Boris Johnson has been absolutely raking it in since leaving Downing Street in disgrace last September. He left carnage in his wake, causing untold damage to the public’s faith in politics and hurling Britain into months of unprecedented chaos.
But, as always, he’s managed to land on his feet, trading his experience of power for money. In just nine months, Johnson has trousered £5million on the public speaking circuit – vastly more than any other departing Prime Minister.
He’s pocketed so much that he’s been able to buy himself and wife Carrie a £3.8million, nine-bedroom manor house with a moat.
So while the rest of the country endures a cost of living crisis, struggling to pay their bills and worrying about the future, the man who was in charge when it all happened will be enjoying his modest new pad.
Perhaps he’ll spend a bit of time on the private tennis courts, or wandering around the expansive grounds.
Maybe he’ll throw another party in one of the property’s six lavish reception rooms.
Or in one of the two luxury outbuildings. He loves parties, after all.
What he definitely won’t be doing is worrying about ever-rising mortgage rates, which his successor Liz Truss sent skyrocketing when she crashed the economy. Why? Because he paid for the mansion in cash.
Wards shame
The number of nurses leaving the NHS due to burnout is staggering – but shouldn’t be surprising.
These are people who work 12-hour shifts – that so often turn into 14 hours – caring for the sick and saving lives.
And all the Government has been willing to offer them in return is below-inflation pay rises and the odd round of applause.
Rishi Sunak and his predecessors promised to ramp up recruitment.
But there are still 43,619 vacancies for nursing staff within the NHS – an increase of nearly 4,000 in just a year.
So the rhetoric is clearly not enough. And the increasing pressure has left nurses looking elsewhere for work that doesn’t leave them in “constant stress”.
Ministers need to put their money where their mouths are and make nursing a profession that people aspire to again.
They’re among the best of us. And it’s a disgrace they don’t feel valued.
Sip sip hooray
It's great news that English wine will soon rival the French for quality… but a shame it took an impending climate catastrophe to make it happen.
Hopefully we’ll enjoy the fruits of Britain’s vineyards before rising sea levels mean we’re sipping wine on the Birmingham riviera.
