Boris this afternoon proving chivalry isn’t dead as he tells the broadcast pool to leave Rishi’s wife alone over her tax affairs:

“I think as far as we possibly can in politics it is a good thing to steer clear of wives and families in political discussion… Of course people will raise all sorts of questions but I think it is right for us to focus on the things that will make a difference to people’s lives…

It is fair to point out that the Ministerial Code references the interests of spouses as a matter of public interest in certain circumstances. Even if this story is thin gruel re-upped by the Labour attack machine, it’s still reasonable to expect this kind of coverage and scrutiny. Boris presumably agrees, given he wrote the foreword to the Ministerial Code…

Over in the Labour camp, meanwhile, unfortunately the Starmerbot started malfunctioning as the cameras rolled, leading to a brutal 2-minute clip in which Sir Keir repeated the same attack lines over and over again. For the avoidance of doubt, he definitely thinks this is “breathtaking hypocrisy“. Has anyone tried turning him off and on again? 

Presumably he’s calling for “full transparency” from his own Shadow Climate Change Secretary, who was accused of cutting his own inheritance tax liability in 2015…