Meanwhile, last week, the City of London police dropped their investigation into charges of blackmail against Middleweek levelled by Collins Stewart. So Middleweek will be relieved to escape the heat of the controversy when he and his family take a week's holiday in Portugal later this month.

The holiday will give Middleweek a chance to come up with some plans for his future career. As a former lawyer with Nabarro Nathanson, he could do worse than help out his old man, Malcolm David Middleweek, a consultant to the eponymous "Middleweeks" practice in Manchester, who at 64 years old is close to retirement.