Londoner's Diary
Home Secretary James Cleverly hoped the Shitgate saga had blown over this week. On Monday, he was quizzed by Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham about whether he had called the constituency a “shithole” or Cunningham a “shit MP” during last week’s Prime Minister’s Questions. Cleverly, right, gave a surly response to Cunningham’s point of order and dared the Labour MP to call him a “liar” — a term banned in the Commons.
But that isn’t the end of it. We hear Cunningham is now pushing for an investigation by the Committee on Standards into the Home Secretary’s conduct, specifically on whether he lied to the Commons.
It may be hard to pin such a charge on Cleverly but his story did change dramatically when he was initially accused of calling Stockton a “shithole”. At first, he denied having uttered a single word about the town, before an audio clip made that untenable. He then claimed he had called Cunningham a “shit MP”.
Is Cunningham just a plucky local MP defending the honour of his constituents? Not quite. Labour whips are egging him on in the hope they can land another blow on the beleaguered Home Sec.
He seemed to lose his cool slightly in today's PMQs session when Sir Keir Starmer referenced Shitgate in a question to the prime minister. "It is ironic that he’s suddenly taken such a keen interest in Greek culture. When he’s clearly become the man with the reverse Midas touch," said Starmer, "Everything he touches turns to … maybe the home secretary can help me out here”. Cleverly yelled something at Starmer in response.
Best seat in the house
Egotistical MPs are rarely starstruck but today marks an exception. Our esteemed legislators have been desperately scrambling for places at an event in Parliament this evening with Sir Elton John. The singer and patron of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, will address MPs on the subject of HIV prevention. Sir Elton wants ministers to hit the 2030 target for eliminating new HIV cases in England by using a new “opt-out testing” regime, which was successfully trialled in hospitals this year. “It’s the biggest thing since Zelensky,” one excitable MP told The Londoner. Ukraine’s president visited parliament in February.
Excitement for Spinal Tap sequel
That This Is Spinal Tap is the greatest rock comedy movie ever made is in no doubt, and news that the director Rob Reiner is finally filming a sequel (with most of the original cast) has been greeted with universal joy.
Reiner says that both Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John have signed up for cameos, although unfortunately Jeff Beck, who was the inspiration for Tap’s lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel (watch them both on YouTube — they’re identical) has gone to the great gig in the sky.
The film is beloved by rock stars old and new. “I saw Spinal Tap in a small cinema in Oxford Street on a Sunday night when it came out 40 years ago,” says the Evening Standard’s Editor-In-Chief Dylan Jones. “There was a guy sitting in front of us who couldn’t stop laughing and pointing at the screen. He was sitting between two women who both looked a lot like Nigel Tufnel’s wife. He was laughing so loud that I was tempted to ask him if he could tone it down a bit. Until I realised it was Eric Clapton”, pictured.
