Believe it or not, David Willetts gave an interview that caught Guido’s eye in the Times this weekend. Speaking about what the government was doing to boost Britain’s scientific standing in the world, Two Brains let the cat out of the bag regarding a certain conflicted MP:

“A new scientific field known as “synthetic biology”, which finds ways of using specifically-designed bacteria to solve medical and industrial problems, will be handed £50 million of the new money. Mr Willetts said that he had been particularly taken by one company, TMO Renewables, that had designed a micro-organism capable of turning human waste into biofuels.”

Tim Yeo, the man in charge of the Energy and Climate Change select committee, is paid £5,400 per month as chairman of TMO. His company lobbies the government for funding and Willetts signs off a tranche of taxpayers’ cash for them to turn poo into fuel. Whiffy…