Abandon Ship!

Apparently Number 10 are trying to spin things to appear that they have been running a flushing out operation to shock Ministers who were thinking of resigning into remaining onside.

The story goes that Number 10‘s flying monkeys put a few names about the press corp as potentials who were considering resigning – trying to prompt the press to contact the ministers named and ask whether they were still onside...except when it came to David Cairns they couldn`t get through and he's not returning call - they now assume that he has gone to ground.

With this intel now in the public domain Number 10 can then start turning the screws of the rebel minister in question to stay on and declare loyalty having ‘flushed’ them out into the open. It is, I suppose, a variation on the apocryphal Lyndon B Johnson gambit of calling your opponent a pigf*cker.

Its an interesting theory but I don`t really buy it as part of the strategy necessitates getting the media to speculate on what Ministers are looking to resigning demanding Brown do the same – that’s bad press in anyone’s book.

But a wee snippet on Brenedict Brogan of the Daily Mail’s blog says that sources close to Jim Murphy MP have been in touch saying he has no intention of resigning...when no one was suggesting he was! IF Murphy felt the need to issue such an assurance just how many Ministers were being suggested as being on the verge of resigning?