This Morning the Smith Institute Met in No. 11

The arrogance of the Sith is incredible. Despite being warned by the Charity Commission to hold events at politically neutral venues, they held yet another event this morning at No. 11.

A co-conspirator tells Guido

Alistair Darling was "looking very proprietorial " telling the assembled business executives how it will be in future. Attending were some ministers, no politicians from other parties, but some Labour backbenchers.

With Gordon's future chancellor and only Labour MPs present, seems to Guido to be a little bit political and far from neutral. If you have not yet watched Iain Dale's ten minute documentary on the Smith Institute, click here.

UPDATE : Dizzy has picked-up on the Treasury's John Healey avoiding answering questions about EMI. Wonder why?

Tories Pressing Hard on Smith Institute

Chris Grayling has today written to the Charity Commission's Head of Compliance demanding a full investigation under Section 8 of the Charities Act.

Mark Francois last week tabled yet another Written Parliamentary Question (WPQ) which is still unanswered

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what remuneration was received for the use of 11 Downing Street from the Smith Institute or SI Events Ltd for its seminar on positional goods held on 21st September 2006.

Keith Simpson has been told to expect an answer to his questions "by the end of this week".

A co-conspirator emails to say he has been told by Oliver Letwin that George Osborne "has been doing a good deal of work on this Smith Institute connection, and will be ensuring that it is brought fully to public attention."* Hmm, the bandwagon went that way...

*Guido knows that Osborne's researcher is boasting to journalists that he is behind the exposing of the Sith, perhaps he repeats to them what he reads here?

Move Over WebCameron, Disco Sarko Grooves

The Guidoisation and Popbitching of democracy spreads across the channel. WebCameron is so 2006, Disco Sarko is it. Disco never dies, Vive les Sarkonautes!

Charity Commission Sets Midday Deadline for Evidenceand Goes On Strike

The Charity Commission is insisting Guido hands over evidence by midday and that they will not accept anything after that deadline.

So Guido tried calling them this morning, only to be told the switchboard is unmanned because the PCS union is on strike and the person concerned is not available. Kafkaesque.

UPDATE : The person concerned has just emailed to say they are not on strike and will call Guido back.

UPDATE II : Have had a discussion with the Head of Compliance, have explained Guido's concerns about how to protect the anonymity of sources, and promised to send info as soon as possible.

Dale on the Smith Institute

Iain Dale has been tracking the Smith Institute around Westminster and Whitehall for Doughty Street TV. The evidence that the Smith Institute is a Brownite front, rather than a non-political, non-partisan charity is patently clear. Download the video here.

Cover-Ups are Tricky Stuff

+ Smith Institute Exposé II + Doughty Street TV Tonight +

Just to add to the good news flow, Iain Dale has a piece on Doughty Street TV tonight about the Smith Institute which explains why they should lose their charitable status.

Michael Crick will no doubt be watching...

Let's Do the Perp Walk Again!

Levy really should have taken Guido's advice when he had the chance, shouldn't he?

This is not the end, but it is the beginning of the end...

Can't wait for the PMOS' explanation tomorrow. "There is no Lord Levy in Downing Street, there is no other email system, from which nothing was deleted, no honours were sold etc..."

Guido was in the supermarket when he heard the news. He left the fruit and veg and proceeded to the champagnes. Well why not...

Million Petitioners : All Ignored

The Downing Street website has had a million petition signatures since November boasted the PMOS this afternoon. The site is now almost as popular as this blog...

The PMOS went on to say that even when hundreds of thousands of people signed up

"it did not automatically guarantee was a change in policy, as sometimes, there were issues such as road pricing where people had strong views, but strong views did not necessarily equal a solution to congestion."

Not one single petition has been acted upon so far, Guid thinks you are wasting your time people. Downing Street is boasting it has ignored the views of a million people.

+++ Gordon's Non-Partisan, Non-Political Charity Paid forU.S. Pollster to Formulate Anti-Cameron Strategy +++

Bloomberg News is reporting that Bob Shrum, the veteran U.S. pollster and campaign adviser, was paid by the Smith Institute to formulate an anti-Cameron campaign strategy for Gordon Brown.

