Londoner's Diary
Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, has opened up about her ambition to reach No 10 and shared her thoughts on former leader Jeremy Corbyn in a candid interview which might set alarm bells ringing at Labour HQ.
Speaking to the Leading podcast, Rayner said of the Corbyn shadow cabinet in which she served: “I still think that government would have been better than what we got,” before adding: “We were a party that was dysfunctional.” Tomorrow marks four years since Labour’s crushing defeat in the 2019 election.
Asked if she could become prime minister, Rayner said: “Absolutely. Because I can make decisions, and I can look at the evidence… I feel a great sense of responsibility to do my homework, because I didn’t have a formal education.” Rayner, who left school at 16, asked of her critics: “How can I be thick, and be one of the most successful politicians in the UK?”
On the subject of the Gaza war, which has divided Labour, she said: “I still support the Palestinian cause and I want to see recognition for the Palestine state.”
Scandal hit peer proves camera shy
Baroness Mone has given her first public interview since she became embroiled in the PPE scandal. She broke her silence in a YouTube documentary released yesterday, though not without some reticence. The camera crew approaches the Tory peer three times, but she waves them off twice because she is too upset. Finally she relents and says she has been judged by a “kangaroo court” on social media, which has decided she is a “horrible person”. For three years, Baroness Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman denied to newspapers any financial involvement with PPE Medpro, a firm she helped fast-track through the Government’s VIP lane at the start of the pandemic. Now the couple say they were involved. The end credits of the documentary reveal it was funded by PPE Medpro, “but full editorial control has been held by the production team”.
Star-crossed Tories
“Star chamber” is back as a political buzz phrase for the first time since the Brexit wars. MPs on the Tory Right have set up a new one — chaired by Sir Bill Cash — to pore over the Rwanda Safety Bill. It reports today. But what explains their obsession with this curious historical term? The original star chamber was a prerogative court which, in the 17th century, became notorious as a torture room where the monarch’s enforcers roughed up dissidents and troublemakers. While we don’t doubt Sir Bill’s legal explications are painful to sit through, this surely isn’t the analogy MPs were reaching for.
Dame Joan's busy weekend
Dame Joan Collins had a busy weekend. On Saturday she and husband Percy Gibson threw open their doors for the annual Collins Christmas party. Guests at this exclusive soirée included Louis Theroux, who interviewed her for his latest series, Sir Bob Geldof and the Hurley family. On Friday, Dame Joan caught up with Carrie Johnson and took a picture with baby Frank. Dame Joan once said that while she found Boris Johnson “very amusing and incredibly intelligent”, she had “no idea” what women saw in him. She has since struck up a friendship with Carrie.
