OXFORD city councillor Sajjad Malik is hoping to sell hot food in the city centre. He was one of three applicants for a vacant lot in St Giles.

But he didn’t want his plan for the city to be printed in this paper.

The Labour councillor for Cowley Marsh asked for our reporter to be booted out of the licensing meeting as he made his presentation.

I wonder if Mr Malik will be so media-shy if he’s successful in his bid and wants to promote his business venture?

THE Insider is unsure what to make of tai chi sessions in parks, organised by the Oxford City Council backed Go Active team.

It’s either a great addition to municipal health and fitness...or a sign the Labour administration at Town Hall has veered much further to the left.

If gigantic portraits of council leader Bob Price are unfurled on city tower blocks we’ll know its the latter.

WE reported last week on the blossoming bond between left and right in the city... And it seems like the sunny weather is warming relations even further.

Labour’s Antonia Bance never shys from an ideological scrap, whether in the chamber or on Twitter.

But have the Olympic Games have softened her stance?

Firstly praise for Tory toff Boris Johnson on his rousing pre-Games speech: “It should have been Ken. But Boris was great tonight.”

Then the opening ceremony: “Is this really happening under a Tory govt? Suffragettes, industrial revolution, staff of the NHS, Windrush?"

Is this political Olympic legacy going to last or is it a fleeting summer love affair?

MEANWHILE, county council leader Ian Hudspeth is taking Witney MP and Prime Minister David Cameron ’s flagship Localism Bill very seriously.

He’s volunteering at the Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock, and updating his followers on Twitter, but only during his lunch break.

He’s also been learning to operate a till, despite having run hardware shops in the big smoke and working in retail for more than 30 years.

One tweet said: “After 30 years in the retail trade I’ve finally been taught to use a till! Lots of jobs but for volunteers!”

Will members of the general public follow Mr Hudspeth’s lead to keep our community services running?