London

It now looks almost certain that Andrew Mitchell will be our next EU Commissioner in 2014. The job was not advertised and the backroom selection process remains a mystery. In the wake of the Plebgate row, though, we can make an educated guess as to why, according to the FT, Downing Street has asked Mitchell ‘to consider’ the offer. This would be no ordinary consolation prize for Mitchell. Downing Street has big hopes for Mitchell in the role. Senior Whitehall sources indicate that Britain will be pushing hard for a big economic portfolio when the new commission is appointed next year. The aim is to make the case for financial

It was inevitable, after the Mair interview and the Cockerell profile, that Boris would dominate the news this morning. Steve Richards and Hugo Rifkind (£) have written about him in their columns, and there are numerous reviews of Cockerell’s programme to read – Paul Goodman at ConHome will make for a thoughtful and entertaining lunchtime break. I don’t think that Cockerell’s programme told eagle-eyed political observers anything new; but that was not its intention, at least from Boris’ perspective. Eddie Mair wondered if Boris is nasty piece of work; most viewers of Cockerell’s programme would have emerged with the view that Boris is at worst a naughty piece of work.

Whooo that was nasty. Today’s was the most vicious PMQs of the last twelve months. Easily. Ed Miliband started by quoting the case of a Londoner called ‘John’ who was concerned about living standards. ‘John’, however, wasn’t a disabled pensioner but a City fat cat concerned that next year’s bonus might be capped at two million pounds. ‘What’s the prime minister going to do to help him?’ Nifty tactics from Miliband’s team. Cameron might have floundered here but his reply matched the full force of Miliband’s attack. His government, he declared, had cut bonuses to a quarter of what they’d been under Labour. ‘And we aren’t going to listen to

As is becoming increasingly clear to David Cameron, the problem with answering calls for an inquiry into a scandal in one industry or another is that at some point that Inquiry will report back with a bunch of recommendations which may or may not be politically expedient to implement. The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards came up with proposals last week for an electrified ring fence, which the Treasury politely said it would look at, and Vince Cable rather more bluntly said the government should ignore, preferring instead that ministers get a move on with implementing the Vickers proposals, rather than opening up the whole debate again. But the really

The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards was conceived in those tumultuous days following the first Libor revelations. At the time, some hoped that its report would lay the blame squarely at the feet of a certain former city minister. But the cross-party committee of peers and MPs has produced a sober report this morning which makes for relatively comfortable reading for those Labour politicians whose regulatory system saw the birth of Libor rigging as it does not name them. It is slightly less comfortable for the Coalition, which now has to consider whether to beef up its existing plans for banking reform. It doesn’t contradict the spirit of the Vickers