The dastardly Mr Deedes

Businessman and Tory MP Nadhim Zahawi, founder of polling firm Yougov, informs the Commons register he was paid £200 to appear on the World Service. As the second highest- earning MP, with a £25m property empire, it seems odd to have accepted the fee. But then Iraqi-born Zahawi, 50, is a parsimonious figure. It was revealed during the expenses scandal he claimed 31p for paper clips, 53p to buy a hole punch, 63p for ballpoint pens and 89p for a stapler. On another note, why’s the BBC paying politicians to appear on its shows? There are questions over the suitability of former Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn, 56, to succeed Janet Yellen, as many predict, as the next head of the Federal Reserve. Washington observers suggest Cohn’s aggressive personality, honed on the trading floor, will be ill-suited to the Fed’s scholarly environs. ‘Like a bulldog guiding an institution of eggheads,’ is how one commentator put it yesterday. Harrods has opened a Wellness Clinic, offering all manner of over-the- odds holistic treatments. The emporium’s previous owner, Mohamed Al-Fayed, was a devotee of alternative therapies. Piers Morgan claims the eccentric Egyptian, 88, once gave him a special copper energy bracelet, advising him: ‘It will have a tremendous effect on your nether regions and activate you sexually. But be warned: Don’t exercise it too much or you’ll end up in a wheelchair.’ Aviva boss Mark Wilson, 50, neatly dodged a question on Radio 4 yesterday on whether he was worth his £4.3m-a-year pay packet, saying: ‘I’ll let the shareholders answer that. They can determine what I’m paid.’ Do they really? BP and WPP investors rejected Bob Dudley and Sir Martin Sorrell’s giant pay packets last year, though much good it did them. London Stock Exchange boss Xavier Rolet was on bubbly form yesterday announcing his firm’s interim results. Perhaps Monsieur Rolet, 57, was excited about heading off to his beautiful Provencal vineyard, Chene Bleu, where he and wife Nicole produce award-winning wines. If anyone’s dining sur l’herbe this weekend, my local tilt merchant informs me their 2016 rose is drinking nicely.