They have obtained a transcript of a speech given to a private Smith Institute invited audience, which included Brown acolytes Ed Balls and Douglas Alexander, as well as other media allies. Shrum advised the Brownites to brand Cameron as "an empty opportunist who will do anything to win".

The event was held to review Cameron's first 100 days in March 2006.

Guido understands that a formal complaint to the Charity Commissioners requesting a full-scale investigation of the Smith Institute under Section 8 of the Charity Act will be considered by the Charity Commission today.

++ more follows ++

Webmail for Dummies

Dear Tom,

How to find out if you can get onto a private email gateway from Downing Street:

1. Get your assistant to sit down at a web connected terminal.
2. Tell them to double-click on the internet browser symbol to launch it.
3. At the top in the address line get your assistant to type http://www.lpnet.org.uk
4. Tell her to hit the return key.

If you see this:
You better correct yourself to the Lobby this morning...

Regards,

Guido

Hain's Emergency

Guido hears that Hain had a bit of a panic this morning after his campaign's strategy and supporters list was put online. The resulting emergency conference call had a theme; "shit, what are we going to do?"

Apparently Labour staffers are in the shit, since they are supposed to be impartial. Which means Sheila Murphy, Labour's Northern Director and Barrie Grunewald, Regional Director Yorks and Humber, will have to explain themselves to Hilary Benn and Alan Johnson, who are both in their regional care.

Life won't be any easier for Felicity Williams, General Secretary of the Wales TUC who is in a politically restricted post, nor Lynn Glaister, Welsh Regional Officer and Arlene Ainsley - Regional Officer for the North of England.

One thing is for sure, Joe Carberry, Hain's researcher and the author of the document along with Phil Taylor, Hain's SpAd, are not going to be popular with the boss or his supporters after this screw up...

PMOS Gives Non-Denial Denial Over Secret Email

Guido has been very busy today, and has only just got back from the Charity Commission's offices. So had missed the news that this morning the Lobby has been discussing with the PMOS Guido's exclusive revelation on Saturday regarding the private email system used by Labour party apparachtiks in Downing Street. You know, the one that the PMOS says doesn't exist.

On Saturday Guido also called for a correction from the PMOS, the Lobby got the hint, this is today's official note;

Channel Four's Political Editor said that he had picked up from the PMOS an "angry" tone, and did we feel that the police were putting things into the public domain without reporting directly to Downing Street, the PMOS asked the journalist if he was really telling him that police involved in an ongoing investigation were leaking details to the press, because if he was, it was a very serious allegation.

Asked if that could be the only way in which some of the information could have got into the public domain, the PMOS said "you tell me". We believed that any conversations between the parties involved should be private.

Put that we had "rubbished" any idea of alternative computer networks, but the Mail on Sunday and "Guido Fawkes" website had both claimed that they had evidence of alternative email networks in No. 10 that linked up to the Labour Party, the PMOS said that we stood by what we said to ITN. There was only one email system at No. 10.

Asked if it would be possible for someone to "hop on" using a No. 10 computer onto the Labour Party network, the PMOS said again that there was only one email system at No. 10.

Asked further questions about the possibility of an external server, or the possibilities of sending Labour Party emails, and did only one system allow for more than one email address, the PMOS repeated that there was only one email system in No. 10. As the PMOS said on Friday, people in No. 10 could not access hotmail, gmail etc because of security reasons, and he was not aware of anyone who had more than one email address.

Asked if people could send political emails from the No. 10 account, the PMOS replied that he was not going to get into the details of the system. The claim that was put to us was that there was more than one system, and there is not. There is only one, and the police have had access to everything that went through the system.

Read it carefully and you can see he is not denying the existence of the private network, or that Downing Street staff can use it, he is saying that there is only one email system "at No. 10". He is not denying the fact that political staff can, and do, use the Labour party's private system. He is just being evasive. Guido, and no doubt even Lobby journalists, can vouch for the use of Hotmail accounts by Downing Street staff. They could be using their laptop's mobile cards, their personal PDAs, but they can and do use Hotmail accounts for delicate matters. Be assured of that...

