Category: MOVERS & SHAKERS

Former MPs Sir Nicolas Winterton and his wife Ann are not worthy of a glowing set of memoirs – Instead, this pair of ghastly grabbers deserve all the criticism ever thrown at them

 

Excerpts from Sir Nicholas and his equally bombastically ghastly wife Lady (Ann) Winterton’s daughter’s memoirs about her parents’ career were published in the Daily Mail this weekend. The account was anything but pragmatic and instead filled with nonsense about this rather tediously grating couple’s time in parliament.

 

In it, Sarah Winterton – whose father once pompously remarked: “They want to stop members of parliament travelling first class. That puts us below local councillors and officers of local government. They all travel first class. Majors in the army travel first class” – termed her expense claim loving mum and dad “magnificently maverick” and described them as having “the courage of a lion and lioness”.

 

Anyone who “disses” “Sir Bloodyminded and Lady Bolshie” (as they supposedly like to be called), according to their daughter, is ”pompous and cack-handed” and that Sir Winston Churchill’s grandson, Sir Nicholas Soames, once described them as “c**ts – and ugly ones to boot” unsurprisingly offended the junior Winterton too. Here, indeed, is a family that frankly is anything but “riotous” and here is a pair of leeches that should long ago have been consigned to Siberia.

 

Sir Nicholas – a man with a “fondness for the sound of his own voice” and a man prone to saying “boo loudly and often” – “does not talk, he orates”; his wife, meanwhile, “has a carrying voice, reminiscent of Bertie Wooster’s Aunt Dahila”. The pair regard Michael Heseltine and Kenneth Clarke as “closet socialists” and David Cameron as “[lacking] gravitas”. Edward Heath, put simply, was “the bounder who took Britain into Europe”. It is also said that the duo are “too realistic to think their names will be remembered centuries after they are dead” but bizarrely – hold your horses – “don’t expect statues of themselves to be erected by public subscription in the squares and marketplaces of Cheshire”.

 

Wrongly excused by some as “eccentric”, Lady Winterton attracted controversy in 2001 and 2004 for racist jokes about Pakistanis and Chinese people. She was criticised again in 2005 for similar remarks about immigrants and deemed “deplorable” by the then leader of the Conservatives, Michael Howard. Sarah Winterton, of course, neglects to mention this and also ignores the pair’s support for Section 28 and the reintroduction of capital punishment. Her account isn’t worth the paper it’s written on and her parents instead should be remembered for what they truly are: A bigoted pair of grasping politicians.

Society bible ‘Tatler’ is wrong to take issue with the word “ghastly”

 

Joanna Lumley once described the phrase “quality time” as “ghastly” and she was right. Mary Berry used the same word to describe reality programmes and Rupert Everett considers marriage to be exactly that too. “Ghastly” is a word that has many uses and it was thus surprising that Tatler decided to condemn those that use it.

 

When Prince Charles declared royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell an “awful” man in 2005, the BBC reacted with shock. His father would have gone further and has used the word “ghastly” on many occasions. Beijing, according to the senior royal, is “ghastly”, as is Stoke-on-Trent and Sir Elton John’s Watford FC-themed Aston Martin.

 

Tatler’s Annabel Rivkin remarked:

 

“Ghastly was the social word of the decade. We devoured it. We dropped it like a little bomb whenever we felt the need to pass judgement”.

 

“But guess what? That ghastly ship has sailed. The ghastly horse has bolted. The ghastly milk is spilt. It is most definitely time for a ghastly moratorium”.

 

“Ghastly is a kind of external manifestation of an internal mean-spiritedness. Unfashionable. Unattractive. Rather gauche in the end. Don’t do it”.

 

“Be assured that, should this word pass your lips, it will say so much more about you than about the party or person to whom you refer”.

 

Ms Rivkin – whose preference instead is “synthetic”, “annoying”, “awful” and “rotten” – is wrong. If something is “ghastly”, it’s exactly that.

