💰Matt Hancock assisted Ecolog Int. onto the VIP lane after being contacted by Genix Healthcare – a company that's donated £156,000 to the Tories. His Department paid Ecolog £38m in 2021, after the Government decided not to proceed with previously contracted Covid work.

💰Conservative Peer Lord Prior introduced a company called LumiraDx to Lord Bethell. The firm was awarded Covid contracts worth over £45 million.

💰Lord Bethell referred a company called OptiGene Ltd after being contacted by a Cabinet Office official – OptiGene were subsequently awarded a £322m contract, leading to a 1221% increase in profits.

💰Another Conservative Peer, Lord Lansley, introduced a company called Accoro onto the VIP lane.

💰Only Conservative Party Peers, MPs and donors appear to be named as referrers – no politician from any other political party succeeded in referring suppliers onto the Covid testing VIP lane.

Serial killer The Serpent, Charles Sobhraj, freed from Nepal jail bbc.in/3Viv9OH

Lots of people remember the great 1976 TV adaptation of THE SIGNALMAN, which was shown at Christmas for many years. This new radio adaptation with James Purefoy 🇺🇦🇪🇺 and me continues the tradition of having the solstice bejesus scared out of you

Everyone who has a business dealing with the EU knows Brexit has been a disaster for us. The problem is getting politicians who have staked their reputations on it to acknowledge it, admit it and then act on addressing it. Until then the disaster will continue to unroll.

And the same to you, readers! Rx

On THIS MORNING -- a chyron announces, 'Sir Cliff Richard's Christmas Gravy'.

MISSING: Jack Byrne, 13, was last seen in Athlone, Co Westmeath on Sunday, 25 December. He is 1.64cm(5ft5) in height, slim build, with brown hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a black puffer jacket and a dark grey tracksuit. Anyone with information should contact gardaí

Fresh appeal for Lyla Lake, 13, missing over Christmas bbc.in/3C0vLlt

We already do not have enough skilled crew to keep up with the production boom in this country, esp as Brexit killed freedom of movement/work within EU. There needs to be a huge investment in training, outreach, apprenticeships. Not least to increase diversity.

Banksy nails it. We all see that nurses must be helped. Why doesn’t this awful Govt? RT

Rob DenBleyker Andrew Tate Greta Thunberg It's like watching Wile E. Coyote paint a tunnel for the road runner. Then a train comes out of it and hits him. Then Romanian police get off the train and arrest him for human trafficking.

#EndeavourPBS On behalf of Oxford's Finest -- many thanks for the thoughtful tweets and messages since Sunday's final US broadcast. Thanks for watching. It's really has meant the world -- to all of us. So. Happy Independence Day! And, of course... Mind how you go. Rx