The Times Diary: Promotion for Major Grant Shapps

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Narrated by James Marriott

Dreams do sometimes come true. Three Christmases ago, there was chaos at the Channel Tunnel as Covid testing and Brexit checks left lorries queueing for miles. Westminster was in a panic until the secretary of state for transport sent for the army, and he was bedazzled by how they got things organised. “God,” said Grant Shapps, “I’d love to be in charge of them.” Now he is defence secretary he can also indulge his tech-geekery with all of the MoD’s gizmos. A recreational pilot, Shapps may now be too important to risk flying in his 40 year-old light aircraft, but perhaps he can lend himself a Harrier.

Has a future Tory leader been anointed? If history is any guide, Claire Coutinho’s achievement in becoming the