 

Backstabber Michael Gove’s wife’s attack on Gina Miller confirms her for what she truly is – Sarah Vine is nothing but an OKA loving wally

 

In this morning’s Daily Mail, the wife of the traitorous, creepy Tory politician Michael Gove MP, Sarah Vine, penned a catty and badly written diatribe attacking Gina Miller as a “pushy Posh Mum just like Catherine Tate’s comic creation”.

 

Known to Private Eye readers as “Sarah Vain” and a mother of two, Swansea born Vine attacked Gina Miller as “Mitford-sisters-like in her ability to misunderstand and patronise ordinary citizens” and having “no concept of what life is like for those who have not thrived under the yoke of Brussels”.

 

Coming from a woman whose own husband has claimed thousands in expenses as an MP and spent much of that money at his parliamentary colleague’s wife’s Viscountess Astor’s decidedly posh OKA store, that’s rich. Meet Sarah Vine – Our much deserved Wally of the Week.

 

Mariella Frostup heartlessly berates a woman married to an alcoholic

 

Mariella Frostrup was described as having “the sexiest female voice on TV” in 2008. She was born in Norway, is the daughter of an alcoholic and has political views described as “a bit left-of-centre”. She hob-knobs with Gerard Butler, Graydon Carter, George Clooney and Hugh Grant and is the voice of Black Cow Vodka but on Sunday, in The Observer, she responded to a letter from the wife of a heavy drinker in an unnecessarily pompous and heartless manner.

 

In a letter to Frostrup, published in her “Dear Mariella” column, an unnamed correspondent shared her dilemma:

 

I have been married to my alcoholic husband for 14 years. We have a 13-year-old son, and two older kids from my previous marriage. I had an affair with a black man from 2007 until 2009. I had kept it a secret from my husband until he found out from my diary in 2010. Since then he has started drinking three or four bottles of wine a night and blames his drinking on me. He has been hospitalised and in rehab many times for his alcoholism.

 

Our son is suffering because when my husband drinks he gets aggressive and my son has to stand between us to stop him hitting me. I have seriously thought about leaving without a trace. Maybe my son will be happier without a mother who is so pathetic.

 

Frostrup’s response was direct and aside from perfectly sensibly suggesting this lady “must remove your son and yourself from this man’s grip”, she surprisingly added:

In the circumstances I’m tempted to ignore you describing your ex-lover as a “black man” as though it was his skin-colour, rather than your affair, that provoked your spouse. Instead, I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt; like the spouses of many abusers you are probably just trying to find blame in yourself for your abuser’s crimes against you.

 

If your husband considers your choice of lover a further insult then he’s even more monstrous than you have described. We’re not living in apartheid South Africa now, or in one of the many countries today where abuse at home is considered the divine right of husbands. Your lover’s racial make-up has absolutely nothing to do with the problems you are enduring today.

 

Frostrup then curtly added: “It’s time you stopped looking for excuses”. We beg to differ and would argue this lady instead seeks the ear of some with an ounce of sympathy.

 

Circumstances of George Michael’s death questioned by former friend Andros Georgiou

 

In 2012, George Michael’s “childhood friend” – this morning described by the Mail Online as his “cousin” – Andros Georgiou told The Sun: “The last thing I would ever want is for one of us to be standing over the other’s grave, wishing he had mended the nonsense that destroyed us”. He was never reunited with the singer and yesterday, he took to social media to question how Michael died and demanded “justice be served”.

 

In an interview with Victoria Derbyshire on BBC2 that will air this morning, Beverly Hills based Mr Georgiou is expected to address George Michael’s drug use. He is said to claim that the star “would never, ever [have] touched” heroin and will also suggest: “I don’t believe it was suicide in a million years”.

 

In a post made on Facebook on Sunday night, web marketing strategist Georgiou made reference to Michael’s on-off partner Fadi Fawaz and commented:

 

“I want to get to the truth of what happened, exactly what was in his blood at the time, who gave it to him, why did he have it again”.

