If you want to know what’s being discussed in Downing Street these days, all you need is a press pass and a telephoto lens.
The Communities Secretary Hazel Blears inadvertently leaked Gordon Brown’s proposals to scrap MPs’ second home allowances when she left Cabinet clutching a copy in full view of photographers.
In May last year, she hit the headlines when she was snapped leaving Downing Street holding an email print-out on how Prime Minister might take part in an Apprentice-style TV programme, to be called Junior PM.
The same day, the then housing minister Caroline Flint walked past photographers carrying a see-through file as she arrived to brief the Cabinet on problems in the housing market.
Ms Blears was not the only Cabinet member forced to apologise for a security breach. Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary, issued an unreserved apology after leaving confidential documents on a train.
How much longer do you think the photographer’s will be able to work in Downing Street?
Gazing into my crystal ball, I see a ban on cameras within two miles of Downing Street on the horizon……..