Sith : Going In...

Quote of the Month, comes by kind permission of the left-wing broadcaster Michael Crick, from the dark side's Wilf Stevenson, director of the Smith Institute. After the third phone call from Newsnight's Crick last week Wilf yelled "This is disreputable journalism, you are following the agenda of Guido Fawkes" ... before slamming down the phone.

Peter Hain's Campaign Strategy

Normally this kind of thing when leaked is not that exciting, Guido is usually underwhelmed by the details of by-election battle-plans and suchlike. But you know, the perma-tanned boy-racer is so bloody irritating that hopefully outing some MPs who have tentatively promised him support (no doubt they have said the same to other candidates) will give him a bit of a slap and please many rugby fans.

Particularly amusing to see listed is the promise by Harriet Harman's PPS, Martin Linton, that he will publicly support her rival for deputy leader. What is clear is the total state of paralysis gripping the party of government as all minds are focused on positioning. Poor the Harriet...

Download Peter Hain's "Strategy and Supporters" list here.

Remember, Guido's contact details are in the right-hand column if you want to blow the whistle...

Things Can Only Get Better

Confidence in Blair has reached an all time low according to the pollsters, the polls show his party has fallen 12 percentage points in 12 months, the Sunday Telegraph reports that that the Loans for Lordships paper trail leads to an inked margin note in Tony's handwriting. The police have lost track of hundreds of paedophiles, the Home Secretary is writing to judges asking them to free the guilty because they have not built new prisons. The army is overstretched and under-equipped providing target practise for enemies who present no threat to the national interest and are readying for their own civil war. The NHS is in chaos and schools policy is in disarray. The Labour party faces annihilation in Scotland at the hands of the SNP and the cabinet is on the edge of anarchy with ministers openly campaigning against government policies. Two trusted close Downing Street advisers have been arrested and another two interviewed under caution as suspects. The police have even asked a few difficult questions of the PM himself.

Things can only get better Tony.

Exclusive : The Non-Existent Private Email Gateway

This is the gateway to the Labour party's private secure email system used by Downing Street officials for sensitive party political communications, it is not part of the government network and is currently the object of intense police interest. It utilises military level RSA encryption, but if you want to try your luck guessing usernames and passwords - www.lpnet.org.uk.

PMOS Wrong, Guido Knows

Yesterday morning the Lobby asked the PMOS about Downing Street's email systems, the official Lobby note says:

Asked if there were a separate e-mail address such as some using the letter X and some not, the PMOS said no. Asked if people had 'Hotmail' accounts at Downing Street, the PMOS said because of security access to such e-mails accounts was not allowed. The police had had full access to everything they wanted. The fallacy was that in someway Downing Street had not cooperated with the police, that was not true.

On both the X-prefix point and the Hotmail question, Guido has direct experience of email exchanges with Downing Street people using "x.gsi.gov.uk" mail accounts and using Hotmail to, errm, well... lets just say Guido knows they use them. So perhaps the PMOS can check again and make a correction on Monday. Emails will be to the Blairgate cover-up, what tapes were to the Watergate cover-up.

Gordon and the Explosive Power of Bloggers

Speaking in Davos this morning, Gordon Brown, sitting next to Rupert Murdoch, said:

"A few years ago the debate was about whether the media controlled politicians or whether politicians controlled the media. Now it is about how we are all responding to the explosive power of citizens, consumers and bloggers."

The Smith Institute dossier requested by the Charity Commissioners is being delivered on Monday.

Growling Chris Grayling MP has also written to the Chancellor requesting answers to some pertinent questions:

• Will you publish a full list of all events held at Number 11 Downing Street by the Smith Institute?
• Have any costs for Smith Institute events held at Number 11 been subsidised by you or the Treasury in any way? If so, what has been the total cost to the taxpayer of hosting these events?
• What are the criteria by which applications to hold events at Number 11 are judged?
• What is the number of applications you have received to hold events at Number 11; the number accepted and the number declined?
• Will you list those charities that have been refused permission to hold events at Number 11?
• Have any other Treasury facilities been provided for the purpose of hosting Smith Institute events?
• On how many occasions have you personally attended Smith Institute events?
• Has the Smith Institute ever provided you with any personal benefits? If so, have you declared such benefits (a) to the Register of Members Interest and (b) to the Electoral Commission
• Have you ever solicited donations for the Smith Institute?
• Can you provide assurances that there is no conflict of interest between anyone who has donated to the Smith Institute and your actions as Chancellor of the Exchequer?

