This one writes itself, but all credit to the FT for giving it the space. John Birt was exposed to some of the "blue sky thinking" of which he is so fond when his office roof fell in - he wasn't there at the time, and no one was hurt. The story has a serious side, in showing how decrepit No 10 Downing Street has become, architecturally speaking. But the FT clearly finds the episode a hoot:
Whitehall mandarins struggled to suppress a sense of schadenfreude. Lord Birt is regarded with some suspicion by ministers and officials irritated at his licence to range freely over their policy portfolios. One insider joked that the prime minister's ally now had a clear view of the blue skies from which to draw inspiration.
Lessons in how to read newspapers, no 2,343: "One insider" can sometims be used to mean "I".
