Tories try to rubbish Gordon's next bag man

Now that David Miliband has pledged his final oath of allegiance to G ordon Brown, the Chancellor can begin his task of earmarking his backroom team for when he finally gets to unpack his bags at Number 10.

He's apparently lined up the British Airways Authority's highly- rated public relations director, Joe Irvin, to be his head of political relations - a role currently performed by Tony Blair's political bag-carrier John McTernan. The move would make sense, since Irvin, when he was a director of policy at the Transport and General Workers Union, worked closely with Brown's consigliere Ed Balls .

The Tories have already seized upon the news by claiming Irvin's appointment is likely to further damage Gordon Brown's wobbly standing with the Green lobby. They point out that back in 2002, during Irvine's time at BAA, he made headlines by masterminding the Freedom to Fly campaign, which called for the building of more runways and airports.

When I called Irvin about the matter, he insisted he hadn't been approached by anyone, but found it "very flattering".

If the post does materi-alise, it won't be his first job working directly for New Labour. He's previously been a press spokesman for John Prescott, and was the unfortunate soul entrusted with phoning Alastair Campbell during 2001 campaign trail to inform him that his boss had just right-hooked a member of the public.

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