Matthew Steeples salutes Pret for doing more than most to help homeless people get jobs and permanent accommodation; others and the government should follow suit
Pret a Manger has come under a lot of flack lately – due to two customers dying having an allergic reaction to their products – but now, this in my view, wrongly maligned chain has again done something truly good.
At a time when our rudderless government keep banging on about achieving the impossible – in telling a blatant lie in claiming they will end homelessness by 2027 – Pret’s charitable foundation is to invest a further £200,000 a year into a homeless hostel in Kennington, London on top of their already vast commitment to helping those living rough.
The ‘Pret House’ in Kenington, London will accommodate 13 ‘Rising Stars’ working in nearby Pret stores initially. The firm plans to expand this to 26 bedrooms if the scheme proves successful.
Aside from continuing to give over 3 million meals a year to homeless people across the year every year, the Pret Foundation will now also provide further jobs and training through their ever expanding ‘Rising Stars’ and ‘Shooting Stars’ programmes. Presently the firm takes on at least 40 homeless people as employees each year and over the last ten years has hired a total of 450 individuals as a result of such.
Of the scheme, Clive Schlee, chief executive of Pret, a firm with 450 outlets and group sales of around £800 million per year, remarked:
“Everyone in London can see that homelessness is becoming more of a problem. In an ideal world there would be no homelessness but we are doing something because others are not doing something about it.”
Other businesses – most especially those in the hospitality sector – should follow suit in providing food and accommodation for the homeless. Theresa May and her uncaring government, meanwhile, should be wholly ashamed of themselves for offering nothing but platitudes. They should man up and do a hell of a lot more to end a situation which is resulting in over 600 people dying on our streets each year.
Diane Abbott proves herself to be nothing but a moaning menace (yet again)
Diane Abbott just cannot help herself. This dreadful harpy of a woman – whom it must be most excruciatingly be remembered once slept with Jeremy Corbyn – appeared on the BBC’s Question Time show on Thursday and is now claiming she was “unfairly mocked” and was “singled out” by the audience.
A spokesperson for Abbott, who has been an MP since 1987 and once slipped up by saying recruiting 10,000 extra police officers would cost the equivalent of just £30 per officer, remarked:
“We are appalled by the treatment of Diane Abbot on BBC’s Question Time. It was clear that a hostile was whipped up, propped up by reports of inappropriate sexist commentary in the audience warm-up session.”
“A public broadcaster like the BBC should be expected to be a model of impartiality and equality. The BBC cannot claim anything of the sort when analysis of the programme shows that the only black woman on the panel was jeered at and interrupted more times than any other panellist, including by the chair herself.”
“The media must stop legitimising mistreatment, bias and abuse against Ms Abbott as a black woman in public life. The BBC should be ashamed that their programming is complicit in such behaviour.”
The facts of this matter are simple: If Diane Abbott doesn’t like the heat, she should never have entered the kitchen. This ridiculous woman is unfit for high office and she should just give up.
Julian Assange achieves a new low by hanging out with a whack job Trump supporter who previously supported Black Lives Matters and Bernie Sanders
Julian Assange’s pathetically small ragbag of supporters are once again bleating and this time that bleating comes from the mouth of a most confused young lady.
In an article for The Gateway Pundit – a little known hotchpotch rant sheet that cites itself as being “Where Hope Finally Made a Comeback” and a publication that claims: “We report the truth – and leave the Russia-Collusion fairy tale to the Conspiracy media” – a Donald Trump supporting “political activist” named Cassandra Fairbanks claimed Assange’s living conditions are “more akin to [a] Stasi-era dissident than an award-winning publisher with asylum.”
“Social media star” Fairbanks – whose favourite quote is said to be “Build the Wall” in spite of her previously being a backer of Bernie Sanders – is, in fact, just like Assange in several regards: This queen of contradictions is a bit of self-promoting, self-obsessed sort and she plainly craves constant attention.
