There may be a three-way split at the Bank of England over what to do with interest rates, with some arguing for a cut, others a rise, and the rest no change at all.

However, the hawks out there obsessed with inflation think the real three choices are a small rate hike, a big rate hike, or a huge rate hike large enough actually to do something about the problem...

In his report to the Treasury on the mortgage market, Sir James Crosby warns that the freeze in lending means mortgage brokers "are under intense pressure and many will disappear".

It makes the recent clampdown by the Financial Services Authority on the "serious and widespread" problem of mortgage fraud among rogue brokers look to be even more after the horse has bolted than it did before.

*In such troubled times, it's good to see the housing associations at least being so bullish about prospects for the property market.

The prediction earlier this week from the associations' club, the National Housing Federation, that house prices in England will rise by 25% over the next five years, must have gladdened the hearts of a lot of many recent buyers and anxious would-be sellers.

Prices will go up by 5.2% during 2011, foresees the NHF's researcher, Oxford Economics, driven by growing demand and falling supply.

Strangely enough, these were exactly the same factors that were mentioned in last year's Home Truths report from the NHF and Oxford Economics, which pooh-poohed the idea of a price crash - and forecast a 50% rise by 2011...

* A word to the wise. Keep an eye on Icelandic banks...

Cutting down on enterprise

Remember how the Government wants to encourage apprenticeship schemes and vocational training? It's a key plank in Gordon Brown's strategy to create an enterprise economy, apparently.

Indeed, so central is it that the Chartered Surveyors Training Trust, the charity that administers apprenticeships for would-be surveyors, has just had its Government funding cut, and won't be enrolling new students this September.

* Consternation at Brunswick, where partner Fiona Laffan has resigned for Goldman Sachs...and the number two job in the bank's Europe, Middle East and Asia PR operation. She will report to Paul Kafka at the bank, who in turn answers to Lucas van Praag, the global communications head.

* Listen up all you binge drinkers! Here's Glaceau on the label of its Vitamin Water. "Ahh home at last, it's late, you've looked and smelt better. It takes a full five minutes to find your house keys... we've all been there, and it's not pretty, actually it's pretty ugly. But there is hope, here at the Center for Responsible Hydration we have developed a revitalising livener of potassium and B-vitamins to help you wake up feeling like last night never happened... unless you snogged the boss."

* The Lloyd's of London building is managed by facilities company ISS Coflex. It is with great pleasure that City Spy is able to share the internal thinking of the outfit.

Forwarded emails reveal a capacity for gobbledegook that both delights and depresses. The firm has developed an "account ethos" and held meetings to discuss how this should apply. This included using the name Coflex to show what they stand for.

So C means "continuous improvement", O is for "ownership of all issues", F is "flexible approach", L is Lloyd's, E is "excellence, always striving to exceed customer expectations". But what's X? Er, "X factor. We couldn't think of anything!" Wonderful.

Celebrity dog-lover on the case

Surely not. According to Property Week, Peter de Savary was having lunch at the notably conservative Wiltons in Jermyn Street.

"Halfway through the meal, de Savary gingerly cut a slice or two of his steak, discreetly opened a black crocodile valise he had under the table, lifted out a miniature chihuahua called Louis and fed him the meat."

His dining companion, Paul Jackson of Victory Land, says that he checked with "a gobsmacked waiter whether the dog could use the gents if need be".

Lobbying for the Kremlin

These must be difficult days for the hardy British PR men tasked with defending the role of the Kremlin and its boss Vladimir Putin. But there are some intrepid souls to do the job.

Step forward the largely unheralded Baron Truscott of St James's. The former Peter Truscott was Labour MEP for Hertfordshire from 1994 to 1999, and went on to become Tony Blair's adviser on Russia as well as being departmental liaison peer to the Ministry of Defence.

Earlier this year, he joined Gavin Anderson, an affiliate of PR giant Omnicom. According to press reports "the firm lobbies on behalf of the Kremlin". Truscott, 49, who has a Russian wife, Svetlana, wrote a largely favourable biography of Putin in 2004, Putin's Progress, which was clearly received well in Moscow.

Obviously, Truscott is not a man to let controversy get him down. Earlier this year, he joined the board of Eastern Petroleum Corporation, controlled by Frank Timis - he of the massive Regal Petroleum oil find in Greece that never was. He is also a non-executive director of another Timis outfit: African Minerals, although the company has omitted to inform Companies House.

* But are the Russians doing it themselves? Steel magnate Vadim Varshavsky, who was behind the recent purchase of the ailing Alphasteel plant in South Wales, has spoken out in a French newspaper to defend the reputation of Russian businessmen against suspicions and rumours of underhand practices. "It's true the first generation of Russian businessmen didn't behave very well. But everyone's learnt since then," he said.

Varshavsky says his approach to business should be a familiar one to the West. "I buy with help from the banks, I develop, I build and then I follow through on the growth." Try saying that with a stern face, "I follow through on the growth."