Chewed out

Let's add a little context to the video conversation last week between No 10's Director of Communications, Craig Oliver (ex BBC) and Norman Smith, Chief Political Correspondent for the BBC News Channel. You can see it here on Guido Fawkes' site.

It seems to have been recorded after the 6 O'clock News on BBC1 on Friday. It had been a difficult 24 hours for Craig. First there was the revelation that he'd dined "discreetly" with Newscorp lobbyist Fred Michel at the height of the revelations that Millie Dowler's phone had been hacked. Apparently the meeting was not declared in any register because the bill (at Le Boudin Blanc, Shepherd Market - once a rather racy area of Mayfair) had been split. (Craig seems to have been enticed to the rendezvous by the possibility of meeting Will Lewis - who didn't turn up).

Then overnight, London saw record temperatures of 22C. The Oliver pad, in West London, has had the loft converted and the roof sealed to make a craft workshop for Mrs Oliver, the broadcaster and author Joanna Gosling - these sort of conversions can make the upper parts of older houses quite hot.

At the BBC, Friday seemed to be a day off for Nick Robinson - zero tweets. So Norman stepped up. On the hottest day of the year thus far, Craig clearly didn't like a piece on the One O'Clock News, and told "Gavin" so - one presumes this is stoical BBC Millbank operative Gavin Allen (Editor of Political News). Then, blow me down, Norm's at it again on the Six, this time with a graphic showing mugshots of Hunt, Cameron and Murdoch against a spider's web. I can't find anything to indicate Cameron's movements on Friday afternoon, but I'd take a small bet that he was watching the Six with Craig. Who seems to chew when he's het up. Which is not nice.