Tag: Greece

Getting One’s Goat – A Cheesy Conundrum – Goat vs Goats vs Goat’s vs Goats’ Cheese

Matthew Steeples explores the conundrum of how to describe cheese made from goat’s milk and shares the eclectic thoughts of everyone from Susie Dent to Alan Rusbridger, Christine Hamilton, Jay Rayner, Matthew Jukes, Mic Wright, Nigella Lawson, Matthew Wright, Tom Parker Bowles and Samantha Markle on goat cheese

At the River Café in Hammersmith, the menu references serving Rabiola Rochetta cheese from Piemonte that is made with “goat’s milk” to get around a conundrum that has “got the goat” of many over the years.

London’s most traditional establishments, amongst them The Ritz and Wiltons, avoid the pasturised matter completely. They respectively just list “artisan cheeses” and “farmhouse cheeses” on their menus, whilst the self-declared “old fashioned restaurateur” James Chiavarini, proprietor of one of J. K. Rowling’s favourite haunts in Kensington, Il Portico, told me: “I haven’t the faintest idea to be honest!” when I enquired as to his thoughts on a cheese that is rather like Marmite in being both loved and loathed.

That matter? The debate over whether a restaurant or grocery store should list cheese made from goat’s milk should as “goat cheese” or whether it should be “goat’s cheese” or “goats cheese” or “goats’ cheese” even. Also described by the French as “chèvre,” one respondent to my questioning argued that it should, in fact – like “soured” rather than “sour” cream – be written-up as “goated.”

Detested by multiple respondents to my inquistive questioning including charity fundraising supremo Lorraine Burns, LBC Weekend Breakfast presenter Matthew Wright and TalkTV Crime Suspect host Peter Bleksley, this contentious cheese made with milk supplied by goats attracted the attention of Channel 4’s Countdown’s ‘Dictionary Corner’ guru Susie Dent. Her synopsis? “Oxford Dictionaries give both goat cheese and goat’s cheese. I usually go for the latter.”

Though other views (and plenty of brands with differing approaches) follow below, ‘La Dent’ – as The Observer’s restaurant critic Jay Rayner referenced this “God in these matters” – will now, excuse the pun, be the “goat-to” Queen of “goat cheese.” This cheesy conundrum can now finally be put out to pasture allowing grammar pedants to return to waging war on Waterstones (which should surely have always remained Waterstone’s).

In Broadstairs, lovers of the product made with goat’s milk can enjoy a bring-and-join-in ‘Cheeseboard Tuesday’ gathering weekly every Tuesday from 2pm until 5pm hosted by the delightfully delectable Sam Hawkins at The Magnet, 37 Albion Street, Broadstairs, Kent, CT10 ENE. Other cheese varieties, condiments and bread will be available.

Editor’s note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples and watch his current nightly show on YouTube at 8.30pm GMT daily.

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The legendary lexicographer Susie Dent – “That woman in Dictionary Corner” – was first to respond to my query about the GOAT/GOATS/GOAT’S/GOATS’ conundrum. The author of ‘Words From The Heart’ remarked: “Oxford Dictionaries give both goat cheese and goat’s cheese! I usually go for the latter.”

Notable food critic for ‘The Observer’ and famous face on the telly box Jay Rayner responded to the same question via email. He observed: “I won’t deny: it’s one I hesitate over. So much so that I couldn’t immediately tell you what I put in the copy I file. So I had a look at a few of the reviews in which I’ve mentioned it and it’s clear our house style is ‘goat’s cheese’. Just as it would be ‘cow’s milk’. That said I’ve had a Quick Look online and my conclusion is that, as with so much in language, there is no definitive answer. You could make a plausible argument for three of the four. I’m just not sure you could argue for ‘goats cheese’ without any possessive. That said La Dent is god in these matters and I’ll happily defer to her.”

Fellow food critic Tom Parker Bowles, also on Twitter, argued: “I’d prefer goat’s cheese. As it is the cheese of a goat. Although obviously the end product is the result of many goats’ milk. So could be either. Goats cheese, on the other hand, is plain wrong.”

