Just Stop Oil protest
(Picture: Just Stop Oil/Twitter)Fossil fuel giants are taking big steps to protect their events from climate protesters. Next month, oil firm Shell is having a glitzy farewell reception in central London for departing CEO Ben van Beurden, right, who has been at the company for 39 years, and in charge for nearly a decade.
But party-goers are being warned in no uncertain terms not to let details of the gathering leak to disruptors. An invitation reads: “Avoid talking about the event outside of work”, while all attendees will need ID passes to gain entry. One invitee told us Shell are “a bit worried activists might show up armed with a couple of cans of Heinz tomato and basil soup”.
Over the past few months, action group Just Stop Oil have shut down roads and thrown soup on a Van Gogh in the National Gallery. On Monday, activists disrupted the London oil and gas event WeCa by “shouting off stage” to a former Government fossil fuel adviser.
Red and blue harmony with football snaps
Who watched it better? Both Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour’s Keir Starmer were snapped by photographers as they saw England beat Wales in the World Cup last night. Sunak invited youth footballers from both nations to Downing Street to join him, while five-a-side regular and England fan Sir Keir cheered on the Three Lions in a Bloomsbury cocktail bar. Has he forgotten the Welsh vote?
Save the cinema
In Mayfair, the Curzon has shown films for nearly a century. Now the lease is up for renewal and the cinema’s rent is set to go up, with fears of eviction. Film lovers have have begun a petition to secure the Curzon’s future. It was saved in 2016 after noise complaints, and Westminster council has now named it an “asset of community value”. Will that be enough?
Toast of London
Politicos toasted the UK’s briefest ever PM, Liz Truss, last night at the launch of her biography Out of the Blue, by Harry Cole and James Heale. Tories Jake Berry and Julian Knight were there to share their handful of memories. The book went to press during Truss’s last days, leading to some late changes. Cole told of “late nights, bickering, threats to resign. That wasn’t Downing Street, that was me and James”.
Last night in town
Ellie Goulding sang her new song at the Fayre of St James’s carol concert last night. Also there were actor Daisy Edgar Jones, Princess Beatrice and husband Edoardo, as well as David Walliams, who read from Dr Suess’s The Grinch. The Quintessentially event was in aid of The Firefly Project for young people in need. In Mayfair, DJ Mary Charteris, actor Jaime Winstone, model Eunice Olumide and Daisy Lowe partied with brand Annie’s Ibiza at Nikita.
