Peter Hoskin

There was much to be impressed about in David Cameron's speech to the LSE earlier.  It contained some fizzy soundbites; made effective attacks on Brown's repsonse to the downturn; and clearly spelt out the dividing lines between the Tories and Labour.  Most of all, though, it said: "We are not the do-nothing party".  Given that the "do-nothing" charge is the key component in Brown's spin war against the Tories, it's an important point for Cameron to make.  And he did so by drawing a distinction between the wrong and the right "exceptional measures" (see this video clip from the Beeb): "I do believe that exceptional times call for exceptional measures - but they've got to be the right exceptional measures.

No real bombshells in Jacqui Smith's statement on the Damian Green affair earlier (video here).  She pushed the same lines that we've heard from her throughout the past week: that it was right to involve the police; that she didn't know anything about the arrest; that the leaks coming from the Home Office are a "serious matter" etc. etc. As Andrew Sparrow points out, the most eye-catching moment was an intervention by John Reid.

Theresa May - the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons, and MP for Maidenhead - has kindly agreed to a Q&A session with Coffee House. Just post your questions for her in the comments section below.  And, next Monday, we'll pick out the best ten and put them to her.  She'll get back to us with answers a few days later.

Steve Richards puts it pithily in today's Independent: "The Speaker 'was told' the night before about a possible arrest. Did he not consider cancelling his plans and asking a lot of questions? Did the Serjeant-at-Arms not consider asking questions as she 'was told' what was going to happen. This is a saga that exposes incompetence, as well as a lack of proper accountability." The key point in all this is the Speaker's near non-involvement in the raid on Green's office - he happily outsourced every single bit of responsibility to the Serjeant of Arms.  Now he's trying to outsource the blame to her too.  But, to my mind, his non-involvement is exactly why the Speaker should be held accountable for this.

Nothing especially exciting to report on State Opening day yet.  The Queen's delivered her Speech, leading with the line that "My Government's overriding priority is to ensure stability of the British economy during the global economic downturn" (see full text here).  And Dennis Skinner's delivered his traditional "joke", asking whether there are "Any Tory moles in the Palace?"  Much more likely that any fireworks will come later, when we'll see both Michael Martin's statement on the Damian Green arrest and Parliamentary debate over the Government's legislative programme. P.S. Good point from James Kirkup on the deemphasising of constitutional reform.

Peter Mandelson's performance on Sky earlier was remarkably venomous.  Here's the main thrust of it: "I also have to say I think that for many Conservatives, it is a self-serving smokescreen, behind which to hide their own apparent collusion with a Home Office official who was allegedly systematically leaking Home Office papers to the Conservative Party, in order to pursue his own personal political ambition... ...I would like to know from the Conservatives whether their frontbench and their leader knowingly colluded with that civil servant in riding a coach and horses not only through the Civil Service code but also through the law." Putting aside the strength (or weakness) of Mandelson's position here, this fresh outburst should serve as a warning to the Tories.