Come Monday morning the Charity Commissioners will, Guido strongly suspects, be adding some of their own questions about his "non-political, independent charity". Guido loves the smell of gunpowder in the morning...

Friday Caption Contest (Under the Stairs Edition)

Wrong Train of Thought

A co-conspirator draws Guido's attention to Boris' Telegraph column yesterday, saying how bad the train service is to Henley on Thames:

"Unbelievable! And even if they did want to lay on more capacity now, the Government interferes at every turn. There are currently 14 officials in the Department of Transport who are working on the railway timetable, and at a recent meeting with angry MPs Alistair Darling, the Transport Secretary, was seen to be poring over his copy of Bradshaw and musing on whether or not an 0848 service could be added to some branch line, in addition to the 0932. The Secretary of State!"

So has Alistair Darling returned to the Deparment of Transport?

Is the "Secret Email System" Just Lotus Notes?

ITN last night and the Mail today are repeating the "Smoking Gun" story with a twist about a "secret I.T. system". Guido thinks the story is a little muddled. Here is what a seemingly well informed co-conspirator wrote last night:

There isn't a second email system in my humble opinion - there is a confidential database thats written in Lotus Notes - a system more commonly recognised as an email platform but one that also can be used for database work.

The system is primarily used by Labour party employees and although partly ran by No. 10 staff, access is severly restricted, in the same way parliament's I.T. department have to provide impartial service to the parties who have MPs, so do the No. 10 staff have to be impartial when helping the party-in-power therefore there is a kind of two-tier IT infrastructure in No. 10 and also the Palace of Westminister.

The database access is for staff in the No. 10 office of the Labour party, Powell and his staff and also key minsters' SpAds, they contribute briefing documents, in various stages of preparation before being used by other spads to present key ideas to ministers and ultimately Tony Blair himself, all the speeches and statements and PMQ briefs are in there, going all the way back to '97.

To Guido this rings true.

UPDATE : Co-conspirators have spotted and tipped off Guido to the Labour party's private email system supplied by a Microsoft subsidary. The Whale Secure Remote Access website emphasises "it was designed to meet Israeli military-grade security needs, and all thought: 'we definitely need this!' ", so said Steve Turnbull, Network Manager, Labour Party. It fortunately has "Strict provisions for wiping all traces of email attachments, files and user credentials from the end-point, as well as the ability to permit different levels of access and functionality depending on compliance of the access device with Party security policy, would be critical." It does run Lotus notes groupware.

++ Tories Call for Public Statement ++ What is Gordon's Relationship to the Sith?

Developing...

Sith for Beginners

Cash for Policy.

Sith attempt to cover-up use of No. 11.

Mrs Brown recruits Konrad as the Sith apprentice.

The back story to the Sith's Konrad.

The public charity which refuses to talk to the public.

Cameron : Brown is the dark side. [Sith Death Star graphic]

Non-political charity does policy at No. 11.

Sith's Konrad paid by charity to campaign for Balls' election.

What Yates should ask Gordon.

The Charity Commission announcement.

The Sith and the Statesman.

The first story, but not the last...

Guido Has Been Busy

Guido has been on his knees all morning, saying the rosary for the blessed Ruth Kelly and a few extra Hail Marys for the children.

Would do a bit of self-flagellation if it helped but masochism is not Guido's thing.

Mrs Fawkes sends her best wishes as well Ruth...

Guy News TV : Sith Exposé Part I

++ Smith Institute Exposé ++ Newsnight Tonight ++

Guido knew something was up when the Charity Commissioners contacted him this week asking for evidence regarding the Smith Institute. When Guido said he was still compiling his dossier they warned that they could "legally compel" Guido to provide evidence.

