Diary

· "This is a desperate attempt by my enemies to discredit me," said Boris Johnson yesterday of this newspaper's revelations that he had accepted free office space from a Japanese corporation previously involved in controversial planning schemes. And it is understandable that he would be wary of those who scrutinize him. But while he monitors his foes, he might also be advised to keep a closer eye on his supporters. They seem better placed to do him damage. Yesterday Yasmin Alibhai-Brown wrote in her Independent column of joining Boris and others - including our own Simon Jenkins and Michael Eboda, former editor of the black newspaper New Nation - at last week's tumultuous debate on the London mayoralty. The venue was Cadogan Hall, the audience was distinctly upmarket and Boris was the only mayoral candidate in attendance. Though others will feature in future events, this was a home fixture for the Tory. And Alibhai-Brown described the experience thus. "I was called a 'cunt' and told to go back to Uganda. Mr Eboda was also racially abused, as was anybody else, black and white, who stood up to the posh hooligans." We hear of black attendees pursued at the close of the debate and accused of being agents for Ken Livingstone. And yesterday we learned that the Black Police Association, battle-hardened officers all, will raise concerns about the intimidatory atmosphere at the event. "I'm white and middle-class and I am going to vote for you," one middle-aged woman told her hero, to his obvious discomfort, once the hullabaloo died down. Pigmentation. Status. Who needs policy?

· But then Boris stands at the front of the Tory talent pool. What's not to love? And here's another who must surely achieve preferment - Cllr John Lines, the cabinet member for housing at Tory-led Birmingham city council. Here he is quoted in defence-management.com, bemoaning, in his measured way, anomalies in the welfare system. "Some scallywag, some scumbag can jump on the back of a lorry, come over under the tunnel and never expect to work a day in his [expletive] life. And if he's been here for a time waiting for a decision, we give him automatic British citizenship. The world's gone [expletive] mad." Chris Grayling MP holds the shadow portfolio for work and pensions, but we see Lines coming up (expletive) fast. No (expletive) doubt about it.

· An ideas meeting at Channel 4: let's have another big name on Big Brother Celebrity Hijack. Let's make it another comedian, Jimmy Carr. Let's broadcast his jokes about gas chambers on the weekend of Holocaust Memorial Day. Great idea. Hurrah.

· Coming soon, a sales drive for the book, The Hubris Syndrome, by Lord (David) Owen. Not the autobiography that the title might suggest but a devastating critique of Bush and Blair "and the intoxification of power". Lord Healey, his former colleague, once remarked: "The good fairy gave him thick, dark locks, matinee idol features and a lightning intellect. Unfortunately, the bad fairy also made him a shit." Even so, others will buy it. We're hoping for a freebie.

· Congratulations to Andy Burnham, the new culture secretary. May the road rise to meet you; may the wind be at your back, and all that sort of thing. Your Wikipedia picture shows you surrounded by empty beer glasses, which seems a bit off, given your new responsibility for tackling binge-drinking, but perhaps that is a good thing. Shows you know of what you speak.

· And, finally, a salute to Gordon Smart, the writer of the Sun's Bizarre column. He's funny, he's informative. He's also without fear. "Anyone referred to by their initials is a muppet in my book. SJP? Not having it," he wrote of the actress Sarah Jessica Parker at the weekend. This may have amused Rupert Murdoch, or KRM as the high-ups call him. Also James Murdoch, the heir apparent, whom the chosen at News International affectionately call JRM. One day they may refer to their young writer, a prodigious talent by all accounts, as GS. He'd be a muppet too, and proud of it.