No, Chancellor

In a moment of parliamentary farce reminiscent of Yes, Minister, in responding to a plea for reassurances from the chairman of the Treasury Committee (after hearing Sir Mervyn King complain of pressure exercised by politicians on regulators to be more powder-puff in their approach to the banks), George Osborne spoke in a circular manner not once but twice - "If there's unacceptable pressure, I absolutely say that is not acceptable," he said. "The PRA is completely independent and it's made its independent dceisions on capital in our banks."  You would have got more sense out of the speaking clock.  Swift would have lapped up that menaingless tautology.

Also, egg on the faces of all those carping journalists who decried Rafa Nadal being seeded fifth for Wimbledon behind his compatriot David Ferrer.  If anything, Wimbledon was too generous on the two-time Wimbledon winner who was knocked out in the first round yesterday.  Nadal has now only won one Wimbledon match in two years, after losing in the second round last year.  A period of hush would be appreciated from these know-nothing hacks in equal proportion to garrulous eloquence from Osborne explaining clearly his role in being the banks' consigliere.