The Cambridge Dictionary, giving examples of usage, declared the noun “goat cheese (also goat’s cheese)” to mean “cheese made from goat’s milk, usually soft and white.” Elsewhere, the Milking Goat Association share of goats in Britain: “The UK dairy goat industry is made up of 40-45 thousand goats producing just less than 34 million litres of milk commercially. This compares to a UK dairy herd of 1.9 million cows producing just less than 15 billion litres of cows’ milk (2014/5). Though significant, goat dairy remains a specialist market with goat milk representing less than 0.2% of the volume of cows’ milk produced in the UK. Goat cheese (UK and imported) is now in the top 10 cheeses consumed in the UK. Goats’ milk produced in the UK is primarily sold as butter, cheese and yogurt.” Clearly both luminaries in their respective fields favour the use of GOAT in regard to the cheese produced using goat’s milk.

Author and screenwriter Samantha Markle takes the view that it is GOAT’S CHEESE and argued: “Goat’s milk. I’ve never heard anyone say ‘I don’t drink cow milk.’ I have only heard ‘cow’s milk’ (possessive). It logically follows that since cheese is made from milk, we would say goat’s milk/goat’s cheese… I think.”

Former editor of ‘The Guardian’ turned editor of ‘Prospect’ Alan Rusbridger hesitatingly observed: “I’ve always thought goats’ cheese. But I may be wrong.”

Equally, legendary British battleaxe and media personality Christine Hamilton shared: “I have no idea, but let’s go for goat’s cheese or goats’ cheese – it must be one of those!”

Nigella Law s on stated: “I generally go for goat’s cheese, though I feel goat cheese is also ok.”

Taking an entirely different view was Charlie Baker of ‘The Fence’ magazine. He opted for GOATS’ over all the other options.

Doyenne in raising funds for cancer charities Lorraine Burns from Broadstairs, Kent responded and made clear that she’d solved the matter for once and for all: “What a contentious little question indeed. However, I believe that goat’s cheese is correct – the cheese produced using the milk of goats and I won’t stand for any other usage. Please inform all other recipients of the email, there is no need to respond, the issue is resolved.”

Writer, media critic and ‘Conquest of the Useless’ newsletter creator Mic Wright was his usually to the point self. He stated: “It’s goat’s cheese or goat cheese. Never goats cheese. And chèvre if you’re fancy or French.”

Colin Steeples asked: “Is it not about how many goats produced the milk for the cheese but what kind of animal produced it? Goat’s cheese for me.”

Ex Scotland Yard detective turned TalkTV ‘Crime Suspect’ host and author Peter Bleksley didn’t have a view on the apostrophe, but he did have a clear view on the cheese: “It’s rank. You’re welcome.”

Former 7/7 counter-terror Scotland Yard detective turned investigator and author of ‘Finding Suzy’ David Videcette shared: “It’s not goat’s cheese when it’s on my plate, moreover by the time it has arrived in my plate it’s more likely to be goats cheese. But when I order it’s goat cheese, obviously.” Some may find that analysis a little cryptic.

Restaurateur James Chiavarini – owner of the much loved Il Portico on Kensington High Street and the adjoining more recently opened La Palombe –was more honest than most. He declared: “I haven’t the faintest idea to be honest!”

The Grammar Monster website favours “goat’s” over other options.

Screenwriter turned ‘Byline Times’ founder and executive editor Peter Jukes just believes the cheese to be “great… however you spell it.”

Respected wine writer Matthew Jukes went against the grain of the dictionaries and favours GOATS’ cheese.

Restaurateur and bon viveur Rex Leyland – former proprietor of Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea institution Foxtrot Oscar – was more interested in the smell of the cheese. He suggested “cheese from goats” as an alternative description.

Joining those believing the dairy product to be “disgusting” was LBC radio host Matthew Wright. He shared: “Anything that smells like the cloven-hoofed beasties turns my stomach.”

