The dastardly Mr. Deedes

Unlike his predecessors, new City minister Stephen Barclay has plenty of experience of the Square Mile. The grizzled father-of-three, 45, was director of regulation at Barclays during some of the biggest scandals in the lender’s history, from payment protection insurance mis- selling to flogging high-risk investments which savers couldn’t understand. Perhaps excitable opposition MPs will courteously raise this delicate matter when Barclay takes to the dispatch box. Legendary dealmaker Ken Costa, former chairman of Lazard, posts a picture on social media of his meeting with Pope Francis. Would His Holiness have taken the opportunity to broach the thorny issue of high finance with moneybags Ken, 68? Francis has called on bankers to stop getting rich through financial market speculation, equating it to stealing food from the poor. Hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen has paid £129m for the 1962 Roy Lichtenstein painting ‘Masterpiece’, making it one of the most expensive pieces on record. The vendor, mega-rich New York philanthropist Agnes Gund, 79, plans to donate the funds to organisations fighting mass incarceration in the US. Bald eagle Cohen’s fund SAC Capital pleaded guilty to insider trading charges in 2013, so is perhaps a tad fortunate not to be in pokey himself. Train ticket retailer Trainline has recruited demure Poldark actress Eleanor Tomlinson to promote its new mobile phone app and has had her issue customers some pointers to surviving long train journeys. Her pearls of wisdom include ‘try and get some sleep’, ‘take some time out to read’ and even ‘take a seat’. Flame-haired Eleanor, 25, would give Pippa Middleton a run for her money in the gormless tips stakes. Dinky advertising mogul Sir Martin Sorrell’s courteous habit of responding to every email is legendary. He’s so fastidious in his correspondence, it’s assumed some responses are composed by a lackey. Apparently, there is a way to spot the difference. If Sorrell’s email signature is underlined, then the correspondence is from the real McCoy. What I am told, anyway.