Stephen Fry at the charity fundraiser at The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity’s Oak Cancer Centre Appeal
(Picture: Dave Benett/Getty Images)STEPHEN FRY says the Government is “picking a scab that is dividing people about women’s rights and trans rights”, as he attacked the exclusion of transgender people from the ban on conversion therapy.
“It’s a war on people that are under-represented, who are disempowered and need encouragement and support and love,” Fry told us. There have been protests outside Downing Street over the “half-baked” ban on conversion therapy, which aims to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Under present plans, conversion therapy will stay legal for those with gender dysphoria.
Fry said he understood “there is this need for sensitivity for female-only places”. He added, though, “the possibility of a parent not having the chance to talk about dysphoria because of fear of upsetting a law of conversion therapy — that is a false flag frankly.”
Club that won’t be drunk on success
News that London’s first dry members’ club will open tonight on Baker Street will be music to the ears of those stars who’ve gone sober. The £199-a-month club will serve non-alcoholic cocktails using boozeless spirits, with pints of zero alcohol Guinness. The Londoner wonders if the likes of Kate Moss and Tom Hardy, who gave up the sauce years ago, might find a new home. The club is the brainchild of Ruben Hoque, a protégé of former Phones 4u chief John Caudwell. A new era in clubs or a passing fad?
Once more unto the breeches
RUPERT EVANS got a kick out of making the second season of Bridgerton. Evans, above, who plays Edmund Bridgerton, recalled filming in Windsor Park in full Regency dress at 5am and scaring unsuspecting joggers. “Suddenly they’ve seen two blokes in costume walking towards them down the road, you can see in their faces complete shock.” Evans added the joggers were clearly thinking: “Why would these people be dressed like that at 5am?” But if there’s anywhere in the country you can dress up in period clothes, surely it’s Windsor…
SW1A
A rumour reaches us that Boris Johnson has a cavalier approach to changing his socks. Carrie makes sure they are fresh when
he’s under her watchful eye, but when left to his own devices, he often forgets. “During the elections in 2019 Boris wore the same stripy socks for a week — there was a dreadful hum,” the source claimed. New socks, please.
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KEIR STARMER claims he has “absolutely nothing in common” with the PM in an interview with PolHome. The Londoner can’t speak for his socks, but one suspects the court surrounding him is certainly less vicious.
SINGER Jack Savoretti marked the end of his tour at Langan’s in Mayfair with wife Jemma Powell and pal Natalie Imbruglia. Also there were actors Rekha Luther and Megan Davis. Over at Picturehouse Central, Rebecca Humphries, Harry Trevaldwyn, Tim McInnerny and Prasanna Puwanarajah were at a screening for their new series Ten Percent.