Nine notably different examples of labelling on packaging of cheese made from goat’s milk… Illustration of utterly no consistency

Tesco opt for GOATS’ cheese and were featured in an August 2013 article in ‘The Guardian’ by David Marsh. Included in their ‘Mind Your Language’ section and titled: “If you can’t use an apostrophe, you don’t know your shit,” Marsh said of the retailing giant: “Tesco, Britain’s biggest supermarket, is in a class of its own when it comes to apostrophe abuse. You’d think that someone among its half a million employees would know better than to put up signs saying ‘Kids toys.’ It gets worse in the clothing department: a simple ‘Kids’ seems fair enough, but the signs nearby are a scarcely credible ‘Mens’ and ‘Womens.’ The meaning may be clear but the sloppiness demonstrated by this insult to the intelligence of its customers makes you wonder what else the company gets wrong. Sell-by dates? Prices? I wonder how far I’d get with a job application to Tesco if I wrote something like this: ‘Id really like a job at Tescos, I think its a great company, it sell’s everything from kids toys to Mens. p.s I also like the BOGOF’s.’”

Waitrose & Partners opt instead for GOAT’S and market their “British” offering as “mild, creamy and fresh tasting.”

Marks & Spencer also opt for GOAT’S and currently sell an “English soft” that is “mild and creamy” that is “crafted at the Lubborn Creamery, Somerset.”

Sainsbury’s, however, follow Tesco and go for GOATS’ also with the “sweet and mild” cheese made in Somerset.

Another product offered online, “Capricorn” has no apostrophe at all. It is simply GOATS cheese.

A firm named Olympus simply opt for GOAT as labelling on the packaging of their “traditional” offering.

On Twitter, @AdzWhitcombe shared an image with me of a goat with a pipe on the packaging of a “smoked goat cheese” called “The Smokin’ Goat.” He argued: “It would be bad for pregnant women to eat this particular cheese judging by the cover image.”

Another brand, Melis, to promote its “white soft cheese in brine” that is supposedly “a wonderful cheese with a rich taste and mild goat’s [note the apostrophe] aroma” as GOATS MILK CHEESE. Confusion clearly reigns at this particular firm when it comes to apostrophes.

Wildly Delicious opt for a more artisan look and follow the Oxford and Cambridge Dictionaries suggestion with plain old GOAT. They do also reference their cheese as “chèvre” however and thus keep both the Brits and French satisfied.

The varied thoughts of the Twitterati on this contentiously cheesy topic….

March 12, 2024
Supporting The Search For Ben Needham

‘The Steeple Times’ urges readers to support Kerry Needham’s new £5,000 crowdfunder to help find her missing son Ben Needham

Today, Kerry Needham – mother of Ben Needham, a 21-month-old who went missing on 24^th July 1991 on the island of Kos in Greece – began a crowdfunder on JustGiving.com to raise £5,000 so she can increase the reward for information that could help find her son to £10,000.

Needham, unlike Gerry and Kate McCann – who’ve benefitted to the tune of £12.5 million in public money alone towards the search for their ‘disappeared’ daughter – is someone who has had to campaign by comparison virtually alone for justice for her child.

On JustGiving.com today, Kerry Needham announced:

“This year marks 30 years since Ben disappeared. We are raising £10,000 to offer as a reward for information leading to Ben. In 2016 South Yorkshire Police ruled Ben died in an accident. However, due to DNA analysis NONE of the items found can be linked to Ben. We need to find the truth and hope this reward will help someone do the right thing. Please help the Needham family who live this nightmare every day.”

“The first funding page raised over £5,000 thank you all so much. The second one is to hopefully raise the difference to offer a £10,000 reward for information leading to Ben. Thank you so much to everyone who has already donated. Please keep sharing.”

We urge readers to support the crowdfunder by clicking here. Even a small donation of just £10 could make a huge difference to the resolution of the search for a young man whose family truly deserve justice.

#HelpFindBen

Kerry Needham with a computer generated image of how her son might look.

June 28, 2021
Maxwell, McCann & Menendez… And Matthew Steeples

‘The Steeple Times’s’ Matthew Steeples to answer questions live during 2-hour YouTube premiere of his ‘Maxwell, McCann & Menendez’ interview with Shaun Attwood on Saturday 8^th May

Filmed late last month, a 2 hour, 15-minute interview between Shaun Attwood of Shaun Attwood’s True Crime Channel and Matthew Steeples of The Steeple Times will premiere on YouTube tomorrow, Saturday 8^th May 2021 at 10am.

