The dastardly Mr Deedes

Buffoonish hedge funder Crispin Odey is a winner from the collapsed takeover of Intu. He staked a £40m bet against the shopping centre owner’s shares, which yesterday fell 40pc. Back-from-the-dead Odey, whose heart soars at the first sign of crisis, once gleefully declared: ‘Bad days tend to be good for us.’ City grandees including Michael Spencer, Roland Rudd and Paul Drechsler were out in force this week for the Sunday Times’ Business party at Claridge’s. No sign of Topshop tycoon Sir Philip Green, once the life and soul of the well-attended shindig until BHS’s collapse was first uncovered by the newspaper. His narrow-eyed public relations man Neil Bennett, however, was more willing to accept a flute of the Murdoch fizz. Jacob Rees-Mogg’s description of Bank of England governor Mark Carney as a ‘failed second-tier politician’ is an escalation in tensions. The pair sparred regularly during Treasury select committee hearings but this breaks new ground. Two years ago, Jacob opened proceedings by thanking Carney for his invite to the Bank’s Christmas party. I doubt there’s a seasonal ‘stiffy’ in the post to Castle Mogg this year. A peculiar postscript to Donald Trump’s sacking of matronly Federal Reserve chairman Janet Yellen, whom he replaced earlier this year with hawkish silver fox Jerome Powell. The Washington Post reports the President was very impressed when he interviewed her about serving a second term but took issue with her physical stature. He reportedly told aides on the National Economic Council that, at 5ft 3in, the old dear simply wasn’t tall enough to lead the central bank. Barmy, but the Donald appears riddled with petty prejudices. Chancellor Philip Hammond attended a reception on Wednesday for the Abraham Fund Initiatives, where he was guest of honour. Despite his Eeyorish public persona, I’m told that Hammond was witty and engaging company. Aides practically had to drag him away from guests to catch his flight to Buenos Aires for today’s G20 summit. Certainly a more dignified spectacle than the one his Cabinet colleagues put on across town at the Spectator’s backslapping Parliamentarian awards.