Londoner's Diary
Are the GB News team set to be embroiled in another Russell Brand-based controversy? When comedian Brand was accused of rape and abuse by a number of women in The Sunday Times last year (he strenuously denies all these allegations), one of the channel’s presenters, Beverley Turner, called him a “hero” and said he was being “attacked” by the mainstream media.
A heated on-air debate ensued with her co-presenter Andrew Pierce, who described her comments as “shameful”. That seemed to put the issue to bed for the insurgent Right-wing channel. But now it emerges one of its star presenters, Neil Oliver, has been hosting Brand at his house in Stirling, Scotland. Brand posted this selfie online this week. Oliver, who once presented the BBC’s nature programme Coast, now proudly calls himself “conspiracy Gandalf”.
On his GB News show, he regularly delivers monologues warning of a plot by mysterious forces to create a “one-world government”. Similarly, Brand moved away from comedy during the pandemic and built a large YouTube following with videos that questioned mainstream narratives about Covid vaccines and the war in Ukraine. Oliver’s next programme is due on Saturday. Might Brand make an appearance?
Windmill Theatre back to its old ways
Seedy Soho is making a comeback in 2024. An intriguing notice on the door of the Windmill Theatre shows the managers have applied for a sexual entertainment licence, and any objections by locals must be raised with Westminster council by next month. In 2018, the Windmill lost its sex licence when private investigators found punters were breaking the “no touching” rule.
In 2021 it got a £10m refurbishment as a PG-rated restaurant, losing touch with its smutty past. Now entz firm Immerse London are overseeing a transformation. Their landlords are Soho Estates, the company endowed by porn millionaire Paul Raymond and left to his granddaughters Fawn and India Rose James. With Windmill going back to its roots, might Soho as a whole follow suit? We note Boulevard Theatre and Madame Jojo’s recently got raunchy again.
Hacks frozen out in parliament
As the first cold snap of the year bites, journalists in the Lobby are feeling frozen out of politics. While reporters were trying to stay warm yesterday in their offices on parliament’s press gallery corridor, nicknamed “Burma Road”, parliamentary staff came around to remove some of the electric heaters and transplant them elsewhere. In these trying times, lowly hacks don’t seem to be a priority when MPs and Lords are feeling the chill. Some have resorted to buying toe-warmers. According to Politico, Keir Starmer is now working two days a week at Labour’s swanky HQ on the other side of the river — no wonder when parliament is such an inhospitable place.
