In April 2017, esteemed actress Miriam Margolyes described Theresa May as “that awful woman” and hinted that she had little-to-any enthusiasm for Jeremy Corbyn’s “hell of a mess” also. In the same interview, in her “distinctive voice”, she added: “It is the job of the arts to engage in life… That’s what I care about”. She is best known for having won a BAFTA for her role in Martin Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence in 1993 but is famous to younger audiences for having appeared in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows. A dual British-Australian citizen and humanitarian advocate, Oxford born Margolyes also played the self-made cosmetics billionairess Helena Rubinstein in 2017 and lives with her partner, Heather Sutherland, in London, Tuscany and New South Wales.
Tag: UK
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Wally of the Week – Sir Michael Caine
Actor Michael Caine claims to be “a socialist” in spite of having been involved in a tax avoidance scheme and previously leaving Britain to avoid the top rate of tax in the 1970s
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is a man who flip-flops like no other and whose political views are best described as “chaotic”. Though a man known for fleeing Britain for America to avoid high taxes in the 1970s and a man named as an investor in a tax avoidance scheme named Liberty in 2014, the pro-Brexit actor has this week called himself a “socialist” and went as far to say: “I wouldn’t live in a country that didn’t pay income tax”.
In an interview with the Catholic newspaper The Universe, Sir Michael remarked:
“I’m a socialist, basically. I want as much money as possible for poor people, to help whoever’s in trouble. I wouldn’t live in a country that didn’t pay income tax”.
“What you have to do is keep emotion out of it. You can’t say: ‘We hate these rich people, we’re going to tax them to smithereens’. You’ve got to have them stay in your country and pay the tax”.
A public supporter of Margaret Thatcher, David Cameron and even Tony Blair, Sir Michael was forced to pay a significant sum to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs after being exposed as part of the Liberty scheme and also made a fool of himself in another regard. The actor also told The Universe:
“In order to do something good, I don’t just do work which is no good. I don’t do commercials’.
In 2013, he was paid a six-figure sum to film a commercial for Sky television. How conveniently the man forgets.
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Mugged by May
Theresa May’s gamble to go to the country will likely pay off, but is it good for Britain?
Theresa May supposedly decided to go call a snap election after a trip to church and a walking holiday with her garden gnome-like husband, Philip, in Wales over Easter. She has taken a gamble but given that Sky News are projecting the Tories are likely to win 44% of the vote against Labour on 23%, it is one that will likely pay off.
Unsurprisingly and in a coward-like fashion, Mrs May has declined to partake in television debates but given her opponent Jeremy Corbyn is so hopeless, it would take only a calamity to unsettle any chances of her winning. Only the left-leaning Mirror is backing Corbyn and in spite of the Liberal Democrats likely to make a number of gains in the south-west, May will certainly hit Labour hardest.
Mrs May, however, is not good for Britain. Since taking office last year, she has performed eight U-turns on policy and as Home Secretary she was a total disgrace. One only has to remember that this is the woman who closed the police stations and this is the woman who closed the fire stations. This, also, is the politician who wastefully funded her friends Gerry and Kate McCann’s search for their missing child to the tune of £11 million and this is the woman whose inquiry into historic abuse has cost £100 million and delivered nothing.
Lady Macbeth-like May is a self-serving woman and she is not a good premier. This power grabbing vicar’s daughter’s about turn on Brexit is bad for Britain and her harshness towards immigrants is bad for business. She must be stopped and we urge our readers to vote for anyone but her on 8th June.
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Failing to Come Together
Whilst Theresa May’s Easter message is nothing but a damp squib, Jeremy Corbyn’s response is as much use as a chocolate teapot
“Let us come together… Let us build a stronger, fairer Britain that works for everyone”, clucked Theresa May on Sunday in a 3:10 minute Easter message posted on YouTube.
Mixing her Christian values with Brexit, the unelected Prime Minister went on about growing up in a vicarage and stood next to a wonky light fitting. She neglected to mention how the Mail on Sunday had exposed her “grubby, underhand deal” that sacrifices endangered species in favour of trade and growth and she said nothing of the failing inquiry into historic abuse that she’s already wasted over £100 million on.
In The Guardian, former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell took an axe to the message and lambasted it by commenting:
“I think even vicars’ daughters should be a little wary of allying their politics to their faith… She does not exactly say if God had a vote he would have voted Leave, but she gets closer to it than she should. If she really thinks she is leading a united country full of hope … I suggest she gets out more”.
He added:
“I don’t think I have ever known Britain more divided. As for her talk of compassion, community, citizenship and obligations to one another, she has taken an axe to those with regard to Britain’s relations to the rest of the world, and plenty of her domestic agenda points in the opposite direction”.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn responded by calling for “peace” and “reconciliation” but neither he nor Mrs May offer very much hope. God help us all and God help (once) Great Britain.
