Ali Miraj needs to learn when to shut up

Well, David Cameron has now come out and said that at his meeting with Ali Miraj he was asked to nominate him for a peerage.

This occurred during a meeting in which Ali Miraj and David Cameron were discussing a critical article that Ali said he intended to publish. (The article is here on Conservative home, please note the number of loyal comments from party workers and Benedict Rogers reply here). Fair enough, however he asked for a peerage at the same meeting, something which he has not denied.

Are we seriously supposed to believe that had he been nominated for a peerage that he would have then gone on to publish the same article? I certainly do not.

So it becomes difficult to believe that this was anything other than a crude attempt at blackmail. Ali Miraj of course denies this and has accused David Cameron of spreading smears, spin and avoiding the issues. The problem with this analysis is that many will find it hard to believe that he would have published the article had he been given a peerage. Had he not meant to associate the two then he should not have mentioned both at the same meeting.