Home Barclays decided to issue £5.8 billion in shares to meet capital reserve requirements from the Bank of England. Lord Howell of Guildford, a former energy secretary, who does not speak for the government but happens to be George Osborne’s father in law, asking a question in the Lords about fracking for shale gas, said:
As ever, the Spectator carries some splendid and erudite book reviews this week. There are contributions from stellar writers and thinkers such as Margaret MacMillan, Susan Hill, Alexander Chancellor and John Sutherland. Here is a selection. Margaret MacMillan is captivated by Edwardian Opulence: British Art at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century, a ‘lovely lush
‘Bloody hell — it’s worse than we thought.’
‘I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky.’
‘I’m just saying, there seems something morally wrong about attacking a zebra in a wheelchair.’
‘Bloody hell — it’s worse than we thought.’
‘But do they have child filters?’
‘Why don’t these old country hotels have dinner gongs?’
‘I’m using my hosepipe while I still can.’
‘Nobody wears shell suits nowadays.’
‘Go past Jamie Oliver’s Diner, turn left at Marco Pierre White’s Bistro, carry on past the River Café and you’ll come to St Mary’s Church. The Food Bank is in the crypt.’
‘You just watch TV all day and drink beer. Why, exactly, do you need a “muse”?’
‘Give me a break — you know I have trouble coping with old technology.’
‘It will cut the journey from Londinium to York by three weeks.’
‘Still suffering from righteous block?’
‘OK, here’s the deal.’
‘Anyone mind if I give in to the tobacco lobby?’
‘There’s a Page 3 bird here looking for a home.’