Guido retorted that they should fufil an outstanding Freedom of Information request. This evening out-of-the-blue at 5pm the Charity Commission's Senior Manager for Compliance personally handed Guido a revealing two inch dossier. In an enclosed written request he asked Guido to provide all relevant information "by the close of business Thursday 25 January 2007". All the bits of the puzzle have yet to be assembled.

Guido understands that tonight Newsnight's Michael Crick intends to run an exposé of the Smith Institute, which is already under investigation by the charities regulator (for a second time) over allegations of political activities in breach of the Charities Act. The Charity Commission was due to issue a report shortly, they may soon have to revise their findings. The Sith are unavailable for comment.

++ More to follow ++

Dave Asked to Commit to a Policy : Free the Weed!

Last week Dave told WebCameron users that

"If it can be proved that there are real benefits, medicinal benefits and scientific evidence for it, I would be relaxed about that... my decision would be to licence it if it could be proved to have benefits."

This week supporters of the Therapeutic Help from Cannabis for Multiple Sclerosis campaign are asking him to commit to a policy change.

"Given the many conclusive studies showing the benefits of medical cannabis, can you commit to changing government policy in 2009?"

Humane, liberal, modern and compassionate - this is a Cameroonie policy if ever there was one. Vote to free the weed here. C'mon Dave..

Mulholland Campaigns

LibDems work ceaselessly and tirelessly for good causes with no expectation of any return and because of their commitment to human rights blah blah blah holier than thou etc.

Dear all

Please be aware, if you have not already cast your vote, that the deadline for voting in the Channel 4 political awards of the year is today at midday. Greg Mulholland MP would be most appreciative if you would consider casting your vote for him in the Campaigning Politician of the Year award following his work on behalf of Mirza Tahir Hussain. It is possible to vote online using your ballot paper and it only takes a few moments.

Many thanks and best wishes

James Tobin
Parliamentary Researcher
Office of Greg Mulholland MP
Leeds North West

Guido voted for Brian Haw, you can too by clicking here.

Snouts in the Trough : Microsoft Doles Out Pork and Wine

Here is a fine example of how the ruling political class literally get their snouts in the trough courtesy of suppliers:

First minister Jack McConnell and Danuta Hubner, European commissioner for regional policy, are among the speakers at a two-day Microsoft 'government leaders forum' which takes place in the Scottish parliament.

Microsoft, quasi-monopolistic purveyors of over-priced, buggy, sub-standard software have high level sales teams embedded in government, literally using government offices to sell to the government. To make sure that the bosses keep buying Microsoft they schmooze them like mad. They also fund think-tanks to produce reports protecting their monopoly and rubbishing superior open source software. You can be sure that the wine at this "government leaders forum" will have an excellent bouquet discernable to a politician's snout.

McTernan Interviewed Under Caution Last Week

Shrewd observers believe that all those press stories about "Downing Street angry with police" and that they plan to have their revenge are guff written up by journalists still willing to ingratiate themselves with the lame ducks in the bunker. There is increasing panic and disarray in the Downing Street bunker since McTernan was interviewed under caution, (his second interview) with Ruth Turner being arrested a few days later.

They have separate legal representation, are they now pointing the finger at each other?

The Labour campaign in Scotland is becoming mired in Downing Street sleaze with the SNP gaining strength from capitalising on their anti-corruption stance. The ineptitude of Blair in appointing McTernan, one of the key figures in Loans for Lordships, to run the Scottish campaign has become manifestly clear. The Scottish press is focused on the scandal, which has developed a Scottish sub-plot with the interviewing of Jack McConnell, the First Minister.

Jonathan Powell might be wise to keep a toothbrush in his top-pocket and not expect to always have a lie-in.

+ Reliable Source : McTernan Interviewed Under Caution +

It has been confirmed to Guido that Downing Street's Director of Political Operations, John McTernan, has been interviewed under caution by Scotland Yard investigators. Until now speculation has been that he had been interviewed.

Rumours swirling around that Powell could be arrested soon...

Day 6 : Gotcha Blog Brother

Deleting comments is "house-keeping" when Blog Brother does it. But comment deletion is what it was... Gotcha!

