The Steeple Times

Tag: Independent

  • Evgeny Lebedev

    Evgeny Lebedev

    evgeny lebedevThis “true romantic” and “Londongrad playboy” is the publisher of The Independent and the Evening Standard and also was involved in setting up the London Live television station. Evgeny Lebedev is the son of a billionaire ex-KGB agent and has been described as “a modern Machiavellian prince” and as having “a penchant for white silk suits”. He is accompanied by a wolfdog named Boris and resides between a “blacked out Belgravia flat” and a 30,000 square foot Umbrian castle that he’s renamed the Castello di Santa Eurasia. He also has co-owns an East End pub, The Grapes in Limehouse’s Narrow Street, with actor Sir Ian McKellen and has over 13,000 followers on Twitter.

     

  • Considering Carswell

    Considering Carswell

    Is Douglas Carswell MP an honourable man or just plain stupid?

     

    Douglas Carswell was first elected as a Conservative Member of Parliament in 2005. This week, the Member for Clacton defected to the United Kingdom Independence Party. In doing so, he showed himself to be both be duplicitous and honourable simultaneously and here we analyse the two sides of this Eurosceptic politician. (more…)

  • Chris and Colin Weir

    Chris and Colin Weir

    Chris and Colin WeirThis former Scottish Television cameraman and his ex-nurse wife won £161 million on the EuroMillions lottery in 2011 and “believe that things do happen for a reason, and that with great wealth comes great responsibilities”. Chris and Colin Weir set up a foundation, the Weir Charitable Trust, to support small, local charities and as SNP backers had funded 79% of the ‘Yes’ campaign for independence with a £3.5 million donation as of May 2014. Despite claiming they’d live humbly, they put a tiny dent in their fortune by buying Frognal House, a £3.5 million “dream mansion” in Troon after viewing it for 10 minutes. If Scotland does ever become independent, Alex Salmond should reward this larger than life couple by making them King and Queen.

  • Controlling the Cliff

    Controlling the Cliff

    Was it really that wrong that the BBC were tipped off about the search on Sir Cliff Richard’s home in advance?

     

    In the last 24-hours, there has been an outcry of anger from left-wingers such as Geoffrey Robertson QC about how the BBC managed to be present at Thursday’s search of Sir Cliff Richard’s Berkshire home in connection with allegations of historic abuse. (more…)

  • A rake’s progress

    A rake’s progress

    Businessman Peter Burrell solves the problem of keeping gravel level

     

    Gravel drives are a joy and a nightmare at the same time. A crunchy drive, according to The Independent’s Jeff Howell is something that most would have on their bucket list at a “dream home” but with one, you get the problem of weeds and moss and the need to rake constantly. Now, there’s a solution – The Gillhams Gravel Rake. (more…)

  • Investigating Tulisa

    Investigating Tulisa

    In the wake of the collapse of the Tulisa Contostavlos drugs trial, we examine the merits of investigative journalism

     

    Tulisa Contostavlos declared she’d had a “rollercoaster of a week” after she was convicted of assault in one case yet saw off another after it was thrown out due to the “serious misconduct” on the part of key witnesses for the prosecution. Tonight, the singer will appear in a BBC Three documentary that will “lift the lid” on that trial and provide her with a sounding board to share her thoughts on investigative journalism in general. (more…)

  • Prycing a sentence

    Prycing a sentence

    Owen Jones is wrong to argue that Vicky Pryce shouldn’t have been locked up

     

    In today’s edition of The Independent, Owen Jones, the author of Chavs, argues that “[Vicky] Pryce and her husband should never have been locked up for their crimes”. He is wrong. (more…)

  • Natasha Devon: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

    Natasha Devon: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

    20 questions with writer, television personality and co-founder of Body Gossip Natasha Devon

     

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

    I’m driven by a desire to make everything fair (and to silence the people who would have us believe that injustice can be explained by that irritating platitude – “life’s not fair”).

     

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

    I nicked one from Oscar Wilde: “Be yourself, everyone else is taken”.

      (more…)

  • Yasmin Alibhai-Brown (born Yasmin Damji)

    Yasmin Alibhai-Brown (born Yasmin Damji)

    Yasmin Alibhai-BrownThis Ugandan-born journalist is a self-confessed racist who loathes “white, middle class men”, yet describes herself as being a “leftie liberal, anti-racist, feminist, Muslim, part-Pakistani, and … a very responsible person”. She believes Osama bin Laden didn’t get a “respectful burial” and asked: “Why does anyone black, Asian or Arab ever vote Tory?” on Twitter in July 2013 before talking about the urinal her husband had “pissed in” at a pub in Loughton, Essex in August of the same year. A true mouthpiece, Alibhai-Brown is just the kind of person no right-minded person would ever invite to dinner.

  • Throttling a table

    Throttling a table

    Diners flock to ‘The Throttler’s Table’ at Scott’s

     

    Last week The Sun revealed that Scott’s in Mayfair has been “inundated with requests” for the table where Charles Saatchi (allegedly) throttled Nigella Lawson. (more…)