ANDREW PIERCE: Is it Normal to be cashing in on sex-pest claims?
Talk to any woman in the Labour Party and they will tell you how appalled they are by the alleged sex-pest antics of former MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace.
So imagine their fury when they discover that Philip Normal, former mayor of Lambeth and husband of Matthew Doyle, the powerful head of communications in 10 Downing Street, is cashing in on the controversy.
Designer Normal, who changed his surname from Burr by deed poll, hastily released a T-shirt with the slogan ‘Middle class woman of a certain age’ – a reference to the claim by embattled Wallace, in a video posted to his Instagram page, that the allegations of inappropriate sexual comments and behaviour came from ‘a handful’ of women from this demographic.
Wallace has since apologised for the jibe. But that hasn’t stopped Normal from charging £17.95 for the T-shirt from his clothing company based in Brixton, South London.
Meanwhile Doyle, who was head of press for Labour under Tony Blair, has been working in No 10 since Sir Keir Starmer swept into office. But even his friends concede the communications have been appalling.
Perhaps Doyle has been taking inspiration from his partner’s designs – which also include an enamel pin with the slogan: ‘F*** the Tories.’ Charming.
Philip Normal, former mayor of Lambeth and husband of Matthew Doyle, the powerful head of communications in 10 Downing Street, is cashing in on the Gregg Wallace controversy
Normal hastily released a T-shirt with the slogan ‘Middle class woman of a certain age’ – a reference to the claim by embattled Gregg Wallace (pictured), who claimed a handful of women in this demographic were behind allegations of his inappropriate behaviour
When Trump was on a sticky wicket
Reform leader Nigel Farage posed with the party’s new treasurer, Nick Candy, and Elon Musk for a picture at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last week.
Behind them was a portrait of Donald Trump in cricket whites. But does the President-elect know a thing about the sport? He appeared alongside Indian prime minister Narendra Modi at a rally in Ahmedabad in 2020, at the world’s largest cricket ground, but got into all sorts of difficulties with names.
In front of 125,000 people, Trump hailed Sachin Tendulkar, India’s greatest ever player, as ‘Soo-chin Tendul-kerr’.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage (right) with his party’s new treasurer Nick Candy (left) and Elon Musk at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate
Has Keir Starmer thought through this Sue Gray peerage? Her maiden speech in the Lords will likely be attended, as is the custom, by other former senior members of the mandarinate such as Lord (Robin) Butler and Lord (Gus) O’Donnell, who were both Cabinet Secretaries.
Will she be able to resist attacking Morgan McSweeney, who replaced her as chief of staff in No 10? Might she even take a dig at the PM himself? We will soon find out.
When former-MP-turned-one-man-show Gyles Brandreth does his Joe Biden Irish dancing routine, it seems he doesn’t have to try too hard.
Brandreth, 76, who performs the skit as part of his Can’t Stop Talking show, says: ‘My wife claims I’m a dead ringer for Joe Biden. She says: ‘You are a silly old man. You’re shuffling and you don’t know where you are half the time’.’
Eleven government departments have lavished £130,000 on new office furniture since the election. The biggest spender was Ed Miliband’s energy department, with a £43,000 bill.
So what was it spent on? Miliband tells me: ‘I haven’t a clue.’ At least he’s honest.
Cabinet minister Ed Miliband admitted to me he didn’t have a clue what the £43,000 his department spent on new office furniture was for
Overheard in the Commons after Royal Mail was sold to Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky: ‘Can we say the Czech is in the post?’
No smoke without ire
Deluded Lib Dem peer Lord Goddard of Stockport informed their Lordships that ‘people do not smoke any more’. Quick as a flash Baroness Fox, a former Brexit Party MEP, pointed out that at that very moment the House of Lords smokers’ group was holding its Christmas party.
She added: ‘I can assure the noble Lord there are quite a lot of them smoking. It is in the hut round the back, by the way, in case anyone wants to pop out.’
