Londoner's Diary
It wasn't a happy Halloween for everyone in Whitehall. In fact, some Crown servants in His Majesty’s Treasury went hungry at lunchtime yesterday after the canteen put on a disgustingly spooktacular menu which included the appetisingly named “loaded twisted toenail fries”.
A “black cursed plant based burger” was also on offer for spads and civil servants. And instead of coleslaw, the stewards of the nation’s finances had to make do with “blood slaw”, which largely consisted of beetroot. Goulash was also served (obviously).
This attempt at some seasonal fun wasn’t beloved by all, and The Londoner hears Chancellor Jeremy Hunt chose not to chow down on any toenail fries. He is supposed to be the grown-up in this Government, after all. The Treasury’s canteen is also shared with HMRC and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Poor loves.
The Morning After the Fright Night Before
Top Tories are taking our “Fright Night” front page in good humour. Deputy chair Lee Anderson, who we mocked up as Frankenstein’s monster, said it’s “always nice to make the front pages” and joked “I must remember to grease those bolts in my neck”. Party chairman Greg Hands, was also pleased with his “cameo appearance”.
Cummings: Caprice got it right on Covid
Model Caprice Bourret was finally vindicated yesterday years after she was ridiculed for her stance on Covid-19. When the pandemic began, Caprice suggested closing borders and wearing masks could stop the spread. She was laughed at by those who thought they knew better.
But during his appearance before the Covid inquiry yesterday, Dominic Cummings, former chief adviser to Boris Johnson, gave her a name-check. “You remember when the supermodel Caprice said on TV, ‘Why aren’t we closing the borders?’ A lot of people, public health experts, mocked her as if she was an idiot,” he said, adding that “the dismissal of Caprice, I would say, was reflected in No 10”.
Caprice appeared on the Jeremy Vine show in March 2020 and called for the Government to provide surgical masks to the public and close the country’s borders. The show’s resident doctor Sarah Jarvis laughed at her comments. Hindsight is 2020.
