Calves across the land are back in the condemned cell after the Cabinet Office stepped in with a reprieve for the 1,000-year-old practice of printing our laws on vellum. The House of Lords had proposed moving to paper archives to save money. But paymaster-general Matthew Hancock has found the requisite £80,000 a year down the back of a Whitehall sofa.

A wise move politically – the Lords’ decision provoked much froth among the Herbert Gussetts who frequent the Telegraph’s letters page.

Sensible too. As the BBC reported, vellum is renowned for retaining its integrity for many years. Would that more of our parliamentarians could make such a boast.

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