The dastardly Mr Deedes
Jeff Bezos’s troubles with the National Enquirer, which he accuses of extortion and blackmail after it procured intimate pictures the Amazon founder sent to his spicy maitresse-en-titre Lauren Sanchez, is a headache for the Washington Post. The story is grubby, well beneath the newspaper’s high-minded values, but undoubtedly ‘news’. Bezos is also the Post’s proprietor. Solution: A ‘J’accuse’ style editorial praising Bezos as a fearless warrior against ‘an insidious model of intimidation, and corruption masquerading as journalism’. Has Tony Blair offered any unsolicited advice to Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn, currently languishing in a Japanese cell after being arrested for alleged financial impropriety? Blair, who knew Ghosn well during his time as prime minister, has become to go-to man for the global elite on crisis management since leaving Downing Street. On Brexit matters, JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon is said to defer to him on everything. The pair were practically inseparable at JP’s glitzy party in Davos last month. Evergreen pension tsar Baroness Altmann threatens to renounce the Conservative whip should a No Deal Brexit emerge next month. She tells Financial News: ‘Crashing out with No Deal is against everything I believe the Tory party stands for.’ Let’s hope she remembers to resign this time. When David Cameron made her peer in 2015, it emerged she was still a paidup member of the Labour party. BP boss Bob Dudley warns oil market uncertainty could lead to a ‘real crunch’. I couldn’t work out whether this means prices are going to rise or fall. Strangely, BP’s press office could not shed much light on it either. Suggestions welcome. Still looking for Valentine’s Day inspiration? Grocer Morrisons’ cafe in Skipton, Yorkshire, offers a five- course meal with a glass of champagne for just £10. Diners can enjoy ‘Oysters Rockefeller, followed by a starter of lobster, crayfish and crab mac and cheese, a main of premium rump steak, a selection of desserts including raspberry roulade and lemon tart, finally finished with Belgian petit fours and coffee.’ Bargain! Though I fear the champagne can’t be up to much.