Funniest line of the day

Cabinet Office minister Liam Byrne as reported by the BBC apparently:

"denied Mr Wright's claims a culture had grown up around special advisers in which they got "dirty" with the complicit encouragement of ministers.

"I think special advisers do live within the spirit of the code," he told the committee.

He said Mr McBride was "an individual who had completely transgressed" the rules and had been punished for it.

He said the existence of special advisers helped preserve the impartiality of the civil service. "

Ha ha ha, does he really believe that? Does he really expect us to believe that?