A Westminster inquiry into the row over Lord Ashcroft's peerage was thrown into turmoil when the Tory MPs on the committee walked out and said they were boycotting it permanently.

In what is understood to be an unprecedented move, Conservative members have withdrawn from the public administration select committee, some following discussions with the party whips.

The committee, regarded as one of the most influential in parliament, announced an inquiry into Ashcroft's ennoblement in the aftermath of the peer's revelation last week that he has non-dom status. The billionaire described how he had renegotiated an undertaking he gave as a condition of his peerage to become a full British resident to allow him to retain his non-dom status and avoid paying tax on his substantial international earnings.

The disclosure ended 10 years of speculation about Lord Ashcroft's tax status and provoked a bitter row over whether he had broken the spirit of the undertakings he had given to secure his peerage

I notice that the loopy Father Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican's chief exorcist, is up to his tricks again, declaring in an Italian newspaper interview that Satan is busily at work in the Catholic Church. Especially the Vatican, which he claims has long been infiltrated by "Satanic sects". Paedophile scandals, power struggles in the Holy see, the assassination attempt on John Paul II, domestic tragedies - all explained by demonic activity, says Amorth. Even the mentally disturbed woman who knocked down the Pope on Christmas Eve was acting on Satan's orders, he believes.

The Times has the gist of it, but for the full story - including Amorth's ideas about the growing power of the Antichrist - you have to go to La Repubblica. It's bizarre stuff. The priest has a bag which, he claims, contains pieces of broken glass spat out by possessed people, and a couch equipped with ropes to tie people up (sounds fun!). We also learn that he has had to move new fewer than 23 times in the past quarter century as a result of complaints about the strange noises emanating from his room. Here's a flavour:

From James Forsyth's reliably excellent political column in the Spectator, a little tale that coincides with stories I've heard from people really quite close to Dave:

One candidate for a marginal seat recently drove Mr Cameron around his constituency all day on a recent trip, and was shocked that when he dropped Mr Cameron off, the Tory leader got out of the car without so much as a word of thanks.