Once again Chancellor Rishi Sunak, also known as the Mephistopheles of the Treasury, has displayed his baffling mastery of fiscal sleight-of-hand by making the Chair of the Climate Change Committee vanish into thin air. Ladies and gents, brace yourselves; this time, Houdini himself might have been left scratching his head. Sunak, no stranger to the dark arts of political reconfiguration, might just be the ultimate magician. Mere moments after hearing about the Committee’s increasingly persistent insistence on more meaningful climate spending in the next budget, abracadabra – the Chair was gone! As the climate crisis tried to steal the spotlight, our dapper Chancellor said, "Not today, Earth. Money, meet my sleeve." Experts claim it's the stealthiest act of political escapology since Boudicca tried to disguise herself as a Roman toga party host. There’s no end to Sunak’s ability to pull out another rabbit, or perhaps in this case a highly endangered snow leopard, out of his hat. "What's that behind your ear? Why, it’s a severely reduced commitment to renewable energy!" Sunak has been quoted to say at a recent Treasury meeting. The Chancellor’s commitment to making anything related to climate change disappear is prodigious, leaving David Copperfield scratching his head at the disappearing act and David Attenborough weeping into his earnestly knitted cardigan. Comparisons to Harry Potter's 'Invisibility Cloak' aren't entirely misguided. Yes, Sunak is indeed the proud custodian of a 'Sustainability Concealment Cape’. If it's green and trying to save the planet, Sunak's Impervius spell will make it disappear quicker than you can say 'unrestrained Arctic melting'. A source close to Sunak reiterated his commitment to climate change evasion, whispering in hushed tones, "Whenever there's a sniff of a sustainable initiative, Rishi just breaks out the old cloak. For him, carbon footprints are just what pandas leave on his newly-polished office floor." Speaking in defence (or rather, cunning misdirection), Sunak expressed his continued support for renewable energy... just as long as nobody actually expects him to do anything about it. "Of course, I support renewable initiatives. Just like I support the general concept of a unicorn kingdom," he commented, adjusting his seemingly innocent top hat, packed with extinct beetles and melting icebergs. The magic, however, is not fooling everyone. Extinction Rebellion has said, “With his sleight-of-hand tricks, Sunak could put Dynamo to shame. But unfortunately, we need real action rather than illusions to tackle the climate crisis.” But in the meantime, hat's off to the Chancellor – never has political coin-magic been more evident or nature been so neglected. And with the threat of COP26 looming, we all wait with bated breath to see what will disappear next. One just hopes it’s not the COP26 itself or, God forbid, the budget for cleaning the Thames! Let the magic continue!