Minister pre-furs ermine

TORY MP Christian Wakeford, who’s a patron of the animal welfare charity backed by Boris Johnson’s wife, Carrie, is trying to ban the sale of fur, but environment minister Richard Benyon tells me he’ll fight to keep wearing his ermine when he sits in the House of Lords.

‘My ermine is over 150 years old, and it looks it,’ he tells me.

‘But there’s no way I’d wear a synthetic version like Zac Goldsmith’s — his plastic version looks all bouffant, a bit like Barbara Cartland’s hair.’ Ouch.