America", he will urge it to engage more fully with the rest of the world on climate change as well as terrorism. So needed to deliver that message on a more positive footing.

There are other reasons for Brown's change of tack on Bush.

Today in Politics: Brown fights back

By Andrew Grice

At last, some positive media coverage for Gordon Brown. Not a moment too soon for Labour MPs, who breathed a sign of relief as TV bulletins led with by his strong attack on the "stolen" election and Zimbabwe and plans by the Bank of England to lend billions of pounds to banks secured against their mortgage portfolios in an attempt to ease the credit squeeze.

Brown finally came off the fence over Zimbabwe during a visit to the United Nations in New York. One Labour man told me it reminded him of Brown's "strong leadership" phase during his honeymoon last summer. So perhaps all is not lost if Brown can show such decisiveness across the piece.

Today in Politics: Mr Brown goes to Washington

By Andrew Grice

Gordon Brown begins a visit to the United States today but, as is often the case when a troubled leader goes abroad, he will find it difficult to escape his domestic woes. His trip is already being seen as accident-prone: it is getting little media coverage in America, as it is being eclipsed by Pope Benedict XVI's US visit and the Pennsylvania presidential primary.

Today in Politics: Reshuffilitus

By Andrew Grice

Rumours swirl around Westminster that both Gordon Brown and David Cameron will soon be reshuffling their Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet teams. Speculation about reshuffles is a bit like the first cuckoo of spring; it comes around every year. With Brown in trouble - but vowing today that he will be not be pushed out - it was only a matter of time before the R word came into play.

The prospect of a Tory frontbench shake-out is more of a surprise, although the grapevine has been buzzing for a while with chatter that Cameron is happy with the performance of only a minority of his top team. These have been dubbed "the untouchables". Which leaves the rest a bit exposed.

Today in Politics: Brown feels your pain

By Andrew Grice

After a weekend of torrid headlines, Gordon Brown is trying to send a slightly different signal to the voters on the economy: that he understands that they are feeling the pinch.

The Prime Minister was accused by some of being "in denial" about the impact of the global credit crunch on ordinary people in a long BBC interview last week, when he recited his usual mantra about Britain being better placed than others to survive the storm.

Today in Politics: A test for Brown's reform agenda

By Andrew Grice

The High Court's spectacular ruling that the Blair Government was wrong to halt the inquiry into alleged corruption over the BAE Systems arms deal with Saudi Arabia lands Gordon Brown with another headache at a time when his head must already be throbbing.

At one level, it is an opportunity for him to distance himself from his predecessor, in line with his "not Blair" strategy when he became PM. If the criminal investigation is not reopened, Brown will risk charges of double standards, as he has often lectured African leaders on the need to stamp out corruption (part of his proposed "new deal" between the world's richest and poorest nations).

Today in Politics: Olympic confusion

By Andrew Grice

So now we know. Gordon Brown will not be attending the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing in August. But it's NOT a boycott or a snub to China because Tessa Jowell, the Olympics Minister, will be there. And Brown will attend the closing ceremony, because London will host the next Games in 2012.

Downing Street is adamant that this was the plan all along. I am not so sure. I and many other journalists had certainly got the impression that the PM would be at the opening ceremony. Normally, when we get something wrong, Number 10 is not slow to tell us.

Today in Politics: Cuddly Ken snuggles up to LibDems

By Andrew Grice

Ken Livingstone needs all the help he can get if he is to hang on to his job as London Mayor. So he is pitching for Liberal Democrat supporters to use their second vote in the May election to back him, as I predicted on Monday. In a live debate on BBC 2's Newsnight last night (which you can watch here), Livingstone backed the LibDem candidate Brian Paddick as his second choice among those taking part - but only because the Greens' Sian Berry was not invited, as he has already agreed a "second votes" pact with her.

Paddick declined to return the compliment, arguing that Livingstone and the Tories' Boris Johnson were both as bad as each other. Nor would Johnson advise people how to use their second vote. (His aides point out that people CAN vote for two candidates in order of preference but can mark a cross for only one if they choose). Second preferences are allocated if no one wins more than 50% in the first round and are likely to prove decisive.