Aside from discussing primarily Ghislaine Maxwell’s incarceration and forthcoming trial and recent developments in the case of the 2001 murder of Stuart Lubbock at the Roydon, Essex bungalow belonging to the since deservedly disgraced ‘entertainer’ Michael Barrymore, Steeples and Attwood delve into the conviction of Jeremy Bamber, the 2007 ‘disappearance’ of Madeleine McCann and the ongoing imprisonment of the parental abuse victim Menendez brothers in California.

Touching also on other topics including the paedophile Rolf Harris and the potentially unsafe conviction of Mark Alexander, a man campaigning with the support of Terry Waite CBE to clear his name in connection with the 2010 murder of his decidedly deviant father in Buckinghamshire, Steeples comments of the interview:

“I have followed Shaun Attwood’s honest to its core YouTube channel – which most deservedly already has 669,000 subscribers – for some time. For me, what piqued my interest was when Attwood got someone to answer the door at Ghislaine Maxwell’s Kinnerton Street mews house in September 2019 and in doing so proved that the setting of that infamous photograph with Prince Andrew with his ‘chubby fingers’ around Virginia Roberts remained still in-situ.”

“Attwood’s interviews with abuse victims such as The Lost Boys actor Corey Feldman and crusading author Kirby Sommers have repeatedly allowed viewers to be presented with previously unheard narratives about truly shocking cases. His attention to detail and dedication to presenting facts rather than gossip is impressive and his own experiences in the justice system clearly have clearly guided his ability to understand what lies beyond what is fed to the public by the mainstream media.”

“It was thus an honour and a pleasure to be interviewed by a man whose own past plainly has resulted in a quest for a juster justice system and I hope viewers will gain some insights into angles about cases that remain very much of the moment when watching tomorrow.”

“I will be present in the ‘live chat’ on the YouTube channel on Saturday 8^th May 2021 between 10am and 12:15pm and look forward to exploring the thoughts of viewers regarding the cases that Shaun Attwood and I discussed.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTl_J-McDJk&list=PLPT_cCpNMvT50d_7cJ55ciKoZEY8q_YPt&index=4
Maxwell, McCann & Menendez… And Matthew Steeples – The full podcast will be available to view tomorrow, Saturday 8^th May 2021, via YouTube from 10am. A live Q&A with Matthew Steeples will be available during from 10am to 12:15pm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSqCX44DGWk
Maxwell, McCann & Menendez… And Matthew Steeples – A trailer for the forthcoming show can be viewed online before then.

Maxwell, McCann & Menendez… And Matthew Steeples – “As Terry Lubbock faces certain death from terminal cancer, it is right that finally Essex Police are making progress in the investigation into his son’s rape and murder on 10th March 2001,” observes Matthew Steeples. Pictured: Michael Barrymore rolling around on the floor drunk with convicted racist bigot Marie-Claire, Baroness von Alvensleben (left) and Terry Lubbock bed-bound next to a picture of his late son, Stuart, as he begs the others present at Barrymore’s pool party to finally tell the truth about what happened that fateful night.

Maxwell, McCann & Menendez… And Matthew Steeples – “Ghislaine Maxwell (pictured left on a throne in Buckingham Palace), if she had half a brain, would now seek a plea bargain,” argues Matthew Steeples. “Instead, because she’s so arrogant, this mendacious minx and all-round mucky madam will likely continue to keep quiet about what really went on with her, her ‘bestie’ Prince Andrew and his ‘Lolita Express club coat’ wearing chum, the now deceased paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.”

Maxwell, McCann & Menendez… And Matthew Steeples – “I believe it is correct that the victims of parental abuse Erik and Lyle Menendez were finally able to be brought together again after 22 years of incarceration without a sight of one another in February 2018,” shares Matthew Steeples. “I also believe that the fine work of crusading individuals including the journalist Robert Rand (pictured left with Lyle Menendez) and the juror in one of the cases, Hazel Thornton, will help them on a path to what they deserve given the truth of what they endured at the hands of their plainly wicked parents: Freedom.”

Maxwell, McCann & Menendez… And Matthew Steeples – “I will forever continue to question why the case of ‘missing’ Madeleine McCann has been allocated nigh on £13 million in public money,” comments Matthew Steeples. “Why don’t the families of other missing people, such as Martin Allen, Luke Durbin and Ben Needham get that level of state-funded assistance also?” Pictured: Kate McCann with then Home Secretary Theresa May MP at a party in Downing Street, London hosted by the latter for associates of the former in July 2016.

