Hoon did he speak to?

I’m trying to work out which constituency party members Geoff Hoon had the “conversations” with, which prompted him to launch his coup.

In Central Lobby the other day Hoon was adamant he’d not spoken to potential leadership candidates or other rebels, and claimed it was chatting to people in Ashfield that led to his decision.

He and hacks had this rather bizarre exchange:

“So you haven’t talked to Charles Clarke about it then?”
“No,” said Hoon.
“And you haven’t talked to David Miliband about it?”
“No”
“Have you talked to anyone in the Government about it?”
“No”
“Have you talked to anyone who recently left the Government?”
“Well – I recently left the Government.”
“Are you saying you talked to yourself about it?”
“No.”

The thing is, members of the Ashfield Constituency Labour Party also have no idea who Hoon spoke to, according to the Nottingham Evening Post.

The people who count – the former Labour leader of Notts County Council and the Ashfield Labour district councillor – all seem as angry at Hoon’s cack handed plot as everyone else.

Perhaps it was the guy that empties the office bins or the canteen lady?

Surely it couldn’t be that Hoon wasn’t utterly candid when he said he was acting independently from any other Westminster rebels or people in Government?

Labour MP: If Tories can’t win now, they never will

Part of me thinks Labour's Paddy Tipping was playing games when he told Lobbydog how tough it would be for his party to hold Notts County Council in June’s election.

"People are disappointed with the Labour Party," said the MP for Sherwood.

"It’s like the last days of the Thatcher and Major governments, but I don’t think the Tories have ‘done the deal’ with the public yet.

"Labour colleagues have said if the Tories can’t win it this time then they never will."

It’s that old tactic you often see used in football matches – the other team is expected to win, so put the pressure on them.

The thing is, he’s right. The pressure is on the Tories and if they don’t take councils in June there’ll be a big question mark as to just how much they’ve managed to dent Labour’s support.

A46 update

Apparently Notts County Council had asked Sherwood MP Paddy Tipping to get involved in the debate on widening the A46 this week.

The road doesn't actually run through his constituency but the council thought the argument might carry more weight if it was supported by a Labour MP in Parliament, which is true.

There is the other point that it might be bad for a Labour council in an election year to have two Tory MPs sorting out their biggest transport problem.

See tomorrow's Evening Post for more.