The Feral Beast: Lordy, lordy

Paul Dacre failed to get a peerage in Gordon Brown's dissolution honours, but might he be rewarded in this Saturday's birthday honours? Some say the Daily Mail editor could have expected to be rewarded for his personal loyalty to Brown, even if his paper did back the Tories in the election. If David Cameron had ennobled him last week, it would have echoed Margaret Thatcher's arrival in office – the first peer she created was a Lord Dacre, the late historian Hugh Trevor-Roper. But all is not lost: whispers reach me that a knighthood may not be out of the question next weekend.

All change at the 'Mail'

And there's movement among the footmen of the Daily Mail. After four years as news editor – widely considered one of the most stressful jobs in Fleet Street – Keith Poole has been promoted to assistant editor. He is being succeeded by his deputy, Ben Taylor, whom The Daily Telegraph recently was reportedly seeking to poach. Bonne chance!

Speed-readers only

So the Bloody Sunday report is finally to be published later this month, 38 years after the events in Derry. The inquiry, set up by Tony Blair in 1998, has lasted more than 12 years, at a cost of nearly £200m. Journalists have been invited to apply for accreditation to view the document ahead of its release on the 15th. And how much time will they get to read the 60 pages of "principal conclusions" before the embargo breaks? Less than an hour.

Galloway calls the kettle black

Much mirth on Andrew Neil's This Week when George Galloway, talking about Lord Triesman, said: "There's no fool like an old fool trying to impress a younger woman." Producers backstage erupted into gales of laughter; as did the guests on Andrew's couch, including Hazel Blears, pictured, standing in for Diane Abbott, who eyed Neil up and chuckled: "Goodness, heaven forbid!" Diane would have been more loyal.

What cake?

Prominently reported in the current issue of Tatler is the birthday party of billionaire's wife Heather Kerzner at Annabel's, with pics of Hugh Grant and Matthew Freud. As we know, this was the occasion of the infamous punch-up, when Freud smeared Grant's shirt with chocolate cake, forcing him to change. Tactfully, these details were omitted, to the chagrin of some at Tatler.

Poet fight's his old boys' corner

The votes are being counted for the Oxford Professorship of Poetry, after ballots closed on Friday. Among the 11 candidates are, weirdly, two hacks: freelance Roger Lewis and The Guardian's Stephen Moss. In a last-minute bid for support, Moss sent a global to staff asking for votes, even though only those with degrees from Oxford can vote. As he noted: "This email will only apply to about 85 per cent of people at The Guardian and Observer. " At least, there is still a corner where the old boys' network lives on.