 

“I have been trying to hold back on this tweet I saw nearly 10 days ago but the more I am reading and the more I am finding out about Fadi I just can’t keep my mouth shut any longer”.

 

“No 1 he was never with Yog [a nickname used by George Michael] 24 hours a day they never lived together he lived in one of Yogs houses in Regents Park?”

 

“And even if they were, WHY were they not together on Christmas Eve? and WHY did he sleep in the car? Too many questions have come up”.

 

Earlier this month, Fawaz told the Daily Mail:

 

“The police have been amazing. They have been supportive”.

 

“They have done what normally happens when someone dies. They have not been accusing me, never; they have been very supportive”.

 

Mr Georgiou’s post in full follows:

 

I have been trying to hold back on this tweet I saw nearly 10 days ago but the more I am reading and the more I am finding out about Fadi I just can’t keep my mouth shut any longer No 1 he was never with Yog 24 hours a day they never lived together he lived in one of Yogs houses in Regents Park?

 

And even if they were, WHY were they not together on Christmas Eve? and WHY did he sleep in the car? Too many questions have come up.

 

Every day I get more angry at the lies I am reading I pray that this nobody doesn’t earn a penny from Yogs death any money he is offered for his so called story should go straight to one of Yogs charities which now you all know how many he had helped, he never took any credit he was in every word the peoples hero apart from being the one of biggest talents this Country has ever produced a true Gentleman that lost his way if only there were not so many YES people around him he would be alive today.

 

One thing is for sure this was not an act of suicide.

 

He should of been looked after by his so called friends ! if I was around this would never of happened and I have to live with that the rest of my life I am so very sad as I am sure you all are as well, I have to pray that the police come to the conclusion I have and justice will be served.

 

A 20-question interview with British actor and BIFA award winner James Floyd

 

The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?

“Be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars, you have a right to be here…” From the poem Desiderata by Max Ehrmann – it’s my bible.

 

“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?

Life is too serious to be taken seriously.

 

Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2017?

Donald Trump’s hair. And Donald Trump.

 

Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?

The blissful ignorance of childhood.

 

What might you swap all your wealth for?

More wealth. Ain’t got much.

 

Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank”. What’s your view on the state of the financial system?

When you say ‘system’ do you mean Texas hold ’em poker? We live under the umbrella of ‘democratic capitalism’ but the game is neither as free or as meritocratic as the term suggests. The game is mostly rigged. The mortals at the bottom of the socio-economic spectrum pick up a tabloid (that’s fed them mostly lies for years) in 2007 and it says the global economy is screwed and everyone’s job is at risk. Jump cut to a decade later and the same people who took down the economy have jobs and bonuses, and the tabloid-reading mortals have no jobs.

 

What phrase or word do you most loathe?

‘System’.

 

In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home”. What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?

Depends who lives at your home. Some people don’t deserve charity. I support many causes including Kiva, It Gets Better Project and Disasters Emergency Committee.

 

The judge in Law Abiding Citizen states: “I can pretty much do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?

I just Googled that movie scene. Those writers’ careers should be blown up. Along with all high ranking members of the Islamic State.

 

 

If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?

If I get to murder them? Every singer who uses auto-tune. If there is no murder and just great conversation? Nina Simone, Gandhi, Oscar Wilde, Bayard Rustin and Hatshepsut.

 

If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?

Moroccan lamb tagine by the ocean.

 

What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?

Water? Immediately. Baileys? Immediately after the water.

 

A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?

A Negroni.

 

Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?

The party my 9 month old son throws every morning at 6am when he wakes. It’s called the ‘Dada dada dada’ party.

 

Who is the most positive person you know?

My grandma. She has Alzheimer’s but is fortunate to be stuck in a loop of positivity.

 

What’s your most guilty pleasure?

White chocolate cheesecake.

 

If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?

A skunk. With a quote from Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet wrapped around it.

 

If you were a car, what marque would you be?

A Pontiac: Old school but creative.

 

Cilla Black presented Surprise, Surprise. Tell us the most surprising thing about you.

