Boris Johnson’s “good prime minister” rating has fallen to a record low, erasing his poll lead over Labour for the first time, as Tory MPs revolt over party sleaze. The latest Ipsos MORI survey puts the Conservatives on 35% and Labour on 36%. The government is now on “a war footing” with its backbenchers, says the chairwoman of the Commons procedure committee, Karen Bradley. Elon Musk could sell 10% of his Tesla shares after 3.5 million of his Twitter followers voted for him to do so. The poll, posted by the world’s richest man on Saturday, saw 58% vote in favour, meaning Musk could sell shares worth $21bn, incurring a $5bn tax bill. He currently pays no tax because he doesn’t take a salary. Network Rail will run special trains to ensure Britain’s supply of wine over the festive season. “Cheers! It’s a white Christmas,” says the Daily Star. “Millions of red and rosé bottles on way too.”
Boris Johnson has appointed 96 lords and ladies during his time as PM, bringing the number of peers in the House of Lords to more than 800. That makes it the world’s second largest political chamber behind the National People’s Congress of China, with nearly 3,000 delegates.
On the way out
Sex, says Charlie Gowans-Eglinton in The Times. “It’s been two years since anyone has seen me naked… and I am by no means the exception among the single women I know.” It’s not just because of the pandemic, “when no one was allowed to shag anyone outside their household”. In 2001, 16- to 44-year-olds were at it more than six times a month on average, according to a nationwide survey. By 2012 it was fewer than five times, and in the four months following the first lockdown in March 2020, only one in four single adults got any. And in post-pandemic 2021? “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some gardening to do.”
The great escape
The US border is open to visitors from the UK for the first time in nearly two years, as long as they’ve had their Covid jabs. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic organised synchronised departures from Heathrow to celebrate the end of the travel ban. The two aircraft took off from parallel runways at 8.51am before flying to New York’s JFK airport.
Quoted
Quoted 08-11
“If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years there’d be a shortage of sand.”
Economist Milton Friedman
Snapshot answer
They’re the Cambridge University netball team with their light blue kit off. It’s all for a good cause: they’ve stripped off for the 2022 Cambridge Blues Naked Calendar, along with nearly 80 other varsity athletes, to raise money for four charities. “There was a lot of finessing the poses,” says photographer Andrew Wilkinson, “like, ‘That’s got to go up slightly’ or ‘You’ve just moved half an inch’.”
