Don’t say we were not warned.  We were told loud and clear that the Flatulent Leader is a man of a single principle, himself; and nothing he says can be trusted.  Brexit will be a doddle we were told:  it’ll save us money, enable us to break free of red tape and surge to new heights of power, wealth and influence.

And now, we are beginning to learn the truth.  The campaigning, environmentally aware FL is posed to approve HS2 in the teeth of fierce opposition from his own MPs and much of the country.  The last time I wrote about HS2, it’s cost had risen to an estimated amount of around £56bn – that now stands at £106bn; and it is worth bearing in mind that this is simply to replace existing rail links, and make them run a bit faster.  A saving of, say 20 minutes, between London and Sheffield.  Or, between Sheffield and London.  Because that’s the point : trains run in both directions, and a rail link that brings business to the North can equally well be used to take businessmen to the South.  What is not in doubt is that the FL sees this, as with “Boris bikes” (cost £250m), un-usable water cannon (cost £3m), garden bridge that span nothing (cost £50m), as a vanity project.  It is not about “the North” it is, as with everything else that comes within the ambit of his glinting little eye,  about him.