Trade Secretary Peter Mandelson is facing mounting criticism for the way he "sneaked out" the government's long-awaited plans on workers' rights.

The "Fairness at Work" proposals were finally released in a brief written statement in the Commons last Thursday - just as MPs were packing their bags for a long Christmas break.

It also happened to coincide with the launch of air strikes against Baghdad, although not even the trade secretary could have foreseen that happy coincidence.

What has angered some Labour MPs and many trades unionists is that there was no Commons statement on the issue, which was supposed to give workers strengthened rights.

They are claiming that the government has broken a manifesto pledge to give automatic union recognition when 50% plus one of a workforce votes in favour of the idea.

Instead, the issue can be taken to arbitration - seen by many as a sop to employers.

At the same time, it is being claimed Mr Mandelson has also broken a manifesto commitment to abolish the cap on the amount of compensation industrial tribunals can award in cases of unfair dismissal.

Instead he has simply raised the ceiling from £12,000 to £50,000. The alleged climbdowns have come after fierce lobbying from the employers who claimed the original proposals would put too much power into the unions hands.

In a bizarre twist, some union activists are now pressing the Tories to raise the issue when MPs return to the Commons after their Christmas break.

The Christmas party season has hit Whitehall with a vengeance, with government departments bidding to outdo each other with champagne and sausage-on-a-stick receptions.

Every department has to have one - and, as would-be Welsh first secretary Alun Michael discovered, some tend to be better attended than others.

On the night of the Welsh Office bash, two or three senior journalists in the Commons press gallery received frantic telephone calls from an anxious press officer urging them to attend and round up as many colleagues as possible.

"Mr Michael is standing here all on his own," pleaded the official. "He'll have to get used to that if he gets the job," replied one of the unimpressed hacks.

When the cabinet "enforcer" Jack Cunningham took over his new office, he was irritated by the tangle of telephone wires snaking from his desktop into a hole in the floor.

Instead of calling in an engineer to sort out the mess, he got down to the job himself.

He was stunned when he discovered one of the cables ended in a junction box with the words MOD Tap emblazoned across the side.

He was swiftly informed that this was not some sort of bugging device, but simply the name of the company which had made the piece of equipment. Still, don't be surprised if you see the minister making phone calls from a public booth in Whitehall.

There has been much anger in the House of Commons press gallery that the annual children's Christmas party has been abandoned this year.

The journalists have been assured it has nothing to do with a previous incident when one of their number, in a moment of weakness, was bullied into playing Santa Claus. He found a novel way of getting his own back.

As the parents were enjoying a glass of seasonal sherry in the nearby bar, Santa was doing his duty by asking each of the children what they wanted for Christmas.

He got the usual answers - "a Barbie doll", "a train set" and so on. But the jovial Father Christmas, his first night nerves having been calmed by a few drinks, was in vengeful mood.