It’s a helicopter day at Westminster. I’m writing this at my desk, which is about 200 metres from the House of Lords. My office is full of the racket made by a chopper flitting about over the Palace of Westminster and Whitehall, providing aerial camera shots of politicians – mainly the PM – moving around the place.
The reason today is the Sue Gray report, but helicopter days are relatively common at Westminster. The drone of the rotors is the easiest way to tell that this is a Big News day, when journalists spend more than the usual amount of time talking about extraordinary events and major developments.
As with so many things, there’s a mundane reason helicopter days seem to come around so often.
The broadcasters who fund the helicopters are rumoured to sign contracts obliging them to pay for a certain number of flying hours per year, whether or not they use the thing.
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