Regular readers of this column will recall how NASA general counsel Mike Wholley is currently in the headlines over some alleged ‘strategic’ shredding. Now The Diary can bring you news of another stellar in-house role, this time a little closer to home (for now).

The newest and wackiest venture from bearded Virgin entrepreneur Richard Branson is, of course, Virgin Galactic – ‘the world’s first spaceline’, it says here – and, needless to say, the operation has an
in-house lawyer.