The reshuffle which Gordon Brown was forced into conducting on the back of a string of Cabinet resignations last week will surely go down as one of the most shambolic in history.
And two appointments in particular stand out as representing the confusion surrounding the reshuffle.
Firstly, there is Glenys Kinnock, the last-minute replacement for Europe minister Caroline Flint. When challenged by shadow Europe minister Mark Francois live on television at the weekend, she was unable to confirm whether or not she had stood down as an MEP - since MEPs are not allowed also to be a member of a national Parliament.
She was in limbo for several days, and only today has it been confirmed that she has delivered a post-dated resignation from the European Parliament, to be valid as of last Friday. She is therefore now free to take her place in the House of Lords.
But confusion remains over the role that soon-to-be-ennobled Sir Alan Sugar is taking on board - and you only had to see the interview he did on Sky News at the weekend to understand that he too is confused about it all as well.
It is unclear what his exact title is (Enterprise Tsar?), whether he will count as a member of the Government and whether he will even take the Labour whip in the Lords. If the answer to one or both of those latter two questions is "no", then you've got to wonder why he needs to be in the House of Lords at all, if all he is doing is taking on some advisory role.
All the same, there would still remain the associated potential conflicts of interests between his television appearances on The Apprentice and any role advising the Government, especially in the run-up to a general election (The BBC was forced, for example, to delay the airing of the episode of Who Do You Think You Are? featuring Boris Johnson until after the London Mayoral election).
Shadow Culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has already suggested that "presenting a programme for the BBC and working for the Government on the same issue is totally incompatible with the BBC's rules on political independence and impartiality".
This afternoon Mr Hunt has highlighted the fact that Sir Alan today attended an event billed as "The Apprentice Event", which would appear to have been playing directly on his association with the TV show to promote government policy.
The shadow Culture secretary said that this was a perfect example of how he could be compromising the BBC's impartiality, adding that "if Sir Alan isn’t willing to choose between his roles then the BBC must decide for him".
