The Steeple Times

Tag: Westminster

  • Hero of the Hour – Sir Nicholas Soames

    Hero of the Hour – Sir Nicholas Soames

    Sir Winston Churchill’s grandson Sir Nicholas Soames takes to Twitter and brands Donald Trump “graceless, boorish and mainly wrong”

     

    Sir Nicholas Soames MP is a gentleman of stature. This Conservative politician stood opposed to Brexit and now, entering the modern age, he has begun to use his Twitter account to share the most sensible of opinions.

     

    Tweeting to his 29,000 followers on Saturday, Sir Nicholas used a hashtag to remark:

     

    #theawfulthingisthathesjustnotfittobePresidentgracelessboorishandmainlyWRONG

     

    Sir Winston Churchill’s grandson is entirely right. President Donald Trump is a disaster and a disgrace and if America had any sense, they’d do just one thing: #GetHimGone

     

    Hero of the Hour – Sir Winston Churchill’s grandson Sir Nicholas Soames takes to Twitter and brands Donald Trump “graceless, boorish and mainly wrong”

  • A Bargain in Belgravia

    Belgravia mews house with garaging for five cars for sale for equivalent of £1,442 per week

     

    A two-storey mews house behind The Lanesborough Hotel in Belgravia has gone on sale for what initially seems like a bargain price of just £1.5 million ($2 million, €1.7 million or درهم7.2 million).

     

    The catch? The 1,391 square foot property in Wilton Row – which comes with a 40-foot long garage with space for up to five cars – is offered on a new 20-year lease that comes without the ability to extend or acquire the freehold.

     

    Effectively priced at the equivalent of rent of £75,000 per year ($99,000, €83,000 or درهم362,000 per year), the unlisted building also includes a reception room, kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom.

     

    Ayrton Wylie are the selling agents.

     

    A Bargain in Belgravia – 30 Wilton Row, Belgravia, London, SW1X 7NS, United Kingdom – Mews house with garaging for five cars for sale for £1.5 million ($2 million, €1.7 million or درهم7.2 million) through Ayrton Wylie.

  • A Bargain in Belgravia

    A Bargain in Belgravia

    Belgravia mews house with garaging for five cars for sale for equivalent of £1,442 per week

     

    A two-storey mews house behind The Lanesborough Hotel in Belgravia has gone on sale for what initially seems like a bargain price of just £1.5 million ($2 million, €1.7 million or درهم7.2 million).

     

    The catch? The 1,391 square foot property in Wilton Row – which comes with a 40-foot long garage with space for up to five cars – is offered on a new 20-year lease that comes without the ability to extend or acquire the freehold.

     

    Effectively priced at the equivalent of rent of £75,000 per year ($99,000, €83,000 or درهم362,000 per year), the unlisted building also includes a reception room, kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom.

     

    Ayrton Wylie are the selling agents.

     

    A Bargain in Belgravia – 30 Wilton Row, Belgravia, London, SW1X 7NS, United Kingdom – Mews house with garaging for five cars for sale for £1.5 million ($2 million, €1.7 million or درهم7.2 million) through Ayrton Wylie.

  • A Sloane Home

    A Sloane Home

    Belgravia apartment for sale for £27.5 million in spite of being a 1980s timewarp; the Sloaney home forms part of a building at one-time home the residence of one half of Gilbert and Sullivan

     

    A penthouse on the “favoured northern side” of Belgravia’s Eaton Square is on sale for £27.5 million ($36.6 million, €31 million or درهم134.5 million) in spite of not been refurbished or updated since the 1980s.

     

    Part of a building that was the London home of Sir William Gilbert (1836 – 1911) – one half of the Victorian theatrical partnership Gilbert and Sullivan – from 1907 until his death, 90 Eaton Square now spans four buildings and is some 117-foot wide. Its penthouse sits on the fourth floor and extends to some 5,570 square foot.

     

    Featuring 3 reception rooms, a study, 5 bedroom suites, a wine cellar, a terrace and 2 balconies, the vast property is described as having “unusually large picture windows at the front to take advantage of the superior southerly aspect, and a low front parapet wall, allowing superb views of the expansive Eaton Square communal gardens.” Images shown in a sales brochure for it show not only some rather serious works of modern art, but also 1980s ‘Sloane Ranger essentials’ including shagpile rugs, marble bathrooms and chrome-steel cantilever dining chairs.

     

    Previously offered for £30 million ($39.9 million, €33.8 million or درهم146.6 million) by agents Savills, the penthouse at 90 Eaton Square is now currently being marketed by Strutt & Parker. It comes with a surprisingly long lease that expires in 2256.