On Twitter, this Silver Springs, Maryland based former liberal tells her 156,000 followers that the “Federal court says ‘I trolled the web through Twitter’” and that she is “an information terrorist according to Wired.” She previously was said to be “distinguished for her liberal campaigns” but has now wholeheartedly U-turned and become a fully-fledged Trumpette.
In spite of helping to organise the ‘DeploraBall’ to celebrate the inauguration of Donald Trump in 2017, Fairbanks has also been involved with the “hacktivist” group Anonymous and once came out in support of immigrants by saying: “Why should an invisible line created by some [politicians] dictate where we can and cannot go? If I want to go to the beach at 11pm I should be able to. If I feel like rowing a boat to Australia, why can’t I just go?”
Cassandra Fairbanks at the White House
Previously a reporter for the Russian state funded news agency Sputnik News and also at one-time a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, Fairbanks lost a defamation suit in June 2018 against a former Fusion journalist, Emma Roller. Fairbanks had claimed Roller “maliciously” retweeted an image of her allegedly giving a white power hand gesture.
In her article for The Gateway Pundit, published Thursday after Fairbanks having visited Assange at the Embassy of Ecuador in Knightsbridge the previous Monday, the self-proclaimed “grassroots journalist” claimed his hosts were imposing “draconian” conditions on the bail dodger and keeping him in something “like a scene from the Stasi spy drama The Lives of Others.”
Refusing to acknowledge that Julian Assange chose his very own path is one thing, but that Fairbanks moaned about his hosts being “spies… even noting his general mood” is another. She refers to the Ecuadorians as “menacing” and “shadowy state actor[s]” and their embassy as like a “federal penitentiary.” In doing so, this plainly delusional woman ignores the most important fact: Nobody is forcing Julian Assange to remain holed up with people she views to be baddies. He could end this farce and he could finally do the decent thing: It is time for Julian Assange to surrender himself to the British police.
Fiona Bruce shows herself to be a most worthy replacement for David Dimbleby on the BBC’s ‘Question Time’; we need more like her
Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould made for a brilliant double act on the BBC’s Fake or Fortune and now, going it alone, she’s proved her worth yet again in taking over Auntie’s Question Time programme.
Debuting on the show last night, Bruce took no prisoners and at one point rightly told Theresa May’s mouthpiece James Cleverly MP: “Sometimes you have to stop talking and listen.” She then curtly added: “I asked you what your plan [for Brexit] was and you said you were going to tell me. Have I missed it?”
Praised universally on social media, Fiona Bruce last night achieved brilliance whilst other interviewers and hosts fail: This Singaporean born Scot ran this political discussion with a rod of iron and we salute her.
Reactions on Twitter:
@profanityswan – “Fiona Bruce has had 15 years talking to greedy vase-owners and she’s off the fucking leash here. #newbbcqt”
@OJBorg – “3 Minutes in to THE REIGN OF BRUCE on Question Time & if I were a politician I’d be shitting in my pants. She taking zero shit. Love it. #BBCQT”
@AaronLMatthews – “#FionaBruce has done her homework, and in doing so immediately put up a barrier to #bbcqt being simply a forum for unchallenged bullshit. This is so much more palatable.”
@DonkeyDavethe – “Fiona Bruce – straight in there with “answer the fuckin question dimwit”! #bbcqt”
@Russ_Bear – Fiona Bruce isn’t taking any shit. She’s not sitting back and letting them say what they like. She’s Dimblebying the fuck out of it. Good work Mrs! #questiontime”
@ThatTimWalker – I had no great hopes for Fiona Bruce on @bbcquestiontime, but my God she’s GREAT. An honest journalist. And on the BBC. This is wonderful.
Lady ‘Call Me Victoria’ Borwick makes a fool of herself on the BBC’s ‘Big Question’ as it is revealed that the MP who managed to lose the safe seat of Kensington is ludicrously seeking a comeback
Yesterday morning, Lady ‘Call Me Victoria’ Borwick nodded her head on the BBC’s The Big Questions as another member of the audience suggested it ridiculous that a family living in a poky flat in Beckenham worth £300,000 can be paying the same in council tax as a family living in Kensington in a £25 million mansion.
