The allegation is being widely circulated that Manchester City Council announced it’s 2,000 job losses today as a “spoiler” for the Old & Sad bye-election. Sadly, nothing so expertly Machiavellian has happened….

The Manchester Evening News got a leak about it yesterday (12th) and the City Council was forced to put a short, terse, statement in the wee-small-hours. Then they went to ground. Despite repeated requests from all the media – by this time national as well as local – no-one was available to comment. I know because I have spent the day in studios at at outside broadcasts doing what they wouldn’t. The Labour leadership of MCC could easily have gone on every available media outlet denouncing this as “Coalition imposed jobs cuts” and the unfairness of it all. Instead they chose to hide away in the Town Hall and claim they were “too busy”. Hardly the actions of people out to spoil the bye-election now is it? More cock-up than conspiracy I’m afraid.