I’ve married twice.

 

What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?

I don’t have a mantelpiece. If I did it would be a picture of my son smiling in nature.

 

Actor James Floyd describes himself as “a professional liar trying to seek the truth, AKA an actor”. He won a BIFA award for Best Newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards for his role as Rashid in ‘My Brother the Devil’ and played Freddie Mercury in ‘The Best Possible Taste’ in 2013. Other more recent credits include roles in ‘City of Tiny Lights’, ‘Rogue Agent’ and ‘Of Kings and Prophets’.

 

Follow him on Twitter at @iJamesFloyd and like his page on Facebook at @JamesFloydOfficial.

 

Clangers overheard and snippets spotted by readers of ‘The Steeple Times’

 

Get me a Krug!

At The Botanist on Sloane Square in London, a visiting Yorkshire lass told her assembled crew: “They do sell a prosecco but I told the bartender: ‘I don’t want any of that s**t. Get me a Krug!’” This Dawn Ward in the making was left disappointed: Their best champagne was Dom Perignon.

 

Braying in the basement

At La Brasserie in Chelsea, a pseudo-Sloane estate agent – clad in the kind of suit that make such men stand out from space – brayed about how much he’d made in 2016. To make sure those around him knew his place in society, he announced: “A friend of mine spent £400,000 on a sub-basement. It’s got a gym and pool and he reckons it’ll pay him back in four years. That’s what he spends in KX currently, so he’s got himself a bloody bargain”.

 

A heroin bartender

Two ladies chatted at a bar in SW3. One remarked: “I love the bartender. He’s like heroin”. She casually added: “I would inject him if I could”. Amy Winehouse could have found a lyric about that.

 

Going nuclear

At Langan’s Brasserie in Mayfair, an office gathered for their Christmas party. One of the group asked: “If nuclear bombs were to hit London, how many would it take?” A blonde with an Essex accent answered: “If one hit the city, Mayfair would be OK. That’s what I heard”. Reassuring.

 

Less is more

In a restaurant in Manhattan, a lady told her male dining companion her plans for 2017. She announced: “This year I’m going to be really intentional about doing less. I was just so involved last year”. Less, for her, truly is more.

 

Submit comments you hear to [email protected]. We publish amusing and ridiculous chatter we receive and sometimes we change names and locations to protect the identities of the vain and the vacuous.

 

 

 

The Evening Standard sinks to a new low with a list of the predictions for 2017 from a bunch of the “capital’s wisest visionaries”

 

The Evening Standard used to publish revealing stories and its weekly ES Magazine was always a place where one could expect to see Dominic Dunne-esque revelations of society’s highs and lows.

 

Now, under the ownership of Evgeny Lebedev – a man keener to pomp up the egos of the likes of Sir Elton John and his titleless husband than on good, old fashioned investigative journalism – the paper has gone south and yesterday, it sunk to a new low in publishing a feature by Frankie McCoy and Rosamund Urwin.

 

In a double page spread titled “Back to the future”, the columnists featured the views of eleven of what they ambitiously called “the capital’s wisest visionaries”. Amongst them were the loudmouth “gender X” blogger, Jack Monroe. She bizarrely ignored the common thought that “everybody is replaceable” and remarked: “No one will ever fill” the shoes of the late Labour MP Jo Cox. She also usefully added: “Gender is construct”.

 

Others featured included the nastiest television anchor in Britain, Kay Burley. Her claim that Prince Harry will “marry and have twins” this year plainly belongs in a horoscope and that the gossip columnist Perez Hilton also got a look-in seems odd given he has nothing to do with London and lives in America.

 

Hilton’s predictions that “Kanye West is going to divorce Kim Kardashian”, “Britney Spears is going to start dating a woman” and “Bella Hadid will actually eat an entire cheese sandwich” were of utterly no relevance and frankly the other offerings in the piece were about as much use as a chocolate teapot.

 

We call on the Evening Standard to raise its game. That would surely be a better thing for McCoy and Urwin to want this year.