With escalating energy costs in the pipeline, the proposal to give council taxpayers a £150 rebate is certainly eye-catching.

But like a lot of political proposals, the government appears not to have identified or explained how councils will administer it.

The problem lies with the fact that while councils will have no problem applying the discount to those who pay their bill by direct debit, it isn’t clear how it will be paid to those who pay by other means.

This is largely down to the fact that councils have to abide by Data Protection and privacy rights that are fairly strict and rub up against restrictions on what they can and can’t do.

Some councils say they are waiting for guidance from the government; others say they are working on a solution themselves; some say council taxpayers will need to contact them; while others are saying don’t bother and to wait.

It may turn out that processing payments is little more than a minor inconvenience for councils. On the other hand, if residents are kept waiting for a £150 discount, there could be trouble in store.

There has been something of a lull in the partygate saga this week. The political agenda moved away from whether a bowl of nuts and glass of wine constituted a party to the small matter of whether a war with Russia was on the cards.

It didn’t entirely halt the continuing speculation about whether anyone is in line for a knock on the door from a police officer suggesting they might like to accompany them down to the local station.

In an attempt to recast the Prime Minister as a Churchillian figure, helpful ministers seemed to have a crib sheet for media interviews which urged them to talk up Mr Johnson’s credentials as a leader of leaders.

Brandon Lewis, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, was in an effusive mode during a TV interview in which he said the PM was mobilising the world to head off a war with Russia. Not, we imagine, a view shared by other leaders of the Western world.

Hiring outside experts to do a job you can’t is increasingly common in government and in particular when you are the Home Secretary.

Priti Patel has looked to Australia for some expert advice on how the Border Force might improve its strategy on dealing with the continuing wave of would-be migrants crossing the Channel and landing on Kent’s shores.

She has taken on Alex Downer, a minister who was the architect of Australia's controversial pushback policy to dissuade migrants in boats from trying to get the country.

Will he come to a different conclusion about the legitimacy - or rather the lack of one - of a UK version of push-back?

Here’s a political teaser for you: how many housing ministers have there been in 12 years? The answer - 11. The latest to take on the job is Stuart Andrew, not exactly a household name. Still, it won’t be long before Kent MPs send him a letter - not necessarily to welcome him to the job but to outline their concerns that reforms planned by the government permitting development in certain zones risk concreting over the Garden of England.