Is Damian McBride back already?

Since he was forced to quit as Gordon Brown's spin doctor over the Tory smear emails, Damian McBride has gone to ground. But is the Sultan of Smear back advising the Prime Minister or simply being served a dose of his own medicine by the Tories?

For the second Question Time in a row, a Tory backbencher leapt to his feet on Wednesday to ask Brown about his links with "McPoison". And, it has emerged, this was part of a campaign inspired by Tory HQ but which is based on one single, barely noticed story in a Scottish newspaper which has since been denied.

The story suggested that McBride, without being officially employed by Downing Street, was back offering "informal briefings" to ministers.

Last week at PMQs Tory Lee Scott threw the accusation at Brown, but irritated his leaders by messing it up and only asking about those alleged informal briefings, allowing a simple "no" answer from Brown. It was enough to get another story running in a friendly newspaper specifically that McBride had texted Brown with "lines to take" on the Andrew Marr show a couple of weeks ago - but it didn't stick, so the party bosses decided to have another go this week.

Step forward Tory backbencher James Duddridge who demanded to know whether Brown had had any correspondence, emails, telephone conversations or texts from McBride, and asking him to send his answer to the Commons Standards watchdog.

That was the correct question, as dictated by Tory HQ, but Brown again brushed it aside with: "I have not". Still, Tory aides believe they are making some headway on this one and are eagerly seeking more evidence that McBride is back; after all, notorious spin doctors Alastair Campbell and Charlie Whelan have been rehabilitated in one form or another.

What they seem to have missed, however, is a suggestion that McBride has actually turned his back on politics and made the short list for another job - working for his old school, Finchley Catholic High School, as a £22,000-a-year "outreach worker".

Difficult to know which of these two stretches credulity the most.