     

    A Sloane Home – Fourth floor penthouse, 90 Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9AG – For sale through Strutt & Parker for £27.5 million ($36.6 million, €31 million or درهم134.5 million) – Part of building that home of Sir William Gilbert (1836 – 1911) from 1907 until 1911 and presented as a 1980s timewarp A Sloane Home – Fourth floor penthouse, 90 Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9AG – For sale through Strutt & Parker for £27.5 million ($36.6 million, €31 million or درهم134.5 million) – Part of building that home of Sir William Gilbert (1836 – 1911) from 1907 until 1911 and presented as a 1980s timewarp A Sloane Home – Fourth floor penthouse, 90 Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9AG – For sale through Strutt & Parker for £27.5 million ($36.6 million, €31 million or درهم134.5 million) – Part of building that home of Sir William Gilbert (1836 – 1911) from 1907 until 1911 and presented as a 1980s timewarpA Sloane Home – Fourth floor penthouse, 90 Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9AG – For sale through Strutt & Parker for £27.5 million ($36.6 million, €31 million or درهم134.5 million) – Part of building that home of Sir William Gilbert (1836 – 1911) from 1907 until 1911 and presented as a 1980s timewarp A Sloane Home – Fourth floor penthouse, 90 Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9AG – For sale through Strutt & Parker for £27.5 million ($36.6 million, €31 million or درهم134.5 million) – Part of building that home of Sir William Gilbert (1836 – 1911) from 1907 until 1911 and presented as a 1980s timewarpA Sloane Home – Fourth floor penthouse, 90 Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9AG – For sale through Strutt & Parker for £27.5 million ($36.6 million, €31 million or درهم134.5 million) – Part of building that home of Sir William Gilbert (1836 – 1911) from 1907 until 1911 and presented as a 1980s timewarp

  • A Missing Mockery

    A Missing Mockery

    As a further £154,000 is handed to the police, is it right that £11 million has been allocated to searching for Madeleine McCann whilst the searches for other missing people get little to nothing?

     

    A child supposedly disappears every five minutes in the UK yet the only instance the media ever focus on is Madeleine McCann.

     

    Having hung out with Donald Trump’s bestie Theresa May and the equally ghastly Lady Meyer in Downing Street in May 2012 plainly helped the cause of Gerry and Kate McCann. Police investigating the case have just been awarded a further £154,000 in addition to a sum of £85,000 in March this year. A total of over £11 million has been spent thus far on the unsuccessful search for the child and what has been achieved? The answer is clear: Absolutely nothing.

     

    Whatever the merits of the suggestions of those who’ll continue to claim that any lead is worth pursuing, one needs to remember that every pound allocated to looking for one child that disappeared in 2007 is a pound that could be used to fund the search of another investigation. Undoubtedly now, given that no tangible evidence has been found that Madeleine McCann is still alive, it is time for this plainly pointless search to stop.

     

    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 Kate McCann 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 disappeared?

     

    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?

     

  • Hero of the Hour – David Cornwell

    Hero of the Hour – David Cornwell

    Novelist David Cornwell (AKA John le Carré) speaks sense on the elite, Brexit and Donald Trump

     

    David Cornwell – better known as the novelist John le Carré – gave a rare interview in yesterday’s The Sunday Times. In it, he spoke candidly and revealed his beliefs that Brexit is something he “despises” and that Donald Trump “is such a horse’s arse.”

     

    In the interview Cornwell told the paper’s Bryan Appleyard:

     

    “Surely the definition of a decent society is: one, how it chooses its elite; and, two, how it looks after its losers. Now we choose our elite horribly badly and, as long as private education commands the scene, don’t talk to me about levelling the playing field — the social contract is bust in this country.”

     

    “We’re getting people who start their political careers at university and go in as special assistants to MPs, like those ridiculous people who were advising May [Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill]. We are run by the wrong elite.”

     

    “I understand why people who are socially deprived, with the safety net taken away from them and treated as second-class citizens, have every right to vote for some other dream. I understand that, and I understand it needs a desperate remedy, and fast, but Brexit isn’t the answer.”

     

    Of Trump, he added:

     

    “The Russian-Ukrainian money trail is the one that, combined with collusion in Russian electoral tampering, will, with luck, nail him.”

     

    Cornwell is spot on all scores and we salute him.

     

    ‘A Legacy of Spies’ by John le Carré is out on Thursday (Viking, £20). Pre-order from Amazon for £9.50 by clicking here.

     

  • Stopping Brexit

    Stopping Brexit

    Matthew Steeples suggests Labour’s partial U-turn on Brexit is a positive start; they must now go further and oppose it entirely

     

    Whilst Keir Starmer’s decision to announce Labour will support Britain remaining in a customs union with the EU and within the single market during a “time-limited transitional period between our exit from the EU and the new lasting relationship we build with our European partners” in The Observer yesterday is to be saluted, he does not go far enough.