Maxwell, McCann & Menendez… And Matthew Steeples – “Rolf Harris (pictured right) may have served his time,” shares Matthew Steeples, “but the legacy of him and the links of this clearly evil ex-public figure to other high profile sexual abusers such as the ex-TV anchor Stuart Hall (pictured left with Prince Edward dressed as a ‘Joker’) deserves to continue to be highlighted.”

Maxwell, McCann & Menendez… And Matthew Steeples – “Doubts about so much of the evidence submitted by Essex Police in the case of Jeremy Bamber make me believe that his conviction for the murders at White House Farm deserves at the very least reinvestigation,” shares Matthew Steeples. Speaking of his “fresh hope” for a referral to the Court of Appeal in March 2021, Bamber himself stated: “The lack of disclosure by Essex Police has been at the heart of my case from the outset, and is still a feature today in an attempt by the Essex Police to maintain my wrongful conviction. I feel confident however that the CCRC will do their utmost to achieve disclosure of vital material in order to obtain my justice.”

Maxwell, McCann & Menendez… And Matthew Steeples – “‘Could Mark Alexander have actually been wrongly convicted of the murder of his father Samuel Alexander?’ is a question I think deserves exploring,” shares Matthew Steeples. Speaking of the case, greatly respected humanitarian Terry Waite CBE commented: “I am disturbed by the conviction of Mark as I find it difficult to believe that a complete forensic examination was conducted before the jury found him guilty by a majority verdict. It was pointed out by the judge in his summing-up that the evidence was circumstantial, but even so he was convicted and sentenced. A forensic investigation of the site was conducted by a chartered engineer and chartered geologist in 2017. This examination ought to have been conducted before the trial, but for reasons unknown to me it was not. Given that the site had been excavated by the police when searching for the body and afterwards refilled it was not possible for the expert to be totally certain about the dates when the different levels of concrete were laid. However, his conclusions, which are fully recorded in his report, suggest that the top level of concrete could not have been laid by Mark Alexander as he was not in that location at that time and can prove this. The report raises in my mind a reasonable doubt as to the safety of this conviction.”

May 7, 2021
The Money of McCann

Gerry and Kate McCann rake in £773,600 of private money in spite of admitting there is “nothing much to report” 14 years into the fast approaching £13 million public funded investigation into the dubious ‘disappearance’ of their daughter Madeleine

Not content with having garnered over £12.5 million in public funding for the police investigation with a further £300,000 top-up likely to come soon, it has this week been revealed that Gerry and Kate McCann’s privately administered fund now has an astonishing net worth of £773,629.

Madeleine’s Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned Ltd. – which counts controversial double glazing tycoon Brian Kennedy, a man whom once bizarrely claimed he “had visions of flying in by helicopter to rescue Madeleine,” amongst its directors since 16^th May 2007 – is listed as having £235,900 in cash and £245,000 in assets in newly released accounts.

Whilst last week, Dr and Mrs McCann told the Mirror that they “still believe in miracles,” in a post on the ‘Official Find Madeleine Campaign’ Facebook page the particularly pugnacious pair also had to admit of the investigation: “Nothing much to report.”

Previously, a ‘friend’ (‘unnamed,’ of course, as is so often the case with anyone speaking on behalf of those close to the case of missing Madeleine McCann) of Dr and Mrs McCann remarked:

“Kate and Gerry know the police investigation cannot go on forever.”

“When [the police investigation] is shelved, and if there is no result, Kate and Gerry will use money in the fund to continue the hunt.”

“That is what it is there for. They paid for their own team of private investigators initially and when the official inquiry ends they will do so again although in the past it has proven to be extremely costly.”

Today, again, we ask: “Why does so much public money continue to be wasted on an investigation that has achieved nothing in 14 years and why is another £300,000 about to be given from the public purse when other missing person searches get little to nothing? Why is this disproportionate allocation of taxpayer funded resources allowed to go on?”

