David “Dave” Cameron has set up a “Northern Board” whose aim is apparently to revitalise the Tories in the North of England, where they did even less well than the rest of England at the general election. William Hague has been appointed chair but he may have his work cutout if this top secret map leaked from Conservative Central Office is anything to go by…

Let’s imagine I ran a successful business and employed fifty people around the country as part of my empire. I’ve got a good turnover, making a nice profit, and helping the economy.

Then I decide that I don’t want to pay corporation tax – I decide it’s ethically wrong to take away money that I could reinvest in my company (and thereby the economy) in order to fund (let’s say) a war in a Middle Eastern country.

I say to the Government: “Either you abandon your attempts to charge me corporation tax or I shall close my company down in defiance, laying off all those staff, and then you’ll get no corporation tax from me at all. Ha!”

We can be fairly sure (assuming I’ve not given money to the Labour Party) that the reply from the Government will be along the lines of: “Tough.”

Wouldn’t it?

In entirely unrelated news, everyone’s favourite elephant has some thoughts about adoption.

It snowed overnight. Unlike some, I’m not a fan. It looks nice enough, but once I start trudging around in it my feet get wet, then cold; the snow melts and refreezes as slippery ice and, as I plod around in my permeable, gripless shoes, I tend to end up on ground, getting even wetter.

The snow did seem to have emptied the bus this morning, which was useful as it also prevented me from repeating yesterday’s walk to work along the south bank of the Thames – no doubt it would have picturesque, but my feet would have been like ice after an hour of that.

Yesterday’s trek, despite being the coldest day of the year that far, was great though. From Southwark Cathedral along to the Palace of Westminster, the route is full of London landmarks: St Paul’s Cathedral, the Gherkin, the Globe, Tate Modern, the London Eye. I passed someone spraying graffiti on a wall near the NFT right next to a group of contractors cleaning graffiti from the next wall along. Such is London.

My plan was to reward my healthy, bracing stroll with a McBreakfast at County Hall (once home of the GLC, now of MSG). When I got there though, it wasn’t yet open, so my fitness regime (such as it is) was unmarred.

I crossed Westminster Bridge, scene of two iconic Doctor Who moments, unable to resist the temptation to play the accompanying incidental music to the latest of those on my iPod as I did. This made me happier than is perhaps normal.

Finally, I reached College Green and passed top TV actor Robert Lindsay (or was it Tony Blair?). Which was cool.

Sir Menzies Campbell has called for British troops to be withdrawn from Iraq by October.

He was speaking on Radio 4’s Today ahead of this afternoon’s Commons debate on Iraq, which Tony Blair has been trying to avoid attending – not surprising given quite how unpopular his misadventure in Iraq is.

Ming’s piece on Today should be up on their Listen Again page shortly.