Away his headline-grabbing critique of Rishi Sunak’s Northern Ireland protocol deal, Boris’s speech today was characteristically packed with gags and high-profile interventions. He started off by recalling receiving the “cheery London greeting” of “wankah”, before reciting his favourite Roald Dahl verse. He also launched a defence of keeping the Elgin Marbles in Bloomsbury. Still no love lost with George Osborne…

Boris also set out his stall on Brexit. After reminding the audience of the role of the establishment – from the BBC and Bishops to MPs and The Times – in frustrating Brexit, Boris called for real divergence from Brussels. Specifically, he wanted deregulation of CRISPR gene-editing and a cut to corporation tax – “to Irish levels or lower”. He also reminded the audience of the changing state polls since he left the fore. Annoying all the right people…