The Money of McCann – Ben Needham, then aged just 1, disappeared on the Greek island of Kos on 24th July 1991. He has been missing for over 29 year and in the time since his mother, Kerry Needham, has shockingly come under attack from supporters of the family of Madeleine McCann. Of this in October 2015, she commented: “It feels like a personal attack on me. It is deeply, deeply hurtful. I have myself had massive amounts of slanderous abuse from supporters of the McCann campaign in the past but I have never taken that personally. It’s freedom of speech. But it is getting the names of two missing children out there which is really important.”

The Money of McCann – Luke Durbin disappeared aged just 19 in Suffolk in May 2006. In spite of his mother’s tireless campaign to attempt to find her vanished son, why don’t the police devote more resources to the search for him?

The Money of McCann – Martin Allen vanished without a trace in London on 5th November 1979 aged just 15. Though his brother, Kevin Allen, has kept the case in the public eye as much as he can, he gets little to no help from the Metropolitan Police. Again today, we ask: “Why isn’t money from the public purse allocated to solving this case and thousands like it and why, instead, has fast approaching £13 million been allocated to a case that has not been solved in 14 years?”

The Money of McCann – In September 2018, Ben Needham’s mother Kerry quite rightly told ITV1’s ‘Loose Women’ that “it hurts” that so much money has been allocated to the search for Madeleine McCann whilst so little has been given to aid help other families find their missing relatives. She added: “[Madeleine] deserves to be found, but so does Ben. We haven’t had a fraction, I’ve had to fight alone as a single mum and try to get the help that Ben deserves… I don’t take anything away from anyone who’s got a loved one who is missing, but every single one deserves to be found.”

April 27, 2021
Shame on the Met

Matthew Steeples suggests that at a time when public resources are totally overstretched, that the Met Police are set to waste more money on the plainly pointless search for Madeleine McCann is an outrage

Let’s be honest: Madeleine McCann will most likely never be found. Whatever people might say and however much they might hope, with nearly £12 million of public money and much more private cash wasted on a search that has achieved zilch, zero, nada, anything more is just throwing good wonga after bad.

Now, with news last night that the Met Police will be allocating further funds to continue the search (at a time when they’re asking for retired officers to return to help police the public during the coronavirus outbreak), the public will be rightly outraged.

Whilst I and others have for years argued that the disproportionate allocation of resources to this case stinks and that other missing children (whose cases get little to no financial aid) deserve parity, this latest announcement is a step too far. Speaking to The Sun yesterday, an unnamed police source stated:

“There has been some recent speculation that the investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance could be put on hold or discontinued because of the coronavirus epidemic and a shortage of officers working. This isn’t the case and we can’t see the outbreak causing a problem for this ongoing inquiry. Neither can the Home Office. We’ve been told there will hopefully be no problem with new funding.”

Gerry and Kate McCann’s closeness to the likes of Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May and Baroness Meyer has also aided their ability to keep the cash rolling in since their daughter ‘disappeared’ in May 2007. Equally, with mega rich ‘friends’ like the job killer Sir Richard Branson, the alleged sex abuser Sir Philip Green and the angry busybody J. K. Rowling on their side, the McCanns – unlike less wealthy parents of other missing children such as Kerry Needham – have been able to manipulate the media without good reason.

Frankly, nothing new has been uncovered in this case in years and now it is not the time to give more money. Instead, it’s time to shelve the search for Madeleine McCann and instead use precious and scarce financial resources to solve cases that can actually be solved.

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Missing still yet little to no police resources for their cases – Ben Needham disappeared in Kos, Greece on the 24th July 1991 aged 1 and his mother gets little help for her search; Martin Allen disappeared in London on 5th November 1979 aged 15 and though his brother, Kevin, keeps the case in the public eye as much as he can, he gets little to no help from the Metropolitan Police.

Meanwhile, Madeleine McCann – whose parents left the doors and windows to the apartment they were staying in and did not pay for childcare on that fateful night – disappeared on the 3rd May 2007 in Praia da Luz, Portugal. The investigation into how she went ‘missing’ has cost nearly £12 million of British public money thus far and more is going to be given. Something, frankly, does not add up and interested individuals should take a look at our previous analysis: “Missing Madeleine – Questions without Answers.”

