Blog: It was another of those “Who’s that with Philip Dunne?” moments on Tuesday evening as a picture of the Shropshire MP flashed up on our television screens, writes John Hipwood.

He was standing between (and perhaps a little behind) Prince Harry and one Kate Middleton, who has rather dominated news coverage this week along with her future husband, Shropshire-trained chopper pilot Prince William.

The photograph was taken outside St George’s Chapel in Windsor two years ago when Harry and Kate were there to watch the Queen appoint William as the 1,000th Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter.

Mr Dunne was there to see his father, Sir Thomas Dunne, also made a Garter Knight. Sir Thomas is a former Lord Lieutenant of Hereford & Worcester. The order is the highest in the chivalry league table, is in the personal gift of the monarch and is confined to just 24 individuals at any one time.

The Ludlow MP has always stressed that his appearance in the photograph was purely coincidental, but he said he was delighted for William and Kate and wished them every happiness.

“It was particularly touching of Prince William to give Kate his mother’s engagement ring. Their wedding next year will be joyful and will give all of us the opportunity to celebrate a year ahead of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee,” said Mr Dunne.

Despite the Tory MP’s reluctance to claim that he was chatting to Harry and Kate, there will surely be a temptation in years to come for him to tell his grandchildren: “Here’s one of me with the Queen before she was married to King William.”

***

As an opposition whip and previously a government whip, David Wright is regularly seen in and around the Members’ Lobby in the House of Commons.

But not so much recently. The reason? He’s been lost in the post.

The Telford MP has been appointed as the Labour whip on the committee of MPs which is going through the Postal Services Bill in detail.

The Bill, which effectively paves the way for the privatisation of the Royal Mail, has 91 clauses, and 20 sessions have been set aside for its consideration in committee.

On Tuesday it took five and a half hours to debate Clause 1!

“We are discussing important issues,” said Mr Wright. “I am firmly of the belief that the public that is the Government should retain a majority stake in the Royal Mail at the very least. This all links in with the viability of the post office network.

“A lot of work is done behind the scenes in these standing committees yet it rarely gets reported or recognised,” added the Shropshire MP.

Mr Wright, incidentally, is a keen collector of first day covers, something that he doesn’t normally admit to, realising that philately will get him nowhere.

***

If a shudder went down your spine when Sarah Palin confirmed yesterday that she was considering running for the Republican presidential nomination and thinks she can beat Barack Obama, you are probably not alone.

The Government’s special reviewer of terrorist legislation, Lord Carlile of Berriew, said he was shocked by the adverse reaction of the American media to the verdict in the case of the first Guantanamo detainee to be tried in a US civilian court.

Tanzanian Ahmed Ghailani was cleared of all but one charge of conspiracy but will still probably spend the rest of his life in prison.

“The criticism is merely political and pays scant respect to a sophisticated justice system,” said Lord Carlile.

The former Liberal Democrat MP for Montgomeryshire said that if President Obama “blinked” in the face of the criticism, his administration would be further undermined.

“We have just had a little glimpse of the potential alternative. If Sarah Palin or someone like her were president, we would face the real undermining of a civilised system of justice in that there would be no civilian trials of Guantanamo detainees.

“They would remain in custody for heaven knows how long, and there would be no closure on this awful episode,” said Lord Carlile.

Was that the Liberal Democrat or the eminent lawyer speaking? About half and half, I’d say.

***

Following Buckingham Palace’s decision to set up a Royal Family Facebook page, former Labour minister David Lammy apparently asked at a meeting of the Privy Council whether the Queen was planning to open a personal Twitter account.

The monarch’s response was, understandably, a frosty one.

The job of the Privy Council is to advise the Queen on some pretty important issues, but in the recent past membership, which enables the individual to put ‘Rt Hon’ before their name, has been handed out indiscriminately by successive prime ministers.

Mr Lammy, whose query rather proves the point, was appointed to the Privy Council by Gordon Brown in 2008.

***

Returning to the Commons after a week among the banana plantations and volcanoes of La Palma, it was less than comforting to discover an email from the parliamentary authorities telling me what to do in the event of a Mumbai-style terrorist attack.

The basic advice to MPs, peers and staff at the Palace of Westminster is that we should all run like hell, not even hanging around to help injured colleagues if that puts us in further danger.

It was a timely reminder of how much we rely on the security services to find out about such events before they happen because of the time it would take to get armed police or special forces to respond to an attack.

It all seems a different world from lava, bananas and hotel swimming pools, but we all remember what happened on Bali in 2002.