Diary

Another day, another plot. Another landmark in the war on terror. Yesterday saw the conviction of Mohammed Hamid, who trained men in the Lake District and the New Forest to prepare them to fight abroad. Proof for those who need it that Gordon is doing all he can to protect us. But what is being done to protect Gordon? Downing Street never talks about security, especially to blabbermouths like us, but we are glad to learn that new security arrangements have been devised for No 10 which would help our boys were a siege situation to develop. With these in place, they'll be ready for the whole scale of eventualities, from a terrorist assault to the return of Carole Caplin. But she's a clever sort. We mustn't be complacent.

· What about the war of attrition involving Michael Martin, the speaker of the House of Commons? Will he win and depart the battlefield, head held high? Among the Speaker's most public supporters is John Spellar MP, who voted against seven Commons amendments recently, thus strengthening David Maclean's assault on the Freedom of Information Act with regard to the workings of parliament. This may have some relevance. It may not. But it doesn't look good.

· So will the Speaker survive or will he be taken out, a victim of enemy forces but also his own munitions? And will there be collateral damage? Yesterday 52 Labor MPs, led by Peter Kilfoyle, turned their fire on the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson, infuriated by a suggestion on his blog that some who support the Speaker may have their own agendas. The "House deplores the innuendo of the blog of Nick Robinson, the BBC's lobby correspondent; calls upon him to substantiate the imputations he makes concerning the Speaker and hon members; and also calls upon the BBC to publish a full, itemized account of the expenses of Mr Robinson, in the name of transparency and accountability of public funds," the MPs said. In reply, Nick Robinson floated possible reasons why MPs signed the motion, generously conceding that some feel they are victims of a "witch-hunt", but going on to suggest, less generously, that many are jealous of journalists and feel their own gravy train is about to hit the buffers. Desmond Tutu once said of the African National Congress that it merely stopped the gravy train long enough to clamber aboard. We would just like to find the station.

· An award for bravery in the face of what could be insuperable odds must go to Martin Bright, the political editor of the New Statesman, who yesterday tore into the signatories of a pro-Ken Livingstone letter printed on our pages on Monday. Repeating his widely publicized criticisms of Livingstone, he blogged that signatories such as Helena Kennedy should be ashamed of themselves. Much more clear-headed, he said, was the investigative journalist Tom Bower, who castigated Livingstone in the Daily Mail. No matter that Geoffrey Robinson MP, the New Statesman's owner, also signed the letter. Or that Bower is the biographer whose book, The Paymaster, so assailed the owner's reputation. For there are higher principles at stake here. Geoffrey will understand.

· Alas and alack, but the inmates of HMP Kingston, among them murderers and career criminals, will not be staging their own production of the latterly popular Sweeney Todd. They would have performed with cardboard knives - rather than the ones hidden in cakes - but the show was cancelled when a stagehand, not an inmate, was caught with cannabis. We don't want that sort of thing in here, the governor said. Right he was, too.

· Finally, the thirst for knowledge draws us to Bookseller magazine and the Oddest Book Title of the Year competition. The shortlist bears testimony to the quality on display this year. Cheese Problems Solved is an obvious contender, as is If You Want Closure in Your Relationship, Start With Your Legs. People Who Mattered in Southend, From King Canute to Dr Feelgood, means the historical end is catered for. But can anything beat I Was Tortured by the Pygmy Love Queen. Love, laughs and drama, and that's just the cover.