“Please Victoria, stop interrupting, come on, let’s have someone else,” responded the programme’s host Nicky Campbell as this redheaded mother of the chief technology officer for Vote Leave tried to interject. “I’m a Londoner” later shouted the former Conservative MP – whom lost a seat that anyone would agree a “pig in a blue rosette should have won” – whilst Made in Chelsea’sAndy Jordan, in a bizarre attempt to be meritocratic, added: “Made in Chelsea should be Made for Everybody. I like that.”
This delusional cocktail party loving ex-MP, it should be added, herself lives in Phillimore Gardens, W8 – one of Britain’s most expensive streets and one where houses regularly sell for upwards of £35 million – and is the very same woman who did little to nothing for the homeless whilst in office. Instead, Borwick mostly asked questions during her time at Westminster in support of the antiques trade in general and the ivory business in particular. She now wants to return.
In spite of Borwick declaring: “I’m not a politician anymore” on The Big Questions, her very own website tells a very different story. Its homepage begins with the announcement: “I have made no secret of the fact that I would like to be re-elected as your Member of Parliament for Kensington and represent my fellow residents in Parliament.” No doubt, soon, ‘Call Me Victoria’ will also be picking up the phones. God help the Conservative Party and God help Kensington.
#bbctbq #lazyborwick
Watch the programme by clicking here (time limited for 29 days).
Lady Borwick on: “Should drugs be treated like alcohol?”
Nicky Campbell: “I know you’re very against drugs, but, of course, George Osborne, David Cameron, Boris Johnson – It didn’t do them any harm did it?”
Lady Borwick: “I am sorry I cannot think of a reason why legalising drugs would be… [Interuption from an audience member] Hang on, I’m not in politics any more… The important point is legalising drugs is not going to make us as a nation healthier.”
Nicky Campbell: “Did you have a drink over Christmas?”
Lady Borwick: “Yes, but not very much.”
Nicky Campbell: “But, then, are you a hypocrite?”
Lady Borwick: “We’re just facing Dry January. We’re telling people they shouldn’t be drinking in January… Why do we want encourage people to get addicted [to drugs]? The most important point is that the drug dealers are not going to go away, they’re not going to give up and tend their own gardens I’m sorry to say. But if you legalise pushing outside our schools… They’ll find some other way of engaging in criminal activity.”
Lady Borwick on: “Is London only for the rich?” and the Grenfell Tower tragedy and gangs
Nicky Campbell: “Well Victoria, you were the MP for [Kensington] and it is a very divided city, London. Most people would agree with that.”
Lady Borwick: “Just a touch. Just a touch. I will touch on Grenfell because you’ve raised that.”
Nicky Campbell: “Can I read out one of your emails because it does concentrate minds on what the problem is.”
Lady Borwick: “I was just going to quickly say, having been to see Grenfell because while… I went to see Grenfell several times. I helped them form a residents’ association because they had some very, very valid concerns. And I of course, I passed on all those concerns to the police. This is no secret. This has been in the Guardian. This has been in the media. But the problem is this is a tragedy and today is all about: ‘Is London too expensive?’ but I think all of us in Kensington, everyone in Kensington and Chelsea, everyone in London appreciates what a tragedy this is and how…”
Nicky Campbell: “But on the subject of the two nations that we are living in in London. Those of us who do and these remarks come from an email [from Lady Borwick]. It’s very interesting because you say: ‘The local community was difficult to help in the aftermath of the disaster because rather like gangs they don’t go into another community.”
Lady Borwick: “I was explaining… I was explaining in a four page email that we need to reach out to them. You cannot expect people to come to you.”
Nicky Campbell: “Why did you say: ‘Like gangs’?”
Lady Borwick: “It’s like communities, groups. It’s just terminology, of you know, saying you’ve got to reach out to people. You’ve not got to expect in life that people are going to come to you. We shouldn’t be judging people. We should be here reaching out. And that’s why when I saw the Grenfell people, I went to see them.”
