Hoey's clarification

Nobody

Gordon Brown on how to make the Labour Party look ridiculous.

Tiberius

David Blunkett on how to seduce Speccie publishers. Or Peter Mandelson on how to beat the credit crunch.

Ted Tedford

Des Browne on multi-tasking.

Michael Huntsman

John Prescott on the World Food Shortage?

Austin Barry

Hazel Blears on maintaining oblivious chirpiness in the face of disaster.

Ray

...Alistair Darling on how to put on a brave face whilst trying to get your head around your predecessor's financial incompetence.

David Lindsay

You're all looking forward to a Tory administration in London, then, with no one from the other parties hanging about, and especially no card-carrying members of the Labour Party?

You don't learn.

Perhaps you will if Cameron ever repeats this on a national scale, with Andrew Adonis as Education Secretary, Tony Blair attending Cabinet, and all Blair's old flames (Byers, Milburn, Reid, Mandelson, Campbell) burning away in "advisory" positions.

Vote for Cameron, and that is what you are voting for.

Max Kaye

Brown on hand care.

Lance Diatessaron

Blair on how to spot and groom potential successors to ensure a smooth transition.

Curbishly

"Chastened and Whipped"

Really?

It would take a braver man than Hoon to do theat..

Oscar Miller

Ed Balls on how to heckle at PMQs?

John

Lindsay on how to ignore reality.

mart

Advising, indeed! Expect many more years of low election turnouts as long as there is tolerance within party leaderships of this type of thing.

Paul B

Denis Skinner on diplomacy.
Ron Davies on rural & wildlife affairs

John

Tory Alan Duncan MP told BBC One's Question Time that Mr Mercer “appeared to be indifferent to the fact that someone was taunted for being black. You cannot be indifferent to that."

The racially insensitive remarks of Mercer allowed the opposition a propaganda victory along with an ITN newscaster proclaiming, everyone knows that life in the Army is tough but is racist abuse an excepted part of it? YES according to Patrick Mercer, in his interview he could see nothing wrong with the racial insults, but that’s the way it is in the Army he told the Times

Mercer said when he joined the army in the 1970s the atmosphere in which recruits were trained was in many ways utterly unacceptable nevertheless "nothing was said about this, it wasn't challenged, it was taken on the chin because that's what made you a man".

Perhaps, racially insensitive remarks are also something he believes should be taken on the chin.

I doubt that Mercer was naïve and I think he had a feeling of resentment towards Cameron and so under the pretext of patriotism came the Gordon Brown propaganda victory. The problem came when Tory grassroots perceived Patrick Mercer’s behaviour to be that of a traitor and Mercer and wife felt the brunt of their displeasure
along with (for the second time in Mercer’s political career) a demand to dismiss him.

I think the reason why Cameron was forced to let Mercer provide Brown with a propaganda victory was because it was done under the flag of patriotism but Mercer is now perceived to be seen as something of a loose cannon by other Tory members and it would be daft to ever allow a loose cannon embroiled with a number of scandals onto the front bench.

From a backbench position Patrick Mercer will not fulfil his ambition to be the Minister for Homeland Security
but he will fulfil his apparent mission to represent the Armed Forces. And the moral of it all is never ever allow
an Army type Colonel Blimp man to represent civilians because their thoughts and concerns dwell with the Armed Forces above and beyond the everyday lives of civvy street.

To my mind he always was and always will be an Armed Forces Member of Parliament. Give them more boots and bayonets and medals for their chest, to be in a prestigious fighting unit is the business. etc etc etc