Chairman Rod Aldridge has quit as head of the vast and frequently incompetent company following the revelation of his �1 million “loan” to the Labour party (which, of course, had nothing whatsoever to do with the hundreds of millions of pounds the company had earned in government contracts since Labour came to power…)

The fact that he’s quit of his own accord despite the almost total lack of press interest in the possible links (which he describes as “misconceptions”) between the loan and the contracts might, amusingly, finally kick the press into gear on this one. The guy’s minted, so he’s hardly going to sink into poverty, plus by the sound of things he’s going to retain his sizable share holdings in the company. Offering himself forward as a sacrificial lamb, perchance – or would goat be more appropriate? (Of the “scape” variety, naturally…)

Guido’s still gearing up on this, and the papers have been distracted by Gordon Brown’s little speech yesterday – Aldridge may have gone, but by the (lack of) response of the press so far he could have weathered the storm. By flagging up the issue again (the story breaking early in the day, allowing reporters plenty of time to do some digging before this afternoon’s deadlines, and plenty of copy to fill the sparse editions of the day after the day after the budget), he may well have done both Capita and Labour more harm than good.

Interesting… Come on, “proper” journalists – get on the case. Is there more to this than meets the eye, or can we trust the word of a man whose company has regularly bid the lowest possible price for contracts before going massively over budget, and who has bunked secret loans to the government?

Update: Oh – another smokescreen,,,