Political spindoctors are clearly gearing up for a general election, taking every opportunity to seize the initiative.

“Eleven thousand children under 16 hooked on drink and drugs” screamed a Liberal Democrat press release last week, highlighting “horrific” figures revealed in a parliamentary written answer. An hour later, another press release pinged into End Game’s inbox, this time from the Tories, claiming the “new” information was uncovered by them. To clear up any confusion, an in-depth investigation by HSJ has revealed the source of the parliamentary question: David Amess, Conservative MP for Southend West. So that’s Tories 1, Lib Dems 0.