Changing the subject
There are times when you look back at your predictions and think "why on earth did I say that?" Did I really suggest that the police would simply go through the motions of investigating allegations of "cash for peerages"?
I confess I did.
Well, now we know differently. What used to be called the fraud squad (now rather more boringly called SCD6, or serious and economic crime directorate to you and me) has 8 officers investigating. They have arrested one man; interviewed many others, some under caution; they've taken possession of reams of documents and say that they need until September to finish their investigation.
The police are being very very careful not to leak information on how their enquiry is going but word reaches me that they think they could be onto something big. One of those familiar with their enquiries tells me that the paper trail had produced "pretty significant evidence".
Yesterday the officer in charge - Yates of the Yard - told MPs the parameters of his current enquiries. His team are looking into a possible link between loans and the nominations for peerages in 2005 and into links between sponsoring city academies and honours of all sorts.
This spells danger for Labour. It's true that the Met has interviewed and taken papers from the Tories and the Lib Dems too. It's true that the Tories have nominated many donors and lenders for peerages. It's true that the Lib Dems may be in real trouble after accepting over £2 million from a man who is now helping another group of police with their enquiries. But the Yates enquiry appears to be honing in on Labour's pre-election decision to take loans and then keep them secret from the Lords Appointments Commission. Unwelcome news for a man who's embarked on "change the subject" week.
P.S. - MPs on the Public Administration Committee will soon tell us whether they'll press ahead with interviewing Lord Levy - Tony Blair's chief fundraiser - and others, despite requests from the police and Crown Prosecution Service not to do so. Last night's meeting did not go swimmingly. Police and parliament are arguing about whose job it is to expose the abuse of the system - if abuse there was.
I'm 
