London’s parks marked a grim milestone this week in their battle against bird flu. One hundred swans and geese have now perished. Concern is growing at the London Swan Sanctuary. “We may have lost other birds as well,” a spokesperson told us.
There is an ongoing tussle with the Department for Environment, which has warned people not to feed the birds in case they cluster for food and spread the illness. “This is absolutely crazy,” the sanctuary said. “In the winter, birds have increased calorie needs to cope with the cold. To stop feeding them now is totally inhumane!”
His Majesty’s Warden of the Swans, Christopher Perrins, said the situation is “unprecedented”. But while there is thought to be concern at the Palace, Mr Perrins would not speak for the King.
Austerity bites at Treasury bash
Civil servants have been told to rebrand their Christmas parties as “festive celebrations” and cut out the booze if there are non-drinkers present. Things have been suitably grey at austere Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Treasury. Last week a senior team was told to trek from Westminster to a trendy Shoreditch hangout for their bash. Tired after a whirlwind few months, they turned up to find no free drink tokens and no money behind the bar. Humbug.
Judge not
Judges are known for seriousness and pomp, but in this week’s Criminal Bar Association newsletter, justice Dame Bobbie Cheema-Grubb fondly recalled a silk throwing off her gown in a trial this year to reveal a T-shirt that read “Hear no sh*t, Speak no sh*t, Take no sh*t.” “I was delighted to be provided with my very own copy (as was my clerk.) Long live the criminal bar. Long live its sense of humour”, Dame Bobbie wrote. Other lawyers weren’t amused by the gimmick. “Entirely inappropriate,” scoffed Lord Wolfson. He went on to say Dame Bobbie should have discplined the silk.
Last night in town
Willow star Ellie Bamber took to the lectern for a reading at the MS Society’s Christmas Carols By Candlelight at St Mary’s Church in Marylebone last night. Special guests included presenter Sue Perkins and actor Rose Leslie. Sophie Ellis-Bextor sang Murder on The Dancefloor to kick off the festivities at Vodafone’s Ultra Connected Christmas House at 180 Strand. Filmmakers Ron Howard and Tom Hooper hosted a special screening of Thirteen Lives, their film about a group of Thai schoolboys who got trapped in a cave in 2018
