Londoner’s Diary
“Jeremy is gonna be a very hard act to follow,” says TV journalist Paul Mason, who announced last night, after months of speculation, that he will stand to replace Jeremy Corbyn in Islington North. Corbyn was barred from standing for Labour after claiming antisemitism in the party was “dramatically overstated for political reasons”. The party is now seeking a new candidate.
“It’s time for Islington North to be represented by someone from Labour. It can’t be Jeremy so I’m going to step forward,” the former BBC and Channel 4 presenter told us. While Corbyn could yet challenge Labour as an independent, or for a new party, Mason says “we’ll keep it friendly”.
“There will be no trashing of his reputation from me — he’s been a great local MP,” he adds. “If another party emerges around Jeremy, I’ll work with them.” Mason supported Corbyn when he was Labour leader and says “it’s not my decision to bar him.”
Why Islington North? “I know the area well,” says Mason. “I live three miles away from Islington. I’ve lived in London since 1988.” Mason has unsuccessfully sought selection in Manchester, Wales and Sheffield. “It’s no secret I’ve tried to become an MP in other venues,” he says. “The other places I’ve stood in are all where I’ve had connections: where I grew up, where my family live in Wales, in Sheffield where I went to university.”
Mason said he is ready to enter the arena of London politics. “I feel very close to Sadiq,” he says, “I’m a strong supporter of Ulez. I’m a strong supporter of rent controls. I want to see an aggressive rent control regime, and that power given to Sadiq.”
Since Labour opened the race yesterday, two other candidates have put themselves forward: journalist Christian Wolmar and local councillor Praful Nargund.
So long, Zuckers
British media bigwigs descended on Portland Place yesterday for the Sir Harry Evans Investigative Journalism Summit, organised and compèred by his widow Tina Brown, left. But one guest, the American media executive Jeff Zucker, had bad news for UK journos: he’s going off us. “I’ve learned that it’s going to be easier to invest in journalism outside the UK,” said Zucker, who is CEO at Redbird IMI, an investment fund part-backed by the United Arab Emirates. Redbird tried to buy the Daily Telegraph recently but the Government intervened to stop the takeover, citing fears about Emirati influence over the British press. Zucker says they were “simply scared”. So, what next for Zucker? “I wanna buy the Wall Street Journal!” he joked. He may be disappointed. WSJ’s editor-in-chief, Emma Tucker, who was also at the summit, said it was most defnitely not up for sale.
McCullin sick of suffering
Legendary war photographer Don McCullin, 88, isn’t quite hanging up his Nikon but he says he is giving up on pictures of war-torn misery. “I’ve been stealing other people’s suffering with my camera,” he said at yesterday’s Sir Harry Evans summit. McCullin, right, now likes to take snaps of landscapes and ancient artworks, which he says is a kind of catharsis: “I live a nice life in the country.” Reflecting on perhaps his most famous photo, of a shell-shocked soldier in Vietnam, he said: “I actually hate this picture because it gets talked about too much.”
