Staying with the Telegraph, potential deputy leader Hilary Benn has done his cause no good at all. “Benn caught in sleaze row” is the last thing you would to read when chasing MP’s endorsements, but that’s what poor old Hilary is faced with this morning. His troubles centre on a number of shares he holds in a media company which has direct dealings with his own Department, a holding he has been less than open with. I feel a little bit sorry for Benn junior; having such a firebrand socialist father shouldn’t preclude him indulging in such a capitalist practise of share ownership. However, a proportion of these shares came from his father, albeit through inheritance means (that other socialist outrage). Hilary claims no wrong doing with his departmental peers always being in the know, however his father was unavailable for comment. Whilst the murky world of share ownership and government ministerial positions has always been troublesome, two more important points emerge from this item. Firstly, Benn has shown a degree of “bad judgement” and “opportunism” which characterised the Blair era; he should have sold his shares as soon as he was given a department. Secondly, it will be a test for Brown and his new look approach to politics. Regardless of the deputy leadership result, Benn was hotly tipped to be the new Foreign Minister. What will Gordon do now that his close chum is tainted with scandal?