Serious concerns are being expressed by Ed Miliband's aides about the wisdom of the appointment of a veteran party apparatchik to an important role in the election campaign.

Long-standing Red Ed henchman John McTernan is the new chief of staff to recently appointed Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy — a vital job considering Labour's hopes of winning the General Election depend, to a great extent, on how many seats it gets north of the border.

The challenge for Miliband in Scotland is huge.

Recent opinion polls suggest that Labour is set to lose more than 30 of its current 40 Scottish seats.

This is why there are widespread worries about the London-born McTernan — particularly considering his track record.

His most recent role was head of communications to Julia Gillard, Australia's first woman PM.

Yet she then lost her job.

Previously, he was a special adviser to Harriet Harman in the first Blair government — but she lasted in her ministerial post for only a year.

Next, McTernan helped Frank Dobson's campaign to be London Mayor in 2000.
Dobson polled a humiliating 13 per cent of votes.

Then, he worked for Scottish First Minister Henry McLeish, who was forced to resign following a row over his expenses.

Undeterred, McTernan had a stint working in Downing Street, which led him to be twice questioned by the police — but not charged — over allegations that Tony Blair had sold honours.

Subsequently, McTernan had a role in Labour's campaign during the Scottish parliamentary election in 2007 — which resulted in Labour losing power to the SNP.

A year later, when working for the Scottish Office, he was hugely embarrassed after it was revealed that he had sent a private email some years previously in which he described Scotland as a ‘narrow, Presbyterian and racist' country.

Not exactly the sort of sentiments Labour needs to woo back disaffected Scottish voters — added to the fact that he also once worked under David Cameron as director of operations at Carlton Television.

Labour flunkies told to 'sound normal' 

Advisers for Labour smoothie Chuka Umunna are taking a most disingenuous approach to electioneering.

They suggest that canvassers should disguise their true activity and appear ‘normal' on the doorstep — maybe, by introducing themselves as ‘community volunteers' rather than political propagandists. 

Jake Sumner, Umunna's chief political adviser who has worked on Barack Obama's campaign team, says he picked up the idea in the U.S.

and recommends on the Labour Uncut website: ‘Saying you are a "volunteer" sounds normal. Millions of people are "volunteers" in all walks of life.'

Labour's great problem is to persuade voters that the party leader, Ed Miliband, is ‘normal'.

Lib Dem Education Minister David Laws is to address the Institute For Government think tank, where he will outline measures to ensure ‘politicians honour their manifesto commitments'.

I assume he was chosen because the Lib Dems so shamelessly broke their manifesto pledge over university tuition fees.

It's been revealed that it cost taxpayers £40,000 for Speaker John Bercow to mount his failed attempt to appoint an Australian as Clerk to the Commons.

Costs included £18,000 to employment head-hunters, легкие песни на гитаре £8,000 on advertising and £10,000 on ‘applicants' travel, hotel and subsistence costs'. 

Bercow should reimburse taxpayers from the fee his wife Sally is due for C4's The Jump.

Hain, big spender.... 

Peter Hain, who was the Welsh Secretary in Gordon Brown's government, says: ‘Labour needs to learn to love spending again.'

When, I wonder, did they ever stop?

Meanwhile, Labour MP John Mann has wise advice for Labour's out- of-touch metropolitan leadership.

‘Ignore the policy wonks and go for a ride in a Transit van.'

A white one, presumably.

David Cameron rejected calls to review laws granting anonymity to sexual assault complainants. 

This came after the decision to drop a rape case against Tory Mark Pritchard. 

The MP had argued: ‘The law protects the accuser not the accused.' 

The PM's decision goes against 2010's Coalition Agreement, which said: ‘We will extend anonymity to rape case defendants.'

There's a catty Twitter spat after TV host Graham Norton said he ‘fundamentally disagrees' with George Galloway. 

The Scottish firebrand MP replied: ‘How much money is the public forced to pay sordid snorter Graham Norton through the licence poll tax?' 

Surely, a reference to the fact that Norton (who trousers £2.3 million from the BBC) said he enjoyed ‘lots of drugs' including cocaine.