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Banished by Brexit
HSBC to relocate 1,000 key jobs from London to Paris because of Brexit
Theresa May, a woman more interested in getting het up about Easter eggs than the fate of the British economy, should take note. HSBC are planning on relocating as many as 1,000 of its traders and salespeople from London to Paris due to Brexit.
Representing a section of the firm’s staff that generates a most significant 20% of its revenue, the move accompanies news that the bank’s clients “are asking to book more of their trade and foreign exchange activity in their French operation through [the firm’s] Paris office than their UK” divisions.
On Wednesday, Noel Quinn, head of global commercial banking at HSBC Holdings Plc, told Stephen Morris of Bloomberg Markets:
“Some companies are also evaluating whether to ‘flip’ their regional head offices to European cities from Britain. This would require them to reclassify the UK branch as a country office that would become a subsidiary of the continental headquarters”.
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Alexander Newley – What’s on your mantelpiece?
A 20-question interview with contemporary artist Alexander Newley
The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?
Eros, anger, anxiety, love – in perfect and contradictory admixture.
“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?
When fate raises its sword to make you tremble, go forth into it and you will find bliss.
Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2017?
Who’s that? Cancer/Steve Bannon – basically the same thing…
Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?
No missing – still on target.
What might you swap all your wealth for?
I have no material wealth. Health and creativity is ALL, although I’d like some new drapes in the kitchen.
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?
The dollar rocketed when Trump came in. Need we say more?
What phrase or word do you most loathe?
“The UK” delivered in a peppy, north London accent and “Your call is very important to us, please stay on the line…”
In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home”. What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?
I couldn’t agree more. Everything is a spiral: work from the centre out. I have just raised a fair bit for the St. Martin-in-the-Fields homeless charity through the auction of my paintings.
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?
A necessary evil. Can you imagine life before? The carousel goes faster and faster and we have to find a way to stay on it. That said, the counter-revolution: silence, mindfulness, not giving a fig is pretty good, too.
Portraits of Dominick Dunne (1925 – 2009) and Sir Nigel Hawthorne CBE (1929 – 2001) by Alexander Newley If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?
Shakespeare (of course), Oscar (of course), Churchill (large brandy in hand), Chaplin (tearing tickets), my father (Anthony Newley), Sheela (my love), Ava (my daughter), Freud x2 (grandfather and grandson) and the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders (for perfect Surrealism).
If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?
A tuna melt with ketchup, on the undercliff in Lyme Regis, watching the sun sink on a balmy summer’s eve.
What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?
10:45am (if it be a mixture of German dessert wine and seltzer).
A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?
Tea please, milk, no sugar (although I want the sugar).
Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?
I rarely enjoy them because I don’t go to enough, and you have to invest in the social whirl before it pays back. I’m still working on that—but I did have a pretty good time at Hugh Hefner’s once.
Who is the most positive person you know?
Myself, although periodically encumbered by massive humbug.
What’s your most guilty pleasure?
The occasional bout of self-love.
If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?
A minotaur rampart on a bed of roses.
If you were a car, what marque would you be?
A prototype Isotta Fraschini. Only two were made and one crashed at very high speed.
Cilla Black presented Surprise, Surprise. Tell us the most surprising thing about you.
I can identify almost anyone from the back; the habit of a portraitist.
What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?
Two vases of anemonies, one tall one short.
Alexander Newley is a contemporary artist. His subjects have numbered Steven Berkoff, Christopher Reeve, Oliver Stone, Gore Vidal and Billy Wilder and his work features in the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC and at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Follow him on Twitter at @alexandernewley.
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Bernie Madoff – The Wizard of Lies
TV drama film examining largest financial fraud ever by an individual set to air in May in America; ‘The Wizard of Lies’ examines the crimes of Bernard L. Madoff
On 20th May, Americans will finally be able to watch director Barry Levinson’s take on the crimes of the Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff when The Wizard of Lies airs on HBO.
Sentenced to 150 years for his £51.9 billion ($65 billion, €61.2 billion or درهم238.7 billion) crime, Madoff is played in the television drama film by Robert De Niro whilst Michelle Pfeiffer takes on the role of his wife, Ruth.
Two trailers have recently been released to international audiences and we share the most recent below. A date for the drama’s release in the UK is still to be announced.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=146&v=4G2carVhVJk
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Billionaire Battersea
Historic Battersea mansion for sale for the same sum it was marketed for in 2011; it has been mostly empty throughout the intervening period and was renovated by the late billionaire Malcolm Forbes
Billionaire publisher Malcolm Forbes was a man who liked to live large. He had a huge yacht named The Highlander, threw lavish parties across the globe and counted Gianni Agnelli, Gordon Getty, Calvin Klein, Robert Maxwell, Rupert Murdoch, Henry Kissinger, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump as friends. This “mysterious collector” also owned numerous residences and one of these, Old Battersea House in London, is for sale for the same sum as it was marketed for in 2011.
