Unruly intern Nick Clegg gets a Cameron slapdown

So, David Cameron has defended the right of employers to give internships to the children of friends and family. He couldn't disagree more with his deputy, Nick Clegg, who wants internships to be properly advertised, to give everyone an equal chance, not just the children of the privileged middle classes.

"Actually, I've got my neighbour coming in for an internship [at Number Ten]," he told journalist Alison Pearson during a Daily Telegraph interview to mark the approach of his first anniversary as PM.

"In the modern world, of course you're always going to have internships and interns - people who come and help in your office, who come through all sorts of contacts, friendly, political, whatever. I do that and I'll go on doing that. I feel very relaxed about it."

The BBC's duty political correspondent calls it "an extraordinary intervention by the prime minister on an issue Mr Clegg had attempted to preserve for himself".

That's one way of looking at it. Another is to accept that Cameron was giving an honest Tory answer to Pearson's question about middle-class aspirations. Of course, successful families are going to want to help their children and why shouldn't they, he was saying.

And while Clegg was embarrassed to confess earlier this month that his first job in a bank came through contacts of his father, Cameron is happy to admit that his stockbroker dad had given him work experience at Panmure Gordon. "A definite leg-up internship," he told Pearson.

You have to feel for Cameron sometimes. Having Clegg around the place must be a bit like having an over-enthusiastic intern in the office, constantly suggesting bonkers ideas when there's serious work to be done.

In recent weeks, as well as making a hoo-ha over internships, Clegg has been promoting his idea that the monarchy should scrap the age-old principle of male primogeniture: in other words, if William and Kate should have a daughter before they have a son, the daughter should be first in line to the throne on William's death.

There's nothing wrong with the idea, of course. It's just that William isn't even married yet, let alone a father, let alone dead. Are there not more pressing issues the deputy prime minister might occupy himself with?

The Mole was put in mind of Nick Clegg while reading the story of the public relations newsletter put out in America recently by the makers of Replens, "the long-lasting vaginal moisturiser for menopausal women".

This is one of those products you don't normally see being bandied about in the media very much: it's on the shelf at the pharmacy and those women who want it know where to find it.

So, thousands of American women were surprised to receive a widely-circulated email on a Mother's Day theme (May 8 in the US) suggesting: "Pamper yourself or your mom with the comfort she deserves this Mother's Day."

Now, thanks to PRNewser, we know what happened. An over-zealous intern thought it would be a bright idea to come up with the Mother's Day pitch. Due to a "misunderstanding" the intern's email was sent out, with the resulting headline: "Give the Gift of a Moist Vagina for Mother's Day". ·