A letter from Screwtape to the Chairman of a Big Six football club
[Editor’s warning: as the author of the famous originals pointed out, “there is wishful thinking in Hell as well as on Earth”.]
The Moggcast: Greensill. “I’m still surprised the Government thought it would be cheaper to use the private sector.”
The Leader of the House on Cameron, Heywood, the civil service, lobbying and (briefly) on a football superleague.
Tony Lodge: Why radical railway action can save money – and reshape a sector which will never be the same again
The opening piece in a ConservativeHome mini-series this week on the railways after Covid.
In their pocket?
The proposed football superleague is remote from the political action, but more voters will be chewing it over today than they will the Greensill affair.
Neil O’Brien: Covid. We should stick to the plan – and finish the job.
Here comes the sun: but for so many it really has been a long cold lonely winter. I don’t ever want to go back into lockdown.
Robert Jenrick: What we are doing to give a warm welcome to Hong Kongers
We’ve announced a £43 million package to help new arrivals find a home, a school place for their children, employment or a route to set up a business.
Meanwhile, in the Ukraine…
Events in Eastern Europe call the assumptions of the Government’s new defence posture into question. Can we defend our treaty allies?
Mark Bridgeman: If Ministers really want to build back greener, they need a scheme to help homes that works
The Green Home Grant Scheme wasn’t ambitious enough – and their willingness to give up on it speaks volumes.
The suicide of Rose Paterson, and what her husband, Owen Paterson, is doing to prevent more self-killings
“How on earth didn’t I notice?” he said – and that question is near the heart of the charity that he and his family have set up, the Rose Paterson Trust.
Sarah Ingham: Greensill. Not so much “What does Jeremy think?” as “What on earth was Jeremy thinking?”
The rush towards Something Must Be Done should be paused. How about having a fresh look at ethics and values, as well as the concept of trust?
I love my new flat. But I’m also sick of moving. We renters need a Greta Thunberg of the housing crisis.
MPs seem to think ‘it doesn’t affect me, so I’ll think about it later’ when they hear complaints from Generation Rent.
Iain Dale: On my radio show, I asked Salmond who he would side with out of Putin or Biden. Can you guess his answer?
Plus: I’ve been around the political lobbying world for 30 years, but the Greensill scandal has genuinely floored me.
John O’Connell: Lobbying, and an unacknowledged problem – namely, groups funded by the taxpayer that lobby for even more
The forgotten victims tend to be the taxpayer and small businesses – most of which can barely get hold of their local councillors, let alone ministers.
Lobbying: a modest proposal. Let’s register any time anyone meets a Minister or MP – anywhere, anyhow.
P.S: It’s early days in the Greensill affair. But the people we elect don’t always seem to be in charge.
Garvan Walshe: Russia’s building up troops on Ukraine’s border. Here’s what we can do to stymie Putin.
Britain can convene a coalition of countries, including Poland, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands and the Baltic states, possibly with Ukraine in association.