March 28, 2020
Moron of the Moment – Sir Philip Green

‘Sir Shifty’ filmed in debauched incident in Mykonos; he would do better to sip rather than spray his beverages

Sir Philip Green will forever be remembered as a man whose former company, BHS, collapsed with the loss of 11,000 jobs. At that time, in The Steeple Times, the actor and producer Steven Berkoff compared him to both Shylock and Al Capone, but now ‘Badly Behaved Boozy Brit Abroad’ can add be added to this slug-like individual’s roster after he was spotted dousing fellow diners with champagne in Greece.

Filmed by someone named Sarah Nazari and shared on her Instagram page, the minute long clip shows Sir Philip at a beach bar-restaurant named Nammos Mykonos. Alongside other revelers, the business tycoon was pictured hosing other guests down with £109 ($141, €120 or درهم517) per bottle “spraying champagne.” He didn’t look like he had a care in the world and perhaps, just maybe, his daughter’s new jailbird boyfriend, Jeremy Meeks, had provided him with inspiration to behave like a reprobate.

Of antics more befitting of a 20-year old than a 65-year old, an unnamed source told The Times: “You couldn’t be in this club if you aren’t rich, so he wasn’t impressing anyone. He just looked like a sad old man trying to play with the pretty people.” Spot on: ‘Sir Shifty’, at his age, would do well to sip rather than spray.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ep_PrxAZE4

August 15, 2017
Enough is Enough

Funding for the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann must cease; £11 million spent with no result is evidence that enough is enough

Over £11 million has been spent in relation to the search for Madeleine McCann since the then 3-year old disappeared on 3^rd May 2007. The result? Absolutely no progress and a lot of unanswered questions.

Now, with the last round of public funding given to the element of the search known as Operation Grange by Theresa May in March set to run out in September, is the time to end the search. Enough is enough and in spite that some would suggest that the chances of finding the disappeared child is still there, the fact of the matter is that in ten years of following leads that have led nowhere resources that could have been allocated to other missing people have been squandered.

Last week, a Metropolitan Police spokesman told The Sun:

“A lot of potentially significant images and material were captured on previous trips to Portugal and we are still working on all leads…. The investigation continues with focus and determination. It is not winding down, it is not grinding to a halt. It is on going.”

Such sentiments will no doubt leave such people as Kerry Needham – whose 21-month year old son, Ben, disappeared in Greece on 24^th July 1991 – spitting feathers. As of 2015, a comparative sum of just £700,000 had been spent on attempts to find him and thus one is left asking why the child of two middle class medics is worth 93% more than the son of an ordinary working class woman.

In 2015, Ms Needham, after supporters of the McCanns cruelly suggested those backing her in her search for her child were “toxic”, remarked: “I have never criticised the McCann family. I have only every criticised the authorities for the way the two cases have been handled so differently.”

Kerry Needham

Missing Madeleine – Questions without Answers

Many questions about what happened on the evening of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann remain. Some that have been highlighted by the press and discussed online include:

Why did the McCanns refuse to answer 48 questions put to her by the Portuguese police?

Why were certain records of phone calls on the evening of the disappearance “whoosh-clunked” from the memories of the phones of Mr and Mrs McCann and the ‘Tapas 9’?

Why did a British sniffer dog sense the smell of a corpse in a cupboard in the apartment from which Madeleine McCann disappear?

Why did a sniffer dog also supposedly sense the smell of a corpse in a vehicle hired by the couple a month after the disappearance of their daughter?

Why did Mr and Mrs McCann go jogging and play tennis in the days after their daughter’s disappearance?

Was it acceptable for Mr and Mrs McCann’s mortgage to be paid by the fund established to search for their missing daughter?

July 23, 2017
Enough is Enough

Funding for the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann must cease; £11 million spent with no result is evidence that enough is enough

Over £11 million has been spent in relation to the search for Madeleine McCann since the then 3-year old disappeared on 3^rd May 2007. The result? Absolutely no progress and a lot of unanswered questions.

Now, with the last round of public funding given to the element of the search known as Operation Grange by Theresa May in March set to run out in September, is the time to end the search. Enough is enough and in spite that some would suggest that the chances of finding the disappeared child is still there, the fact of the matter is that in ten years of following leads that have led nowhere resources that could have been allocated to other missing people have been squandered.

