As the full, unbelievable nastiness of Mandelson-Campbellite manipulation was unfolding inside and outside Ten Downing Street this morning, it was obvious that Robinson knew exactly what was going on. In fact, he suspected it from the moment Mandy slithered around in front of his secret fantasy Paxo last night around 11 pm, poking phrases like constitutional precedent, Conservative failure, amazing achievement by Gordon and so on onto the air-waves.

Beware Mandy’s politeness and observation of niceties. As soon as he eschews the insult ‘Tory’ and refers to precedents, you know he’s out to screw any Party or precedent standing between him and undeserved, unbridled power.

By the time Balls was on screen in close-up, nodding like a latter-day sweaty Fuhrer as he acknowledged the adoration of his Morley Abteilung, I’d already made one important phone-call. My guess is that Robinson had known the script long before most of us.

So when Fat Eddie in turn blathered on about “a constitution that has served us well for centuries” (not much sign of reform there, then) and “what the Tories have failed to do is present a viable alternative” (Balls doesn’t do niceties) it was clear where things were heading. Once Charlie Whelan started mouthing the same Soap plot after daybreak, I suspect half the Fourth Estate’s hack population was talking to its favourite snout.

What surprised me was the assertion by one contact in particular that senior Liberal Democrats had been either briefed about or participated in the construction of this elaborate battle plan. But whether one gives credence to that story or not, I would bet the farm that Robinson not only knew all of these yarns – he also knew more precisely than most what to believe, on the basis of what he knew the agendas to be. Yet he had to tread carefully if he was to avoid the outrageous slings of Lord Mandelson and his BBC-bashing brigade. For as many of us suspect, Mandy slings both ways.

I would find it very difficult to go home of an evening and sleep soundly knowing what Nick Robinson knows. I mean nothing at all pejorative by that observation: rather, I’m referring to the frustration of not being able to splash an exclusive, for fear of the Campbell bully-boys coming to get me. I couldn’t hack it, but he clearly can. And given that Nick is a closet Tory (and always has been) he must find it doubly galling.