As we all filed back into the press room after Gordon Brown's speech I found myself at the centre of what looked suspiciously like a Tory dirty tricks campaign.
Fellow journalists on several of the dailies were being rung by the Tory press office and told that I had heard Ruth Kelly, the transport secretary, saying the speech was "awful". Good story, eh? Brown speech attacked by cabinet minister! Splash!
The problem with the story was that it was completely untrue. I had not even set eyes on Ruth Kelly let alone overheard her. So I contacted the Tories and asked them what was going on.
"Oh we tried to ring you and check it out. Someone told us you heard it," they said.
"But you didn't answer your mobile. We rang several times." (Interestingly, no message was left).
When I asked why they had spread the story round without checking with me whether it was true I received a half apology.
All very odd, particularly as the Tories are supposed to want Brown to stay in Number 10 because he is so unpopular. Why make up a story like that? And why Ruth Kelly? Ideas welcome....
