Tory team in trouble after cabinet reshuffle and attack on bird charity RSPB

Perhaps the strangest part of the week was the notoriously radical and volatile lobby the RSPB exerted on the government on the networks social

Rishi Sunak revamped his cabinet this week (

Image: Getty Images)

Like everyone in their right mind, the only thing I really focused on was the transfer window.

Thursday morning I received a text: "Coutinho to DESNZ." That's weird, why did he leave Villa? Why were Leeds not interested? Why move into an obscure Bulgarian outfit? It was not the 31-year-old Brazilian midfielder, however, who clarified things after a rather embarrassing phone call, but rather MP Claire Coutinho, 38, a former associate of Merrill Lynch, on her way not to go to the Treta Liga but in the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero.

This was part of Mr. Sunak's mini-reshuffle and, to put it mildly, an interesting move. Ms Coutinho regularly voted against Net Zero and is now responsible for it. Grant Shapps took the opposite route to become our new Secretary of Defense, replacing Ben Wallace, whom some thought was great.

Mr. Shapps is an interesting choice. A political survivor, despite a few scandals or two, defense will be his fifth Cabinet role in the past year. Half-minister, half-pub quiz question. "He may not be the best defense candidate, but he'll get used to it quickly," said a Tory backbench MP, "But at least he's good on TV." Yes, Noel Edmonds too, but nobody wants him with their finger on the button.

Tories team clashes with RSPB

A hell of a week for conservatives, who seem to be getting more and more foreign. In a bid to prove they are progressive and not in the grip of the dinosaur thinking that their party is riddled with, Penny Mordaunt said she would bring back national service. All 16-year-olds would be automatically drafted, to an extent that the Commons leader said would be great for the "goodwill and community spirit, energy and imagination" of teenagers.

I'm not sure. I think what would enhance the goodwill, the community, the energy and the imagination of our young people would be affordable housing, the prospect of development...