Worth Every Penny

The squeaking, scrabbling sackful that is the contest for control of the Maily Toryguff has acquired yet another game little rodent. Former chancellor (however briefly) and blithe breacher of ministerial codes Nadhim Zahawi participated in the mass rodentine maritime evacuation exercise that preceded the general election (his seat went to the Liberal Democrats) and has now gone begging-bowl in hand for a few hundred million with which to acquire the squealing far-right rag and its grunting sty-mate the Spectator. Zahawi is chums with the Barclay family, whose prepossessing scions on Sark originally ran the Toryguff into the ground, and was apparently expecting to toddle into the chairmanship of the media group under the auspices of the United Arab Emirates before being stabbed in the back by the Fishy Rishi administration's announcement of laws against UK newspaper assets being owned by foreigners other than Supreme Leader Murdoch. It is certainly to be hoped that Zahawi will be able to carry out his cureent bid without being driven to mortgage his taxpayer-warmed stables.