BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH says it may be time for a book about the “ridiculous stops that black people in particular have” from police.
The poet and author recalled to The Londoner being stopped on the Finchley Road and being accused of using his phone — in fact one officer had mistaken his dreadlocks in his hat for a mobile. “And then the other officer comes up saying ‘It’s the poet! It’s the poet!’.” They then asked for his autograph.
Zephaniah spoke after a rapper was stopped by police last month for wearing a coat on a sunny day. “I listen to my friends’ stories and some of these, you couldn’t make them up.” He also recalled being questioned by police when he took a friend’s young daughter to play in a park. “One of the officers, he called the baby an accessory. I was like, what?” Perhaps it is time for that book.
Ben’s defence of toppled Khan
Environmentalist Ben Goldsmith has defended his friend Imran Khan, who has been toppled as Pakistan’s prime minister. “My brother-in-law… is a good and honourable man, motivated only by a strong desire to do good by his country,” he writes, citing Khan’s “exceptional” environmental record. Khan’s record has been controversial elsewhere, as he visited Putin on the day of the Ukraine invasion. Goldsmith’s sister Jemima, right, might object: for one thing, she divorced Khan in 2004, meaning some might argue Ben is no longer his brother-in-law. Ben has previously said: “In England there’s no such thing as an ‘ex’ brother-in-law. Once a brother-in-law always a brother-in-law.”
Jeremy’s winging it with new love
JEREMY VINE is a man of peculiar hobbies. The presenter, who rides around west London on a penny farthing, has now discovered birdwatching. He writes of one bird on a trip to the Wetland Centre in Barnes: “She had a black head and a white body, and seemed to stare at me — a ruthless, unforgiving gaze.” He left the hide after an hour. “But I’m going to go back soon, look for my bird and watch her again. She doesn’t know my name, and I don’t know hers. And it doesn’t matter.” Lockdown affected us all Jeremy…
Tonight belongs to Cabaret
THESPS were out in force at the Olivier Awards last night, where musical Cabaret swept the board. Jessie Buckley won best actress in a musical while Rebecca Frecknall won best director for the show. Sheila Atim won best actress for Constellations, and posed with fellow actor Felicity Kendal. Also at the Royal Albert Hall were Kit Harrington, Miriam-Teak Lee and Sam Tutty.
SW1A
JESS PHILLIPS ran for Labour leader in 2020, but don’t expect a repeat. Promoting her latest book over the weekend, the Labour MP reportedly said “I’d love to be Prime Minister, but beng leader of the Labour Party looks like the shittest job in the world”. Can a Labour leader become PM? It’s been a while…--
--
RISHI SUNAK may hope his wife Akshata Murty paying tax on her global income would spell the end of his woes. “I am afraid the answer is no,” ex-Tory minister David Gauke writes on ConHome. Sunak’s world-citizen type arrangements put him at odds with his party, Gauke warns. Oh dear.