Audience member: “That’s quite a pejorative term…”
Lady Borwick: “OK, as a group, the people we had to deal with…”
Anna Minton (journalist and academic): “There was an absolute breakdown of relations with the community and local government over Grenfell.”
Lady Borwick: “I agree with that and it’s an absolute tragedy and we must make sure that, that that never, ever happens again… These people had genuine concerns and I went to see them about a whole range of things.”
Alex Proud (restaurateur and gallery owner): “The politicians weren’t interested and aren’t interested. You destroyed the city we live in.”
Lady Borwick: “I’m sorry. I am really sorry. I went and listened to various people and they had genuine, genuine concerns. They weren’t just about those things.”
Nicky Campbell: “Victoria, Victoria… Please… Moving on from Grenfell…”
Lady Borwick: “I don’t want people thinking I didn’t have genuine concerns.”
Lady Borwick on empty housing in London:
Lady Borwick (in response to an audience member saying “housing shouldn’t be about all the investment units in the golden postcodes of Knightsbridge and Kensington”): “We’ve got to have homes that people actually want to live in.”
Nicky Campbell: “Please, Victoria, come on. Let’s have someone else. We’ve got speak to someone else now.”
The studio audience on the BBC’s Big Question were hosted by Nicky Campbell and included Londoner’s pro and anti-drugs and those interested in the city’s housing crisis.The rabid right-wing journalist Peter Hitchens was also in the studio; later on Twitter the anti-drugs campaigner lamented: “Sometimes it is useful to have had some practice in being a minority of one in a TV studio.”‘Made in Chelsea’ ‘star’ Andy Jordan pointed out that the reality show did not portray the reality of life in one of the country’s richest boroughs; he also added: “They showed me driving round in a Ferrari. I actually own a white Transit van.”Lady Borwick plainly hasn’t caught up with the times. She wore a necklace that proclaimed: “Votes for Women” in spite of the fact that women got the vote in Britain 101 years ago in 1918.
As Theresa May hangs on in spite of revolts and defeats, Matthew Steeples asks: ‘How much longer can this kitten heeled harbinger of disaster hang on?’
When shall we three meet again
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
Macbeth (I, i, 1-2)
For Theresa May, like buses, defeats come in threes. In spite of wheeling out Andrea ‘Loathsome’ Leadsom – dressed yet again in her pink dominatrix studded leather jacket – to claim that the lousy non-deal the government had negotiated could still proceed, it has now become utterly clear that most MPs and more importantly the public have had enough.
Andrea Leadsom’s bizarre outfit choice was yet again inspired by both Barbie and Katie Price, whilst Geoffrey Cox simply failed in his quest for divine intervention
Staggering on is all very well, but as Isobel Oakeshott pointed out on the BBC’s Politics Live this morning, Theresa May lost control many months ago. In fact, the minute this delusional woman called a General Election that was neither wanted or required, her cards became marked and her path to failure was confirmed.
Failing to respect the sovereignty of Parliament, however, was truly a stupid move and now, even in the highly, highly unlikely event that she wins on 11th December, Theresa May’s own party is obliged to ditch her. This hectoring vicar’s daughter yesterday failed as a Prime Minister as, in just a couple of hours, thrice she failed in the job’s key role – that of commanding a majority. Now, as the vultures, circle I again suggest it is time for a change of tack: Mrs May must go and she must go now.
#BringHerDown #MakeDecemberTheEndOfMay
Outside contenders to replace May
Ruth Davidson
In spite of the fact that she would need to become an MP in order to govern effectively, Ruth Davidson is extremely popular within the party. She speaks a lot of sense and reflects the modern age well.
Johnny Mercer MP
Sensible and pragmatic, Johnny Mercer could be the Conservatives’ Justin Trudeau. A former army officer and pin-up, here is a man who is a breath of fresh air.
John Simpson marks the publication of his novel ‘Moscow Nights’ at Daunt Books in Marylebone
Described as: “An engaging yarn with a strong, sometimes mischievous autobiographical element” by The Sunday Times, esteemed foreign correspondent John Simpson launched his second novel at Daunt Books in Marylebone last night.
