“I’ve just been talking to your secretary of state for health, poor man,” the Queen told Boris Johnson at their first face-to-face audience for 15 months, earlier this week. Her Majesty was not, of course, referring to Matt Hancock’s embarrassing situation following the leaking of a photograph of him in a torrid embrace with a female aide, of which she was at that time as unaware as the rest of us. What was significant, though, was the Prime Minister’s wary body language at the mention of Hancock’s name. “He’s full –” resumed the Queen. “Of beans,” supplied Boris. “Of confidence,” concluded Her Majesty.
Evergrande: what’s behind the bursting of China’s property bubble?
Mattie Brignal
Daily briefing: The real estate giant’s imminent collapse is spooking the markets. Beijing must decide if it’s too big to fail.
