Dearest Gentle Reader, this Thursday brings a most extraordinary assortment of villainy, diplomatic hand-wringing, and at least one story involving luxury perfume purchased on borrowed virtue. This Author has raised both eyebrows and they have not yet returned to their natural position.

Dearest Gentle Reader, this Wednesday has seen a prime minister lean towards old allies, a broadcaster reckon with a most inconvenient memory, and a beloved national institution bid farewell in a manner that may require your best handkerchief. This Author has also uncovered an extortion racket so brazen it makes the taxman look bashful - and it concerns the very portal through which you sold your last townhouse.

Dearest Gentle Reader, this Tuesday has furnished your devoted Author with a sacking, an ultimatum, a most consequential inquiry, a recycling catastrophe, and a mortgage rate that would make even the stoutest heart quiver. Who has been dismissed with the particular terseness of an institution hoping nobody asks further questions - and which great reform has been deposited, with ceremony, directly into the bin? All shall be revealed within.