The Social Magus

Everyone knows UK general elections aren''t what they used to be. British politics, Westminster in particular, is mired in an integrity crisis. Expenses scandals, cash for questions, a tainted honours system and other wrong-turns have created a deeply disillusioned electorate.

Enter Real Alternative, a bold new party with a youthful, charismatic leader and a radical manifesto. True, it stands to win very few seats, but what really matters is that it has galvanised the young and apathetic. And it apparently has the establishment running scared.

Yet RA may be more vulnerable than it looks. Who''s funding it? No one quite knows. If its backers are foreign, that would constitute a clear breach of electoral commission rules - which would please a lot of people in Whitehall.

Agent John Mordred is assigned to investigate.