Phew

Grand chapeau this morning to the civil servant/s who braved the wrath of Dominic Cummings over the possible appointment of Charles Moore as the next Chairman of the BBC. 

It looks pretty certain that man-of-principle Charles couldn't afford to take the job. Reading between the lines, there was some pre-anointment negotiation - with Mr Moore punting for nearly three times Sir David Clementi's £100k a year, for four days a week, rather than the Clementi three. 

There must have been some belated recognition that the Chairman of the BBC, sitting above the Editor-in-Chief Tim Davie, could probably not continue to take income from political writing and politicised organisations during his contract. And, we are told, Mr Moore currently takes home around £300k.  

Clearly his fixed running costs are high, despite being a man with a rectory, three fields, access to excellent hunting, and simple tastes in good tailoring. 

Will the next BBC Chair suffer from eternal condemnation as 'second choice' ?