The hypocrisy of London's Labour mayor Sir Sadiq Khan seems to know no bounds. In an interview last week, Khan was critical of the first elected mayor of the capital, Ken Livingstone. 'He stayed in longer than he should have done,' Khan told the Evening Standard.
Pot, kettle... anyone? Livingstone served two terms over eight years. Khan has already clocked up ten years and has another two to go, having won an unprecedented third term in 2024. And the capital's future looks bleaker still – as there's no limit to the number of terms a mayor can serve! So will he run again? Khan, whose £170,000 salary makes him the highest paid politician in the country, refused to say. But he's been telling allies he needs six terms (yes, six) taking him up to 2040. That would represent 26 years in power – a feat matched by one Vladimir Putin.
Great intervention from Tory MP Esther McVey in Parliament last week. 'Does the Prime Minister agree with Andy Burnham when he says we should rejoin the European Union, or does he agree with Andy Burnham when he says we shouldn't?'
Appearing at the Goodwoof dog festival in Chichester, West Sussex, Martin Clunes was asked which of his characters – aside from Doc Martin – he's most loved playing. Having depicted a certain disgraced BBC newsreader for a Channel 5 drama in March, Clunes got a big laugh when he barked: 'Not Huw Edwards!'
Arched eyebrows in Whitehall over James Roscoe's abrupt and unexplained exit as deputy ambassador to Washington, but there's no such mystery over his being made a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO). The honour is automatic after arranging the monarch's stay in the embassy, as Roscoe did for Charles last month. Queen Elizabeth II was swamped with requests from ambassadors to stay in their embassies on her 1979 tour of the Gulf. But their hopes of an LVO were dashed when Her Majesty opted for the Royal Yacht Britannia. Legend has it she said: 'Oh, give them all one.'
Is this the first call for Lib Dem chief Sir Ed Davey to quit? Colchester City Council leader David King told the BBC: 'We need to let the party take the time to look to the future, and that's my appeal to Sir Ed. It's politely saying time's up.' Beccy Cooper, Labour MP for Worthing, blocks people who disagree with her on social media. So barred users have set up a Facebook group called 'Blocked By Dr Beccy Cooper MP'. If you can't beat them, join them.
No wonder the 140-mile HS2 rail link is costing more than Nasa's Artemis II moon mission (695,081 miles). There are no extra-terrestrial bat colonies to protect en route.
Much as Andy Burnham loves his man-of-the-people look of tieless shirt, trainers and ghastly running shorts, he will have to smarten up his act if he returns to Westminster. 'Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle is a stickler for men wearing ties, if they don't he does not call them to speak,' whispered one MP. Meanwhile, former Tory MP Sir Michael Fabricant takes issue with Burnham's ever-so humble posturing. 'The innocent bystander would not suspect this assiduously scruffy chap attacking 40 years of political failure was a Westminster aide from 1997, served as an MP for 16 years, was a minister under Blair and sat in Brown's Cabinet. He is the ultimate machine politician. Yet he attacks the Establishment.'
