Spotted: Baron Spencer of Alresford

There is a good reason Graham "Ruddy" Ruddick, outgoing deputy business editor of The Times, named his new Substack newsletter Off to Lunch.

It's because lunch is where hacks often get their best tips and stories.

But sometimes you can pick up a decent snippet on the way to lunch (today's venue was Al Duca, a quality Italian eaterie just off Piccadilly)...