Today in Politics: WebBrown

By Andrew Grice

Labour received more than 3,000 questions when Gordon Brown did a 30-minute live webcast last night, the first by a British Prime Minister. Labour has judged it a success. Brown didn't look like a man under pressure; it was Cuddly Gordon in an armchair, smiling as the questions were read out by Arabella Weir, the actress, comedian and author of "Does My Bum Look Big In This? The Diary Of An Insecure Woman."

Today in Politics: Cameron's tax offensive

By Andrew Grice

David Cameron tried to rub salt in Gordon Brown's wounds at his monthly press conference today by promising to join forces with Labour MPs who are rebelling over the Government's decision to abolish the 10p starting rate of tax, which will hit low paid workers. The Tory leader (who today sent out the leaflet pictured to key voters in target constituencies), buoyed by his big lead in the opinion polls, was in confident mood. The pressure on Brown over tax offered him an easy hit, an opportunity too good to miss. Yet he hadn't quite done enough homework.

Today in Politics: Brown's Olympics dilemma

By Andrew Grice

The House of Commons is normally a quiet place on a Sunday but today I had a front row seat for the Olympic torch relay through London. From my office window I have just seen some rowdy scenes as the police clashed with pro-Tibet demonstrators who are determined to disrupt the procession. The police appeared to be outnumbered and I was surprised that so few of them were protecting the relay team. The protestors' anger understandably intensified after Gordon Brown accepted the torch in Downing Street, safe behind by the huge iron gates at the end of the road.

Today in Politics: MPs' expenses frenzy

By Andrew Grice

Today's partial disclosure of the expenses of some of our leading politicians is a landmark, the moment when the dam started to burst. So it should be welcomed.

Yet the way it has been handled by the Commons authorities, which decided not to appeal in a freedom of information case brought by the BBC, shows that old attitudes die hard.

Today in Politics: Cannabis U-turn?

By Andrew Grice

One of Gordon Brown's first acts as Prime Minister - signalling that he would reverse the Blair Government's decision to downgrade cannabis - is not looking too clever today. It has emerged that the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which is reviewing the decision, will recommend against reclassifying the drug to Class B and say that it should remain as Class C.

This lands Brown with a dilemma: whether to take the advice of his independent experts on drugs (as the Government has done since the seventies) or to override them.

Today in Politics: BNP backs Boris

By Andrew Grice

Boris Johnson has won support for his bid to become Mayor of London that he would rather do without. The far right British National Party (BNP), which stands a chance of winning seats on the London Assembly in the 1 May elections in the capital, is urging its supporters to give their second vote in the Mayoral contest to Johnson.

"In this race, the Tory clown Johnson is a lesser evil than the Marxist crank Livingstone," the BNP says, "so replacing the latter with the former would, on balance, be an improvement for the majority of Londoners."

Today in Politics: Harman in triumph shock

By Andrew Grice

Today's session of Prime Minister's Questions was the most eagerly awaited for months - because Gordon Brown wasn't there for the first time since he became PM. He's at a Nato summit in Bucharest. Harriet Harman, the Commons Leader, deputised - a surprise choice as many Labour MPs expected Jack Straw, who sees himself as unofficial Deputy PM, to land the job. They also expected Harman to need that stab vest she wore in her constituency when she faced William Hague, the Tories' best Commons performer, across the Dispatch Box. So did the male-dominated ranks of the Press Gallery.

It didn't work out like that.

Today in Politics: Bring back Darling

By Andrew Grice

Something was missing at Gordon Brown's hour-long monthly news conference at Downing Street this lunchtime. A story, for starters. Jokes? Forget it. The PM spoke at length about immigration and the global economy but... it was a straight bat all the way, didn't really go anywhere and was the least interesting one he has done since he took over last June. 

There were rumblings of discontent among the grumpy hacks, whose tummies were certainly rumbling; kick off was delayed by 30 minutes until 12.30pm while Brown spoke to 700 civil servants about his public service reforms.

Today in Politics: Candid Clegg

By Andrew Grice

Rule one of the spin doctor's manual for politicians: there are some questions you just never answer. Commendably, Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, has tried to ignore it. He raised some LibDem eyebrows when he admitted in a radio interview last December that he didn't believe in God, and then rushed out a statement that he did not have a closed mind and did have enormous respect for those with religious faith.

There appeared to be little damage, but now he has done it again. Interviewed by Piers Morgan for GQ magazine, Clegg rather unwisely admitted he had slept with "no more than 30" women, adding: "It's a lot less than that" and that some of his conquests had complained about his performance.

