Gordon in the morning: At this difficult time

Why are there clearly collaborative paparazzi snaps of Dappy at Butlins all over Bizarre this morning?

The N-Dubz singer organised the budget getaway days after he was arrested over a bust-up with Kaye Vassell, the mother of his two children.

They say "the singer", but this looks like a management stunt; it looks like the equivalent of those grim-faced family press calls the Tories were doing two or three times a week during the Major government - husband and wronged wife stood by the gate, moving on, moving on.

It might work a little better if Dappy had kept on-message, rather than giving the impression that there's better places he could be spending his time:

Dappy, 24, said: "I could have gone to Florida, but Butlins is appropriate for the kids."

I'm sure he didn't mean to make it sound like he was thinking "if I didn't have to be doing this, I could be in the actual Disneyland".

Now, I might be being overly cynical, but if this really was an attempt to try and spend some time with the family what the hell was a photographer doing there? It could be that Paul Edwards hangs around Bognor in early autumn on the off-chance that, say Sting and Trude or Pippa Middleton come for one last go on the Donkey Derby before the camp closes for the year, and these were unwelcome and surprising intrusions for Dappy and family.

But clearly these pictures are staged. Unless Paul also tops up his wages with a spot of work behind the bar?

Surprisingly, it took two people at The Sun to wrangle the "exclusive":

EXCLUSIVE By CHRIS POLLARD and GARY O’SHEA

Wonder why team N-Dubz chose The Sun? Although Rebekah Brooks is supposedly gone, perhaps the paper still has understanding for those who spend time down the cop shop following a row with their partners.