John Simpson and Claire Rubinstein
Amongst those present to celebrate the occasion were – in from New York – financier Marcel Croome, Brexit campaigner Gina Miller and her hedge fund titan husband Alan, the Daily Mail’s Alexis Parr and social media guru Claire Rubinstein. As drinks flowed, guests admired Daunt Books’ clever displays and many copies of Simpson’s book – a topical tale based around espionage and skulduggery titled Moscow, Midnight – were sold to a most enthusiastic gathering.
Alan Miller, Gina Miller, Claire Rubinstein and Matthew SteeplesDaunt Books was packed for the occasionClaire Rubinstein and Marcel CroomeMatthew Steeples, Claire Rubinstein and friendsMarcel Croome, Claire Rubinstein and Alexis Parr
Description – MP Patrick Macready has been found dead in his flat. The coroner rules it an accident, a sex game gone wrong.
Jon Swift is from the old stock of journos – cynical, cantankerous and overweight – and something about his friend’s death doesn’t seem right. Then days after Macready’s flat is apparently burgled, Swift discovers that his friend had been researching a string of Russian government figures who had met similarly ‘accidental’ fates.
When the police refuse to investigate further, Swift gets in touch with his contacts in Moscow, determined to find out if his hunch is correct. Following the lead, he is soon drawn into a violent underworld, where whispers of conspiracies, assassinations and double-agents start blurring the line between friend and foe.
But the truth will come at a price, and it may cost him everything.
Matthew Steeples suggests that continued interest in the case of Tommy Robinson illustrates a very dangerous extremist underbelly still exists in British politics
Whatever the complexities of the case against Tommy Robinson and Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC’s decision to refer the allegation of contempt of court against him to the Attorney General, one thing is clear: the appearance of him and his thug-like followers outside the Old Bailey today simply shows that British politics has still not managed to see off far-right extremism.
Former English Defence League (EDL) leader Robinson – whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – arrived at the court this morning supported by “hundreds of supporters” according to the BBC. As he left, shouts of “Oh, Tommy, Tommy” and “We want Tommy out, we want Tommy out” emanated from what was described as “an enthusiastic crowd.”
Supported also by the equally nasty nutcase Gerrard Batten, leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), who took to a stage to remark: “It looks very much like when Tommy was jailed, for the alleged contempt of court, this was about who he was, not what he was saying,” 35 year old Robinson himself then decided to speak. He announced he thought he’d “acted in good faith” when he violated reporting restrictions on grooming trials at Leeds Crown Court in May and announced: “My continued prosecution is because of who I am rather than what I did.”
Bizarrely next – as his supporters chanted the mainstream media were “scum” – Robinson then described himself as a “journalist.” He added:
“What’s changed is that last night they received my statement of evidence to go before the court. It would appear my treatment is exceptional. I would ask to be treated the same as every other journalist.”
“To the journalists: The British public do not trust you, they do not believe you. You are the enemies of the people.”
Whether the allegations against Robinson are ultimately proven true or false, right-minded individuals will surely accept the scene outside the court today to be illustrative of the continued presence of dangerous extremism in a country considered to be tolerant. Messrs Batten, Robinson and their far-right opinions represent a threat to us all and they deserve to be highlighted as such.
Actor Dudley Sutton – AKA ‘Lovejoy’s’ Tinker – passes away aged 85 shortly after giving an interview lauding the NHS
The talented actor and regular at the Chelsea Arts Club, Dudley Sutton sadly died yesterday after a short battle with cancer.
Best known for playing Tinker Dill in the brilliant BBC comedy-drama series Lovejoy in 1986 and from 1991 to 1994, Sutton most recently took the lead role in a video for the Tom Chaplin song Midnight Mass and also appeared in everything from the first production of Joe Orton’s Entertaining Mr Sloane in 1964 to Emmerdale and Eastenders.
Speaking about Lovejoy and himself in general in 2017, Sutton commented:
“It’s what they’re going to say on my obituary when I die, regardless of all the different and diverse stuff I’ve done throughout my life.”
