The dastardly Mr Deedes

My reference yesterday to Andrew Knight – an early cheerleader of Jeremy Corbyn aide Seumas Milne – has prompted a curious missive from one of his neighbours in Warwickshire, where the ex-News International chief is now the squire of fittingly named Scorpion Manor. He says that Knight has recently sold his magnificent shoot nearby to the Swiss private bank Lombard Odier’s suave chief executive Hubert Keller, 51. Says my source: ‘He’s thoroughly ill-tempered and apart from finance only appears to be interested in blood sports. Of course, he’s known to us locals as “Killer.” ’ Asked whether he feels happier talking about Brexit now he has a British passport, Bank of England governor Mark Carney responds: ‘I actually don’t have my passport yet. I have my citizenship, but not my passport. I’m sure it’s in the mail. I suspect the Home Office is a little busy.’ Of course, re Brexit, doommongering Carney has been a naysayer from the get-go. Spotted on Twitter: ‘Did you miss [boring snoring business select committee chairman] Rachel Reeves delivering the keynote speech and Q&A at Chartered Accountants Hall on audit reform, trust in business and corporate governance? Watch a recording here.’ Is this the least enticing proposal ever committed to social media? News that the streaming service Netflix will be adapting for TV some of Roald Dahl’s best-loved work, including Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, James And The Giant Peach and The BFG, is rightly welcomed by fans of the great man’s literary oeuvre. But is the claim that the inimitable children’s author would be ‘thrilled’ by the deal pushing it a tad? Dahl’s timelessness is indisputable, but he was hardly the sunniest of characters and he was certainly no misty-eyed luvvie. His last words, after a nurse delivered him a final dose of morphine, were: ‘Ow, f***.’ Drinks giants Diageo announces it now takes as many as 40,000 cows to produce enough Bailey’s Irish Cream to go around at Christmas. Thirsty blighters over there, those Hibernians, aren’t they?