This is from a Scum article brought to our attention by Blair Watch: Bungling Home Secretary Charles Clarke did NOT offer to quit last week over the freed foreign convicts scandal. He told the BBC he had offered to go - which infuriated Prime Minister Tony Blair. The PM stormed out of the Commons on Wednesday after being humiliated about his refusal to accept the "phantom" resignation. The revelation comes as Mr Blair’s celebrations for his ninth anniversary as PM lie in tatters.

(For those who haven't been paying attention... Murdoch's not on Blair's side any more and Scum editor Wade appears happy to play according to the new rules.)

There's more from the Scum... pretend-blogger Trevor Kavanagh spells it out here: (Charles Clarke) has lost some of the PM's goodwill by wrongly blurting out his claim that he had offered his resignation and had it turned down. The first Mr Blair knew about this was when he heard the Home Secretary announce it on the BBC - effectively making it impossible for him to be sacked. This explains why Mr Blair left the Commons like a shot after Question Time on Wednesday - before Mr Clarke opened his mouth to explain how he managed to "lose" 1,023 foreign hoodlums.

UPDATE - But wait... there's more! Blair Watch - Clarke kept the lid on it for 3 weeks before telling Blair