MORE politicians seem to be losing the whip in Westminster. On Sunday, Diane Abbott was suspended as a Labour MP after she wrote a letter to a newspaper in which she minimised racism and prejudice suffered by Jewish, Irish and Traveller people. Abbott takes the total MPs elected for Labour who sit without the whip to seven.
There are currently 16 Independent MPs in total who lost the whip. One is Matt Hancock, who was disciplined for going on I’m a Celebrity.
Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary London, says it’s a new trend. “I can’t remember a time when this many people were... cast adrift by their parties,” he said, though he wasn’t sure if it was due to more “maverick” MPs or stricter rules. Bale says it’s a way for leaders to “park the problem”, hoping they don’t seek re-election, and we may see more of it in the near future.
If only I had got to know my fellow MPs, says Boris of his time at No 10
Boris Johnson was feeling rueful at a London Q&A this week. The former Prime Minister told CNN’s Tania Bryer about his time in office, from Brexit to Covid.
His big regret was not getting to know the 109 new Tory MPs from his 2019 landslide win better. If he had his time again, he said, he would have made more of an effort to win them over, and perhaps stop them doing anything “foolish”. Last summer, 41 per cent of Tory MPs voted against him in a confidence vote, one of several moments leading to his leaving office.
As Shakespeare, who Johnson admires, once wrote, regrets can be useless: “Things without all remedy should be without regard: what’s done, is done”.
Art shows divided by war
Art fans are flocking to the After Impressionism exhibition at the National Gallery, right, which features works by Cézanne, Gaugin and van Gogh. Meanwhile, over in Moscow, a show with the same name started last week at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, including Monets and Renoirs. The two shows were meant to be a collaboration, but the war in Ukraine got in the way.
Bell ringers do their best to Ring for the King
It was hoped that all of the UK’s church bells would ring for the Coronation next week, but it seems there aren’t enough bellringers in the country for the 38,000 bells. Kate Eden, from Islington, tells us she started bell-ringing this year to take part in Ring for the King at her local church. She and others will “run over to the neighbouring tower” to ring that too. God bless the British spirit.
Maya stands out from the crowd
Presenter Maya Jama posed with host and fashion designer Amina Muaddi at a dinner at The Twenty Two in Mayfair last night. Meanwhile, at Battersea Power Station, presenter AJ Odudu met up with model Oliver Cheshire at the opening of new hotel art’otel. Ex-footballer Alex Scott went too, while presenter Vick Hope DJ’d. In White City, civil servant turned reality TV star Zara McDermott went to the launch of a new Forever New shop at Westfield.