“It’s good fun because Lovejoy is so popular throughout the world, wherever you go. But people recognise Tinker, they don’t recognise Dudley Sutton.”
Dudley Sutton (6th April 1933 – 15th September 2018)
In July, Sutton gave a video interview from his bed in the Royal Trinity Hospice in Clapham in which he spoke about the NHS. He spoke of how he was a Socialist and lauded doctors and nurses for “caring about people, caring about folk, caring about people who can’t look after themselves” and said: “Don’t let the NHS go. Don’t flog it away with all the rest of the rubbish… That’s all I’m saying.”
In a statement yesterday, Sutton’s family remarked:
“Today we’re devastated by the loss of our beautiful Dudley, who leaves a gaping hole in all our lives.”
“We’re grateful for the love expressed by friends and fans everywhere and for the extraordinary care he received at the Royal Trinity Hospice in Clapham, south London, where he went out fighting for our NHS.”
To those that encountered “this wonderfully disruptive cherub” at the Chelsea Arts Club and elsewhere, Dudley will be remembered for much more. This “neo-Wildean” actor and gent was charming, witty and fun and he added great colour to the lives of so many. May he rest in peace.
Is the fuss over Kirstie Allsopp smashing up her children’s iPads justified? Or was it actually a very clever publicity stunt on her part?
On Channel 5’s Jeremy Vine show on Monday, one of the panel, The Hon. Kirstie Allsopp, shared that she’d smashed up her children’s iPads because they weren’t using them responsibly. Outrage invariably ensued.
During the programe, the “strong-minded” daughter of ex-Sotheby’s chairman Lord Hindlip and Location, Location, Location presenter stated:
“This is the first time I’ve said this publicly. In June I smashed my kids’ iPads, not in a violent way. I actually banged them on the table leg.”
“There is a game called Fortnite and another PUBG and I decided… We had made all sorts of rules and all sorts of times when we said you can’t play them and all those rules got broken and in the end I said: ‘Right that is it, I have to physically (break them).’”
In the ensuing hours, Allsopp was both lauded as a sensible parent and slated as reckless and ridiculous on social media and in reply, Tweeted:
“If you found your kids with a packet of cigarettes would you say: ‘I wouldn’t destroy these because they are worth a tenner but please don’t smoke?’ No of course you wouldn’t.”
Before subsequently deciding to delete her Twitter account due to the level of abuse she had been subjected to, she added:
“The second hand value of the iPads is about £70 each, if I feel a lesson was learned about following through then it was worth far, far, far more our family than £140. This is about the value of trust, and the value of people over things.”
Of the debacle, on ITV1’s Good Morning Britain on Wednesday, author Anna May Mangan leapt to Allsopp’s defence:
“I’ve heard her being called ‘Kirstie Allstropp’ on Twitter today. I’d have probably unplugged the router but she certainly didn’t deserve this public hanging. Is there such a thing as a perfect parent?”
Joining the thousands who’ve condemned Allsopp, another guest replied:
“It’s just a waste and sets a really bad example of how to look after possessions. Wilful smashing up an iPad is wasteful.”
“Gameboys that [sic] spoilt a family holiday for us once. Wish I’d thought of doing this. I’d have chucked them in the pool.”
Just like the reaction when the foul mouthed yet highly amusing aristocrat Francis ‘F***ing’ Fulford’s wife threw her television in a lake because her children wouldn’t “turn the f***ing thing” off” back in 2004 on the reality show The F***ing Fulfords, ‘Allstropp-gate’ is nothing but a storm in a teacup. It is one, however, that has done one thing: It has generated Ms Allsopp more column inches and thus yet more money making opportunities. To her, that’s most certainly worth smashing a couple of no doubt worn out old iPads for.
In spite of the fact that she would need to become an MP in order to govern effectively, Ruth Davidson is extremely popular within the party. She speaks a lot of sense and reflects the modern age well.
Sensible and pragmatic, Johnny Mercer could be the Conservatives’ Justin Trudeau. A former army officer and pin-up, here is a man who is a breath of fresh air.