     

    Brexit has left Britain on a knife-edge. Sterling is considerably weakened, jobs in agriculture and banking are already disappearing and businesses, such as occurred with Southern Salads in Kent, are beginning to go into administration. Theresa May’s “Brexit means Brexit” and her ridiculous “red, white and blue Brexit” now seem the ultimate follies and this morning’s comment by Peter Oborne in the Daily Mail is indicative that the lunatics are still in charge of the asylum.

     

    In a moaning rant that he titles a “spectacular betrayal of Labour voters” and aside from spouting the usual rhetoric, Oborne does rightly suggest that Jeremy Corbyn is not a natural supporter of the EU. The Labour leader, after all, voted against British membership in 1975, opposed the single market subsequently and also did little in the 2016 referendum campaign to positively support ‘remain’. Consequently, one is left wondering if he actually truly supports what Keir Starmer yesterday proposed.

     

    The Leader of the Opposition’s aim, of course, is power and alongside his recent transformation from a badly dressed joker to someone who actually made headway – thanks in the main to Theresa May’s incompetence and decision to call an utterly unnecessary election – Corbyn has realised that the 48% are a constituency worthy of pursuing. He must now, himself, come out and be honest with us and we urge him to do what is best for Britain: It is time for Labour campaign to stop Brexit.

     

    Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples.

     

  • Picture of the Week – The Lack of Appeal of ‘The Half Biscuit’

    Picture of the Week – The Lack of Appeal of ‘The Half Biscuit’

    Facebook group mocks racist online abuser Viscount St Davids as he returns to the clink

     

    On Friday, the dimwitted ‘half biscuit’ 4th Viscount St Davids – also known as amongst other things Rhodri Philipps and Baron Strange of Knockin – was returned to jail after attempting and then dropping an appeal against a sentence for malicious communications.

     

    Thrice bankrupt Philipps, whose sentence of 12 weeks could have been extended if his appeal had failed, was rightly slapped with increased costs by Deborah Taylor, the recorder of Westminster sitting at Southwark Crown Court, and later mocked on Facebook by the group ‘Pants to Brexit’. We share their image here and suggest it summary of what decent people everywhere think of the views of this reprehensible bigoted scumbag criminal.

     

  • Hero of the Hour – Anna Soubry MP

    Anna Soubry speaks for Britain and speaks complete sense; Theresa May should take note

     

    Anna Soubry MP is a rare thing: A politician of conviction and one whose sensible nature is completely clear. Not guided, unlike her grasping colleagues by personal and party politicial ambitions, but instead by a belief in what she thinks is right for the country, here is a lady of logic and stature.

     

    In an article in today’s Mail on Sunday, Ms Soubry states: “My country must come before my party” and adds: “We must face up to the Brexit reality: It is fantasy to think we are going to get a good deal from the EU based on country negotiating strategy. People will soon see how they have been conned by the Brexiteers. All options must go back on the table.”

     

    She adds: “Brexit is a self-inflicted wound; the people of this country hold the knife and they don’t have to use it if they don’t want to. The people, not the hardline Brexiteers, are in charge.”

     

    Ms Soubry is entirely right. Instead of wandering through the Alps for three works, Mrs May should be at work at this crucial time. She should be seeking the best deal for our country and she be putting a stop to the recklessness of ‘Hard Brexit’. It is time this hapless Prime Minister woke up and smelled the coffee.

     

  • Hero of the Hour – Anna Soubry MP

    Hero of the Hour – Anna Soubry MP

    Anna Soubry speaks for Britain and speaks complete sense; Theresa May should take note

     

    Anna Soubry MP is a rare thing: A politician of conviction and one whose sensible nature is completely clear. Not guided, unlike her grasping colleagues by personal and party politicial ambitions, but instead by a belief in what she thinks is right for the country, here is a lady of logic and stature.

     

    In an article in today’s Mail on Sunday, Ms Soubry states: “My country must come before my party” and adds: “We must face up to the Brexit reality: It is fantasy to think we are going to get a good deal from the EU based on country negotiating strategy. People will soon see how they have been conned by the Brexiteers. All options must go back on the table.”

     

    She adds: “Brexit is a self-inflicted wound; the people of this country hold the knife and they don’t have to use it if they don’t want to. The people, not the hardline Brexiteers, are in charge.”

     

    Ms Soubry is entirely right. Instead of wandering through the Alps for three works, Mrs May should be at work at this crucial time. She should be seeking the best deal for our country and she be putting a stop to the recklessness of ‘Hard Brexit’. It is time this hapless Prime Minister woke up and smelled the coffee.