UPDATE : Guido is announcing a change in this blog's comments deletion policy after consideration of the disclosure of Blog Brother's policy over at the amusing left-wing anarcho-humourist blog the void. Guido will be bringing his policy into line with Blog Brother, and will no longer delete comments from bores and loons. They will be "put in context". The context being they are not wanted here. The delete button on the keyboard has been re-assigned and is now the "context" button.

Doughty TV Re-Launch Beta Up

Looks good, and they now have the video feed running live and on demand. So that is the hot and cold sorted, but not all the backroom plumbing is fixed so hence the "Beta" release. It now seems to work in Firefox without problem...

It has a lot of new features including the long awaited video upload facility from their citizen journalists. How come Recess Monkey got a video camera and not Guido?

Chris Bryant Writes for Guido!

That is it. Have had enough of this silly rumour that has been going round. It is not true, casts me in a weak light and I will not stand for it anymore. Lawyers will be corresponding with anyone who tells this smear on my good name.

The story goes that some time ago I was working out in the commons gym (got to look my best in pictures after all). I was sprinting on the treadmill. Jack Straw was on the rowing machine just across from me. When, after doing an impressive 5 miles, I jumped off to dab myself off with a towel, Jack is supposed to have shouted across: "Very good Bryant, but now give me 20 press ups." Always willing to ingratiate myself (he was the foreign secretary), I am supposed to have immediately hit the deck and given him a quick 20 press ups.

It is a lie. I will sue. I did 50 press ups!

I am Chris Bryant!

Guy News TV : U.S. Military Surveillance of Civilians in IraqParental Advisory, Adult Content

Hemming Taking Blair to Court

One of Guido's favourite MPs, John Hemming, is trying to get ministers, or rather their civil servants, to answer questions. Something you would think essential for a functioning democracy.

First of all he needs to establish that questions in letters are not "proceedings in parliament" which are outside the scope of court actions. Good luck, and if any of Guido's many skiving legal readers are interested, here is his pleading.

Hopefully he won't be the only one taking Tony to court this year.

Newsnight Replies Re Running Order Ruckus Over Ruth

There was consternation in many places over last week's reporting by the BBC of Ruth Turner's arrest. Many thought that Newsnight in particular messed up the priorities with a Michael Crick story on a Tory using the word "cripple" in an email as the lead item. Guido agreed and on Saturday emailed Newsnight's editor Peter Barron:

Peter,

Could you give me an on the record quote concerning the relative priority given to these stories on Friday.

The lead story focused on an embarrassing email sent between two non-entity local Tory councillors. In other news, after nine minutes on this story, the next story was that PM's aide was arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice in the loans for lordships investigation. This story was given three minutes.

Why were the stories prioritised in that order?

Do you think the un-pc email story was more important?

The reply came back this morning:

Guido,

On Newsnight we don't necessarily stick to linear running orders which reflect the relative significance of stories in the same way that news bulletins tend to. The loans for peerages story was of course more significant, but there were other factors at play. We had committed Michael Crick to following David Cameron's efforts to relaunch his campaign in the North. While covering that he came across the "cripple" email story, which was an exclusive and highly pertinent to the Conservatives' attempts to portray themselves as a compassionate party of government. It followed and mirrored the biggest controversy and talking point of the week which concerned the use of un-PC language in Big Brother. The loans story had been reported in some detail on the 10 O'clock News and on Newsnight we considered that our version could not be substantially different given the information we had at that point. We therefore decided to lead off on our own original story and to run the loans story prominently in second place. You could actually argue that in terms of global significance it was our third story - about China and star wars - which was the most important of the three.

Guido gets the impression that they were committed to the Crick story, when Ruth got arrested they didn't want to bin the Crick footage. A misjudgement. A nothing story, about a nobody versus the arrest of the PM's aide? This could lead to a crisis of Watergate proportions and surely deserves serious treatment by the nation's prime serious news show. What were they thinking?

UPDATE : Peter Barron blogs "I don't rule out the possibility that it was simply a misjudgement." Quite.