Cartoon by John Sadler

• EVEN after I realised that Boris Johnson was a harmful buffoon rather than just a harmless one, I felt able to tolerate his egotistical excesses as part of the collateral cost of living in a liberal democracy.

But when I read that his absurd vanity project – the garden bridge – soaked up £46million of our money at a time when his party was forcing the closure of youth clubs and play centres for the young, my indulgence was replaced by anger.

Is there any way we can recoup some of that cash directly from him? He once described the £250,000 annual fee he was paid for a newspaper column as “chicken feed”. But that sort of money could do a great deal for our desperate young people.

He should be sent a bill for the full amount we shelled out for his folly, demanding repayment. Perhaps the invoice could be emblazoned on one of his absurdly wasteful faux retro buses and parked outside his multi-million-pound residence.

CT MARKS
NW5