Today in Politics: Brown rallies the troops

By Andrew Grice

Gordon Brown has just spoken at tonight's weekly meeting of Labour MPs. It's a fairly routine thing for the party leader to do, but clearly the PM felt the need to try to raise morale ahead of what promise to be difficult council elections on May 1.

Today in Politics: Boris & Dave, not Chas & Dave

By Andrew Grice

I went back to my long distant roots today. Boris Johnson launched his campaign to become Mayor of London, along with David Cameron, in Edmonton, North London, where I grew up (pictured). As a teenager, I used to play football every day not far from the Bounces Road Community Hall, which was temporarily overrun by the Tories and the media today.

Today in Politics: Targets can be good

By Andrew Grice

Another dose of bad NHS headlines for the Government because not all health trusts have completed the "deep clean" exercise ordered to combat MRSA by today's deadline. "Plan to deep-clean each hospital has failed," reported the Daily Telegraph at the weekend. But there is another way of looking at this story: 93% of trusts have met the deadline and, according to the Government, the rest are well on the way.

Now it may well be that the whole exercise was a bit of a "gimmick", as the Tories claim. And it was announced by Gordon Brown en route to the Labour conference last September, which makes me a little sceptical. But is it really the "shambles" the Tories describe it as with a 93% hit rate?

Today in Politics: Downing Street wars (continued)

By Andrew Grice

Gordon Brown delivered a speech without notes to the Scottish Labour conference this afternoon. This has inevitably sparked comparisons with Dave "off the cuff" Cameron, although Brown had a dry run when he spoke to Labour's spring conference earlier this month.

The PM's attempt to find a new, more conversational style is the work of Stephen Carter, his new strategy chief and former chief executive of City public relations firm Brunswick. PR Week, the industry's house journal, reports that Carter has expressed concern about Brown's speeches.

Today in Politics: Sarko's success

By Andrew Grice

The phrase "whirlwind visit" might have been designed for Nicolas Sarkozy's trip to London. Not only did the French President cut short his state visit from two nights to one but he amazed his British hosts with the energy he showed in a packed schedule.

"The guy is an electric politician," one senior figure who met him told me. "The word 'hyperactive' doesn't do justice to him."

Even after his long speech to MPs and peers in the Royal Gallery, Sarko didn't pause for breath: he launched into a round of meetings with British politicos, who were astonished that he carried on firing on all cylinders.

Today in Politics: Clegg's 100 days

By Andrew Grice

Before he became Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg told close colleagues that his first 100 days in the job would be crucial and that he was determined to use it to make a dramatic impression on the voters. He would not get bogged down in internal party manoeuvrings like his predecessor Sir Menzies Campbell. Inevitably, Clegg has found the task tougher going than he imagined.

Unfortunately, the highest profile he achieved during his first 100 days was a messy abstention by his party in a vote over Europe which ended in the resignation of three senior frontbenchers. Some readers asked me to explain why Clegg acted in the way he did, which was a struggle. I suspect the kerfuffle has faded in most voters' minds by now. But it highlighted the perennial problem facing Britain's third party: how to secure media coverage which isn't about a LibDem split or internal sniping at its leader.

Today in Politics: Dithering Tories

By Andrew Grice

The Tories had a good Easter, pumping out several good anti-government stories - confirmation, if it were needed, that they are now an effective opposition. But they are not the finished article. There's too much central casting. Sometimes the usual script doesn't work, or looks ridiculous.

Today in Politics: Prime Minister's insults

By Andrew Grice

"The Tories' sums don't add up" is one of Gordon Brown's favourite slogans. Today at Prime Minister's Questions he went one better, claiming that David Cameron couldn't add up.

His researchers had unearthed a golden nugget from the novelist Frederick Forsyth, who has just been drafted in by Cameron to head a policy commission on defence. Forsyth, a hardline Eurosceptic, had previously accused the Tory leader of having "a sketchy grasp of basic arithmetic."

Today in Politics: The ego has landed

By Andrew Grice

Nicolas Sarkozy has just arrived at Heathrow for his much-anticipated state visit to Britain. No doubt it will be deemed a success by all concerned, even if the media spotlight falls more on his wife Carla Bruni than the hyperactive French President himself.

