Job losses caught on camera

Gaffe that gave the game away

(GETTY IMAGES)

Danny Alexander has become the latest victim of the lenses trained on senior politicians. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury had a copy of today's spending review document on his lap as he was snapped in his car, with words warning of 490,000 public sector job losses clearly visible.

Earlier David Cameron made the same mistake, as he studied the statement on defence spending that he was due to make to MPs, complete with Post-It note marking it as the "latest version".

Politicians should know better by now. Former housing minister Caroline Flint's memo on the property crisis was caught on camera, while an "attack dossier" against the Tories carried by Lord Mandelson was spotted. Bob Quick resigned as Britain's top counter-terrorism officer last year after sharing a secret operation with photographers.