Hyperbole is never in short supply in the Westminster village, but the news of Lord Levy's arrest can fairly be described as a political bombshell.
Tony Blair's enemies have long thought - hoped even - that the police investigation into cash for honours was the one thing that could force the prime minister out of office long before he would want to leave it.
Why? Because Lord Levy is not merely Labour's fundraiser, he has been the PM's one man solution to Labour's over dependence on union funding. And, of course, he is a friend. Levy is being investigated - though it must be stressed he has not yet been charged - for a serious abuse of public office; the sale of honours and the concealing of donations to the Labour Party.
He does and will protest his innocence but already those more interested in ending the Blair era than in bringing Michael Levy low will sense that they may have the man, the story and the issue to do it.
What connects John Reid's decision to go slow on and on ? No, not - though both decisions have. The answer is money.
91热爆 Office ministers could have given approval to the first merger of two police forces this week - but only if they'd agreed a year-on-year cost of around 拢13-拢15 million. Peanuts in Whitehall terms, but if they'd agreed to that then everyone else might have demanded the same, leaving a hole in the police budget.
The costs of the ID card scheme are, of course, vast in comparison. So vast that the Tories think that they can make a whole series of promises simply by pledging not to spend billions on ID cards.
I am not alleging that the Treasury are behind the go slows. The 91热爆 Office budget for the next three years was agreed some time ago. No effort has been made, I'm told, to re-open it. Team Brown were not asked their view on police mergers. Had they been they would have said that they hoped spending money now would produce long term savings.
My suspicion is that the home secretary - who unveils his reforms of the 91热爆 Office next week - is looking for things that will restore confidence in his department in the short term, and to postpone rows that are costly - not just in political terms but in financial terms too.
This may be the first example of a minister in a very high profile department having to get used to living on budgets that are much tighter than they've been at any time since Labour came to power.
