* The Right-wing press seeks to exaggerate Labour Party desire to dump Gordon quickly
* The self-styled progressive press talks up the Tory Right enmity towards Top Toffs Rule OK
* The Cameroon and Cleggie elites seek to emphasise the speed and warmth of coalition talks in order to give markets the sense of progress, and opponents a sense of helplessness
* Lord Mandelson seeks to repair the damage done earlier in the day by nuisance phone-caller Gordon Brown
* Lord Ashcroft briefs against Cameron in the hope of winding up the Conservative Party’s middle market MPs to oust the Etonians
* Senior extra-Parliamentary LibDems ally with activists to warn Clegg of the consequences of a sellout
* Balls and Whelan brief against the Miliband brothers to make them look disloyal – and thus either stiffen Gordon’s resolve, or give Ed a head-start in the Leadership election
* The Tory No Turning Back Tendency (led by Iain Duncan-Smith with tacit support from Liam Fox) genuinely scurries about looking for the first signs of an electoral deal…with a bit of acidic media help from Polecat Tebbit.

People are starting to answer the phone again here and there. It seems that Balls, Whelan and Harman are pushing hard for Gordon to be patient, and let the Tory/LibDem coalition talks founder on electoral reform and deficit action. Mandelson is coming round to the view that he must tell Brown the game’s up – and that if he is dispatched swiftly, Clegg will think twice about a Tory deal. I understand that Lord Mandelson has spoken at length to two senior LibDems, one of whom is Vince Cable.

But for me at least, Tory briefing is non-existent. That will change when – or if – the broad picture of what’s on offer is presented to the media. However, one LibDem source claimed (as exhaustion got the better of me) that the Cameroons “are impressive, businesslike and being very open not only about what’s on the table, but the limited window beyond which they won’t wait”.

That sounds to me like a leadership wanting to storm things through before No Turning Back can organise effective opposition, or Labour can make its mind up about the Stone of Scone in Number Ten. But I could be wrong: it’s a kaleidoscope of mendacious Machiavellis out there.