There'll doubtless be agreement on a whole range of issues tomorrow when Sarkozy meets Gordon Brown - including the global economic turbulence, Darfur, immigration and nuclear power. I'm sure they will bond personally: they are not strangers as they got to know each other when they were finance ministers.

Today in Politics: Climbdown Brown

By Andrew Grice

Gordon Brown had got himself into a "no win" situation over the forthcoming Bill to allow scientists to conduct more experiments on embryos in the hope of finding a cure to illnesses such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

Up to 12 ministers oppose the idea of creating human-animal hybrid embryos and Brown could not afford the prospect of resignations. Equally, he believes it is vital to secure the passage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill and did not want to look weak by backing down.

Today in Politics: Unhappy Iraqi anniversary

By Andrew Grice

The Commons will debate Iraq tomorrow. Why? Not because it's the fifth anniversary of the war, which Gordon Brown did not want to mark at all. Not because the PM can announce that plans to reduce the number of British troops in Basra are on schedule, because they are not. Not because of today's grim milestone that 4,000 American forces have been killed since the 2003 invasion.

Today in Politics: Gordon loves Ken

By Andrew Grice

How times change. Gordon Brown appeared at the side of Ken Livingstone this afternoon to lend his support for his attempt to win a third term as London Mayor. "Ken Livingstone has dedicated his professional and personal life to London," Brown writes in the London Evening Standard. Well, almost. There was a time when his new friend called repeatedly for Brown to be sacked as Chancellor after Labour's 1997 election victory. And there was that little local difficulty when Ken stood against Labour as an independent to win the Mayor's post in 2000. As Mayor, Livingstone took legal action to try to stop Brown's part-privatisation plan for the London Underground.

Today in Politics: Opposition Leader's Questions

By Andrew Grice

At Prime Minister's Questions today, a confident David Cameron tackled Gordon Brown over his refusal to answer his questions in recent weeks. The PM, as he often does, turned the tables on the Tory leader by asking HIM a question: did he support identity cards for foreign nationals, yes or no? Cameron had a good riposte: if Brown wants to ask him questions, he should call a general election and then (after the Tories win) he could ask him six at Prime Minister's Questions every week.

Today in Politics: Could Greens save our Ken?

By Andrew Grice

An important development today in the London Mayoral race. Sian Berry, the Green Party's impressive candidate, has urged her supporters to vote for Ken Livingstone as their number two choice in the 1 May election, when voters in the capital will be allowed to cast two votes.

Mayor Livingstone, who shared a platform with Berry to trumpet their common policies on the environment, urged Labour supporters to return the compliment by making the Greens their number two choice. "It is very important that people don't waste their second vote," a Ken aide told me.

Today in Politics: Opportunity knocks for Cameron

By Andrew Grice

Tory officials have been tweaking my tail about my column in last Saturday's paper, which was headlined "The Tories fear they are losing momentum". Since then, three opinion polls have given the party big leads over Labour of 16, nine and 13 points respectively. "We're worried about complacency - we're too far ahead," one Tory aide quipped.

Today in Politics: Number 10 exodus

By Andrew Grice

Another one of Gordon Brown's close aides is to leave Downing Street. Spencer Livermore, his director of political strategy, who has worked with Brown for 10 years, is jumping ship to join advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi and Fallon (SSF).

Insiders say he was not pushed, and that the PM tried hard to persuade him to stay. But his departure is being linked to the arrival of a new broom brought in to improve Number 10's performance - Stephen Carter, the former Ofcom boss, who became head of strategy in January. There has been some tension between Carter and Livermore, who feared there was a whispering campaign against him and is getting out of the hothouse before it gets even hotter.

Today in Politics: Iraq cloud returns

By Andrew Grice

The Commons will vote next week on whether there should be an independent inquiry into the lessons to be learnt from the Iraq war.

The Tories decided today to stage a debate in Opposition time on the need for an immediate inquiry. Some Labour MPs who opposed the war and the Liberal Democrats will join forces with the Tories. But I expect the call for an investigation to be defeated. Although more Labour MPs want one, they are a tribal bunch and don't like getting into bed with the Tories, so they will abstain or vote against.

Today in Politics: Tories back Project Cameron

By Andrew Grice at the Conservative Party conference in Gateshead

David Cameron didn't "do a Cameron" in his