My Gaza ceasefire vote sped up my NHS care, says MP Jess Phillips

The moniker ‘Two-Tier Keir’ already trips off many tongues. But will its usage in everyday speech now become irreversible?

I ask because of a remarkable disclosure by one of Sir Keir Starmer‘s government ministers – Jess Phillips, loquacious Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley.

Speaking at an event unambiguously billed as An Evening With Jess Phillips, held at Kiln Theatre in North London, Phillips recounted an episode from her personal medical history which suggests that it may not just be policing which could be guided by a ‘two-tier’ approach but also, perhaps, treatment dispensed by the National Health Service.

Describing a distressing episode when she was having trouble breathing – ‘my lips had gone blue and I couldn’t breathe,’ she recalled – Phillips, 42, explained that she’d sought urgent treatment at A&E in a Birmingham hospital.

She was greeted by scenes of appalling overcrowding. ‘I have genuinely seen better facilities, health facilities, in war zones, in developing countries around the world,’ the minister continued. Nevertheless, eventually she got to the front of the queue.

But this, she said, was ‘undoubtedly’ for two reasons only. ‘I got through because of who I am. Also the doctor who saw me was Palestinian, as it turns out. Almost all the doctors in Birmingham seemed to be.’

While in opposition, Phillips resigned from Labour’s front bench to vote in favour of a ceasefire in Gaza five weeks after Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 Israelis – many of whom were mutilated or raped – and took another 120 hostage.

Her vote, she said, was the other reason that she received preferential treatment.

‘He was sort of like, “I like you. You voted for a ceasefire”. [Because of that] I got through quicker.’

Far from reflecting on how MPs who voted against a ceasefire – still less a Jewish citizen – might have fared, Phillips, whose majority at the last election plummeted from 10,659 to just 693, with George Galloway’s Workers’ Party in second place, continued her account of her treatment.

She declines the opportunity to comment further. Evidence, presumably, of a two-tier policy on speaking her mind.

Spare a thought for Sadiq Khan, who despises the effect of social media on his life. 

‘My generation of politicians have got it the hardest,’ wails the Mayor of London. ‘Algorithms monetise negative hatred – social media companies don’t take down misinformation.’ 

Pointing out that the young get their news from TikTok, he adds: ‘There’s a challenge for us.’ 

It’s been a long and winding road but – at 82 – Sir Paul McCartney has started wearing head protection when he goes horse riding.

‘I’ve finally got a helmet,’ says the Beatles legend, crediting wife Nancy and daughter Mary for inspiring him to invest in a ‘posh new hat’.

‘Nancy and Mary wore helmets and all the grandkids did so I thought I’d better get sensible.’ Smart move.

Tory peer’s bond with Fleming’s great niece

Tory peer Zac Goldsmith and his girlfriend Hum Fleming, the great-niece of 007 creator Ian, haven’t been short of the flamenco spirit on their romantic holiday in Spain.

In a snap PR guru Hum shared online, Lord Goldsmith, 49, sports a traditional wide-brimmed black hat as he hugs her.

The father-of-six, who split from banking heiress Alice Rothschild last year, recently referred to Hum, who is 15 years his junior, as his ‘future wife’.

It must be love.

Jeff was in cat flap over his Zeus role 

Hollywood star Jeff Goldblum was a little confused about his role as Zeus, king of the Greek gods, in Netflix‘s new dark comedy, Kaos.

The Jurassic Park actor, 71, who joined co-star Janet McTeer for the show’s dinner and drinks at the Old Sessions House in London, admits: ‘I came the first day with The Cat in the Hat.’ 

He adds: ‘I’d done my research and they said, “Jeff, why are you rhyming everything in that whimsical way. It’s Zeus, not Dr Seuss, you idiot”.’

Viscount Hinchingbrooke and his wife Julie Montagu kindly allow the public to walk their dogs on their 2,000-acre Mapperton estate in Dorset. 

Yet I hear their kindness has been abused.

‘Unfortunately, our lovely white runner duck who has been at Mapperton for ten years was chased down by a terrier dog,’ Julie explains.

‘The owner saw this happening and the duck was flapping. The owner took the duck in her hands and strangled the duck . . . the owner ran off, got in her car and left. We are deeply upset.’

Unlike satirist Peter Cook, Peter Usborne rarely appeared on television. 

But not only was he the business brains behind Private Eye magazine, he also became an astonishingly successful publisher of children’s books. 

Seventeen months after his death aged 85, his will records that he bequeathed £134million. 

His two primary beneficiaries were his son, Martin, and daughter, Nicola. 

Wallis prefers pooch to parties 

Is the party over for British model and actress Wallis Day, who is hanging up her heels as she has more fun at home?

‘I’m loving this wholesome life at the moment,’ she declares.

Wallis, 29, tells me: ‘I’ve been bathing and relaxing at the weekends instead of going out.’

The London-born star, who appears in the forthcoming reboot of the 1980s action flick Red Sonja, adds: ‘When I have breaks in between filming it’s nice to play everything down and have time at home.’

Her Shiba Inu pooch Arlo is also a part of her newfound love of a quiet life. 

‘There are things in my life that keep me anchored and my dog is one of them,’ says Wallis.