Business diary: 'Working Lunch' pleads for a reprieve

Why did Working Lunch, the BBC show on which Adrian Chiles made his name and which now features the housewives' favourite Declan Curry, choose yesterday to run an item entitled "Is it time to leave GMT behind?", weeks after the move to British Summer Time prompted that debate at some length elsewhere? Could it be the BBC's announcement last Friday that the show is to be axed – and replaced by a new current affairs show entitled, wait for it, GMT?

How the City fears a Lib Dem backlash

The rise of the Liberal Democrats is beginning to scare some in the City. Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable's ideas for regulatory reform and new taxes are much more draconian than those of his rivals. Ken Brotherston, chief executive of City headhunter Kinsey Allen, says he is not alone in fearing the worst. "The idea of the Lib Dems controlling the balance of power in the event of a hung parliament suddenly looks utterly terrifying from a City perspective," he says.

The man who is paid for sleeping on the job

So congratulations to Phil Latham, the lucky winner of Halfords' search for a sleeping-bag tester. Latham, who began work yesterday, is being paid £600 for a week's work – trialling the various sleeping bags Halfords plans to stock for the summer camping season so that staff in its stores can offer a more informed view on the merits of each product.

One way to slash the Home Office budget

Here's an idea for all three political parties as they battle to bring down the deficit. In Hull city centre, the local authority is trialling the idea of putting cardboard cut-outs of serving officers in eight local retailers that have proved popular with the shoplifting fraternity. The idea is deter the thieves: though the cut-outs won't have any powers of arrest, they come in at the princely sum of only £100 each.

businessdiary@independent.co.uk