Interesting reflections from Carne Ross, 20 years on after he quit the Foreign Office to give evidence to the Butler Inquiry. His point about whistle-blowers seems, sadly, spot on, given the treatment of those who raised concerns about the Afghanistan evacuation.

Labour press office giving us a History Channel vibe today

Not been a great fortnight for ‘new politics’ and the Greens

New - UK Covid Inquiry responds to claims Vaughan Gething misled them. Spox:

“These reports have been brought to the attention of the Inquiry this morning. The Inquiry is considering the information available and whether it is necessary to seek further evidence from Mr Gething.”

Enjoyably unorthodox written question from Sarah Olney to Alex Chalk: 'If he will make an estimate of the average number of words in a judge's sentencing remarks from court proceedings at HM Courts and Tribunals over the last 12 months.'

Shashank Joshi Doesn't surprise me atall, I travelled to Moscow as a civil servant in the 90s, for work. every day it was obvious people had been looking through my hotel room. My colleague got propositioned by an obvious honey trap, turned them away, we then had a joke talking about how he…

Worth every penny:

Sadiq Khan’s re-election was by no means inevitable, argues Nick Rogers as he picks apart the Tory campaign for London

spectator.co.uk/article/susan-…

When your boss asks why you’re late in on a Friday

Tory inquest continues. Miriam Cates in the Telegraph:

'There is a route back to success for our party, though it is a steep and narrow path. Hall, Houchen and Street, along with the rising popularity of Reform, demonstrate that the demand for a realignment is still there.'

Reading up on Alastair Campbell's role in the disastrous 2005 Lions tour and it's quite something

theguardian.com/sport/blog/201…

Extraordinary. Had us all on strings this afternoon. Fair play

First BBQ of the year - not pictured, one hopeful dog out of shot

Applying to UCAS: