So Damian McBride is back on Labour’s bosom!

Well no surprise there, the question is did he ever leave!? It is not a shock that he is back nor is the timing of his return. Did we really expect McBride and Labour to go on their separate ways because he was careless to cover his tracks and got caught? Or did we expect Labour to change their tactics and fight clean?

I expect he had to disappear to give both sides some distance, give the issue some time to settle and to absorb the lesson. Then he reappears, throws a few negative remarks and predictions that Labour might struggle to win – hopefully that will overshadow his return and shift the focus from him!

For Labour, these are desperate times that need desperate measures. With everything on the line, they need someone who understands the way they work, someone who can deliver at any cost and have no trouble being the fall guy a second, a third or even a tenth time. McBride’s style does not appeal to everybody but that is not Labour’s top concern now.

The BBC must be feeling the same way Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) felt in the Godfather III, when he was forced to go back to his old ways and yelled at his sister Connie “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”