Last week, a Metropolitan Police spokesman told The Sun:

“A lot of potentially significant images and material were captured on previous trips to Portugal and we are still working on all leads…. The investigation continues with focus and determination. It is not winding down, it is not grinding to a halt. It is on going.”

Such sentiments will no doubt leave such people as Kerry Needham – whose 21-month year old son, Ben, disappeared in Greece on 24^th July 1991 – spitting feathers. As of 2015, a comparative sum of just £700,000 had been spent on attempts to find him and thus one is left asking why the child of two middle class medics is worth 93% more than the son of an ordinary working class woman.

In 2015, Ms Needham, after supporters of the McCanns cruelly suggested those backing her in her search for her child were “toxic”, remarked: “I have never criticised the McCann family. I have only every criticised the authorities for the way the two cases have been handled so differently.”

Kerry Needham

Missing Madeleine – Questions without Answers

Many questions about what happened on the evening of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann remain. Some that have been highlighted by the press and discussed online include:

Why did the McCanns refuse to answer 48 questions put to her by the Portuguese police?

Why were certain records of phone calls on the evening of the disappearance “whoosh-clunked” from the memories of the phones of Mr and Mrs McCann and the ‘Tapas 9’?

Why did a British sniffer dog sense the smell of a corpse in a cupboard in the apartment from which Madeleine McCann disappear?

Why did a sniffer dog also supposedly sense the smell of a corpse in a vehicle hired by the couple a month after the disappearance of their daughter?

Why did Mr and Mrs McCann go jogging and play tennis in the days after their daughter’s disappearance?

Was it acceptable for Mr and Mrs McCann’s mortgage to be paid by the fund established to search for their missing daughter?

July 23, 2017
Robert Adam

With such a name, this suave gent just had to design landmarks. University of Westminster educated and Hampshire based Robert Adam (born 1948) followed his more famous namesake (1728 – 1792) and became a designer of “progressive neo-classical style buildings” in 1975. He won “the richest prize in architecture” in January 2017 and counts the Sackler Library at the University of Oxford, a “miniature Baroque mansion” at Eastwood Farm – complete with a lion on the roof – in Herstmonceux, East Sussex and the “KGB proof” Ingliston House on the Wentworth Estate in Surrey amongst his notable works.

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May 27, 2017
Lady Ridsdale DBE (1921 – 2009, née Victoire Bennett)

Dame Paddy Ridsdale, as she generally known, was an intelligence operative, secretary to Ian Fleming during WW2 and the inspiration for the Bond character Miss Moneypenny.

A Conservative Party stalwart and married to Member of Parliament for Harwich from 1954 to 1992 Sir Julian Ridsdale CBE (1915 – 2004), Dame Paddy – or Vicky, as she was known to some – is best known for her role in ‘Operation Mincemeat’, a “famous caper” concerning a “man who never was” in 1943.

In the war, Dame Paddy wrote love letters and telegrams that were planted on the body of ‘Major William Martin’, an invented, drowned naval officer, that was floated in the ocean off Spain. The body carried fictitious plans of a purported Allied invasion of Sardinia and Greece and formed part of a plot designed to deflect attention from the Allied landings in Sicily. Of it, she later remarked: “I was sent to buy clothes in all the best men’s shops and had to pose as his girlfriend. I had to go to post offices and rather loudly send this telegram to ‘my boyfriend’, hoping of course that somebody would overhear me”. In due course, the body was indeed found, the Axis powers completely taken in and “Mincemeat swallowed whole, hook, line, and sinker”. A BAFTA winning film directed by Ronald Neame, The Man Who Never Was, made about the deceptive scheme in 1956.

Dame Paddy was known as a “political hostess in the style of a bygone era”, lived in a mansion “sandwiched between a sheikh and a Saudi prince” in The Boltons for the majority of her adult life and is buried in the grounds of the church there. She had one daughter, became Lady Ridsdale when her husband was knighted in 1981 and was appointed Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE) in her own right, for political services, in 1991.

Of her relationship with her one-time employer Fleming, she concluded: “Ian had so many girlfriends that I was not tempted to become one of them”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xemGlAV6TAw

May 13, 2017