Often seen with Elizabeth Taylor at his side and described as “living life in the fabulous”, Forbes purchased Old Battersea House in 1971. It had previously been home to and saved from demolition by Battersea Council by the eccentric author and ghost hunter Wilhemina Stirling. She took up a lifetime tenancy on the building in 1931 and used it to house artworks by her sister, Evelyn de Morgan (1855 – 1919).
Businessman and publisher Malcolm S. Forbes (1919 – 1990) with seven times married actress Dame Elizabeth Taylor DBE (1932 – 2011) at his lavish 70th birthday party at the Palais Mendoub, Tangier, Morocco in 1989 
Old Battersea House, 30 Vicarage Crescent, Battersea, London, SW11 3LD, United Kingdom 
A. M. D. Wilhemina Stirling (1865 – 1965) owned the house prior to Malcolm Forbes 
Christopher ‘Kip’ Forbes (born 1951) assisted his father restore Old Battersea House and later oversaw the family selling its art collection in 2003 and 2009 Grade II* listed since 1954 and adapted during Forbes and subsequently his son Kip’s ownership to showcase a vast collection of Victorian art and antiques, Old Battersea House was built on Tudor foundations in 1699 and was at first known as ‘Terrace House’. It originally had gardens extending down to the River Thames and is rumoured to have been designed by Sir Christopher Wren (1632 – 1723).
Featuring “handsome classical proportions throughout” and standing within a 110-foot wide walled garden, the 10,100 square foot house includes 4 reception rooms, 10 double bedrooms and 7 bathrooms. It has off-street parking and a garden store but it is sadly overlooked by the adjoining housing estate that was built in its grounds in the 1930s.
Savills seek £12 million ($15 million, €14 million or درهم54.9 million) for Old Battersea House.
The impressive hallway of Old Battersea House 
Another entertaining space 
Elizabeth Taylor and her then husband Larry Fortensky at Old Battersea House in 1992 
Images of the house as it was furnished during the ownership of the Forbes family -
Over-Engineered
Essex “neo Georgian Palladian” residence created from an ordinary detached house marketed for £5.4 million; it is a bit of a mish-mash and described as “over-engineered”
Estate agents normally wax lyrical about properties they are marketing but in the case of £5.4 million ($6.7 million, €6.3 million or درهم24.8million) Threshers House at Threshers Bush, near Harlow in Essex, Beresfords bizarrely go as far as to describe it as “over-engineered”.
Situated on a plot of 11.5 acres and redeveloped and extended since 2010 by an “award winning builder” named Paul Pickering, the 7,409 square foot main residence offered is described as being “neo Georgian Palladian” in style. Given such an architectural period doesn’t exist as a sole entity, it is a bit of a mish-mash but given the new building is an improvement on the plain house that it has been created from, one can be forgiving of the result.
The old Threshers House, Hobbs Cross Road, Threshers Bush, Harlow, Essex, CM17 0NP 
The new Threshers House, Hobbs Cross Road, Threshers Bush, Harlow, Essex, CM17 0NP 
The old interior of the building and the new interior 
A proposed design that was ultimately rejected by planning officials at Epping Forest District Council Aside from a somewhat ostentatious South Fork-esque portico entrance, Threshers House is presented without kitchens and bathrooms so as to allow “incoming purchasers to design to their own requirements”. It includes 5 reception rooms, 5 bedrooms and a 2-bedroom first floor flat and comes with planning permission for a 1,400 square foot orangery and underground leisure facility. Within the grounds is a completed 1,988 square foot 3 bedroom cottage, a 886 square foot bungalow, a 768 square foot bungalow and a 1,386 square foot six car garage.
Elsewhere and benefitting from separate access, a tiled stable and thatched barn complex provides accommodation for 14 horses and was previously run as a business named Threshers Equestrian. It comes with a horse walker, floodlit manège, lunging room and hard standing as well as a number of paddocks.
Threshers House – which is situated about 40 minutes drive from Canary Wharf – is also available for £3.25 million ($4.06 million, €3.81 million or درهم14.92 million) with just 5 acres of land and minus the ancillary accommodation.
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Booze Bashed By Brexit
Spirits brands hike prices by upto 16% and blame Brexit for increasing their supply-side costs
Drink loving Brexiteers may have cause to reconsider their enthusiasm for Britain leaving the EU.
Since last year’s referendum, the price of vodka has risen 5% on average whilst gin is up 3%. Bombay Sapphire has hiked its price by 16% to £24.20 for a litre bottle according to The Grocer and many other brands have followed suit.
Worldwide co-leader in the wine and spirits sector Pernod Ricard blamed the increases on supply-side costs rising due to Brexit whilst The Wine and Spirit Trading Association added that the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, has added to the industry’s woes and created “a tough trading environment”.