Laura Kuenssberg to the rescue

As the government’s omNICshambles unravelled further today with a u-turn from the Chancellor, many have been left wondering why no-one spotted the problem sooner — with the manifesto breach managing to get past brains at both No 10 and No 11. Today in the chamber, Philip Hammond credited none other than Laura Kuenssberg, the BBC’s political editor, with notifying him first of the problem with the pledge:

‘Who first raised the issue of the manifesto? Well, credit where credit is due I think it was actually Laura Kuenssberg on the BBC shortly after I said it in the Budget speech.’

With the SNP’s Alex Salmond later calling on Hammond to give Kuenssberg a job to avoid any future errors, Mr S suspects the incident will only fuel Corbynista concerns that Kuenssberg is really a Tory stooge…