ALEXANDRA SHULMAN: The Mean Girls Club is bulging with new recruits

The astonishing injustice skilled by Post Office sub-postmasters has erupted like a torrent of lava, after rumbling under the crust of a narrative that has been long-running.

In explicit, it has delivered to public consideration the dual villainesses of the saga, former CEO Paula Vennells and her henchwoman Angela van den Bogerd.

High-profile girls are undoubtedly not having a great time of it for the time being. Women have spent centuries eager to be centre-stage, and now that they’re, they’re revealed as being able to behaviour that’s simply as scheming, incompetent and malevolent as that of males. Not actually a shock.

Paula Vennells – certainly probably the most vilified girls within the nation – was accountable for the Post Office in the course of the interval when many sub-postmasters and mistresses had been wrongly accused of stealing funds, fired from their job and needed to enter years of purgatory to attempt to clear their names. She could have determined, after big strain, to return her CBE, however that does not return numerous folks’s misplaced lives.

Vennells is the most recent villain, however forged your thoughts again to just a few weeks in the past when Baroness Mone got here into the highlight for profiteering by means of the sale of PPE to the Government in the course of the Covid pandemic. Initially, she had denied being concerned however then admitted she had been, with the defence that she was defending her household.

The astonishing injustice skilled by Post Office sub-postmasters has erupted like a torrent of lava, and has delivered to consideration former CEO Paula Vennells

Baroness Mone got here into the highlight for profiteering by means of the sale of PPE to the Government in the course of the Covid pandemic

As Home Secretary, Suella Braverman demonstrated that she was able to surprising callousness

Until that controversy, it might have been thought unfair to criticise the ennoblement of the previous lingerie tycoon with a considerably brassy blonde persona, when so many males within the House of Lords had an equally doubtful proper to be there. But with that profiteering deal, Mone properly and actually proved her membership of the Mean Girls Club.

And it is not solely by wrongdoing in enterprise the place girls have proven their mettle. As Home Secretary, Suella Braverman demonstrated that she was able to surprising callousness. Her suggestion that homelessness was a way of life selection was undoubtedly an opinion held, however left voiceless, by her many dark-suited menfolk within the Cabinet. Braverman’s predecessor, Priti Patel, the pocket Genghis Khan in Bodycon, had equally brutal kind.

It’s nearly as if such girls really feel certain to point out they’re no gentle contact, by ever extra excessive behaviour.

Regardless, it is definitely true that when girls behave badly, they get a more durable time within the media attributable to the truth that even now, a controversial lady will at all times take up extra column inches than an image of one other bloke in a swimsuit, not matter what they are saying and do.

Stamp of approval for our native posties

Talking of put up places of work, Raj and Perita, who ran our native one for many years, retired on the finish of final 12 months. It was a momentous event, with grateful prospects delivering good needs and items. 

The couple had good-naturedly handled illegible handwriting and complaints in regards to the value of stamps and had change into a very important a part of our lives throughout Covid, when day by day queues shaped across the block. 

I want they had been nonetheless there so I might ask them what they considered ITV’s Mr Bates Vs The Post Office. Even although we did not chatter a lot, I felt we knew one another. As but, I do not really feel acquainted sufficient with the couple who’ve changed them to ask their opinions.

Saltburn’s make-up staff deserve credit score

I’m unsure whether or not prosthetics come into the Best Hair and Make-up class throughout award season however there have been quite a few eye-catching creations this 12 months. Bradley Cooper’s enhanced nostril in his function because the conductor Leonard Bernstein in Maestro could have attracted accusations of ‘ethnic cosplay’, however this function contributed massively to Cooper to turning into a really convincing Bernstein.

Saltburn provoked a lot debate in regards to the measurement of Barry Keoghan’s appendage waving wildly round. Eagle-eyed observers (akin to me!) famous the prosthetic credit score on the finish of Saltburn

Less heralded however definitely a speaking level is Barry Keoghan’s bare scene within the movie Saltburn. For many viewers, his triumphal, stark bare dance round a stately residence was the principle function of the film, upsetting a lot debate in regards to the measurement of his appendage waving wildly round. Eagle-eyed observers (akin to me!) famous the prosthetic credit score on the finish.

Lightbulb second in peerless Prague

I spent final weekend in Prague. It was completely beautiful, however all metropolis breaks in deep winter embody the dilemma of what to do when it will get darkish, you’ve got achieved sufficient sightseeing and do not wish to simply moulder in your lodge room.

Fortunately, not solely is extra avocado toast served in Prague than in Hoxton, but it surely’s crammed with music. Although I’ve no urge for food for classical live shows, my companion and I loved a live performance within the majestic Spanish Synagogue after recognizing a poster for the occasion.

The subsequent night time we did the identical, within the grand Smetana live performance corridor, having found the right filler between exploring the town within the daytime and time to hit one of many many bars and cafes for our first night drink.

However, I nonetheless have not discovered the reply to my issues with classical live shows. What are you meant to consider as you pay attention? Surely not, like I did, surprise how on earth they handle to alter the lightbulbs within the towering dome of the synagogue.

A chicken’s-eye view of a catastrophe zone

Flying again into London, we bought an aerial perception into the flooding of the Thames Valley. Below us, this traditional epitome of our inexperienced and nice land only a few miles from the capital had become an enormous lake, like an epic catastrophe zone.

Why such a whine about Calvin Klein? 

Calvin Klein have achieved it once more. For years they’ve used ‘surprising’ commercials to publicise the model, from a teenaged Brooke Shields, utilizing the tagline ‘Nothing comes between me and my Calvins’, to a topless fledgling Kate Moss within the Nineties.

The Calvin Klein advert with half-naked signer FKA Twigs was banned seemingly on the idea that her gaze is suggestive

Now, the ridiculous Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) watchdog has banned a brand new Calvin advert that includes half-naked singer FKA Twigs seemingly on the idea that her gaze is suggestive. I doubt anybody would have paid a lot consideration to the advert however now that it is banned, it is on-line gold mud.

Calvin Klein 1, ASA 0.