TS is not often in possession of hot political gossip, so let’s make the most of it - if anyone asks, you heard it here first.

Tony Blair (this one goes right to the top) is rumoured to be looking at a December reshuffle, his last chance to move the deckchairs around before his ship sinks

There are worries that HMRC is not being kept under control by ‘Red’ Dawn Primarolo, the paymaster general, and the suggestions are that she will be moved. Being a loyal Brown ally, she may well be transfered to a better job.

But who will take HMRC by the scruff of the neck should this happen? John Spellar, the Warley MP and a bit of a bruiser, is one name. John Healey, rising through the ranks of those in charge of our coffers, is another.