Plus, Liz Truss returns, uproar over Roald Dahl rewrites and why everything is too much trouble for Thérèse Coffey
Perth has a special place in my heart: it was the venue of my first one-day international wicket. Perhaps I should explain. It was 1992 and I was writing a book about Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, part of which was to tag along with the Pakistan team for the cricket World Cup. At first Imran Khan and co were understandably distant, but by the time we reached Western Australia I was allowed to bowl in the nets – where I inexplicably had Zahid Fazal caught behind. Whether I ever got another wicket is a matter of dispute. I claim I had Wasim caught at mid on. He said he would never have hit it there if I had had a fielder in place. No matter. That week in Perth was the highlight of what passes for my cricket career. Not that I’ve ever been tempted to go back. It just felt so far away. Remote even from the rest of Australia. A five-hour flight from Sydney. But if you like beaches, 300 days of sunshine a year, not having to cope with a cost of living crisis and aren’t put off by the distance, then it could be the place for you. At least that’s the sell Western Australia is trying to make as it seeks to recruit 31,000 doctors, nurses, teachers and plumbers from the UK to come and make their homes near to the Indian Ocean. Predictably some MPs and the British Medical Association have been quick to cry foul. How dare the Australians try to fill the vacancies in their job market with professionals trained in the UK! What about our own staff shortage in the NHS? Er … perhaps we should have thought of that when we recruited thousands of doctors and nurses from eastern Europe and elsewhere around the world. Just another Brexit bonus.
