Former Tory chief whip Andrew Mitchell has been exposed as one of the biggest earners in Parliament, making £180,000 on top of his £82,000 MP’s salary from six consultancies with investment banks and accountancy firms.
But Mitchell, who started in the Whips’ Office when John Major was prime minister, reveals his greatest Commons heroes were cut from rather different cloth.
He writes in Beyond A Fringe, Tales From A Reformed Establishment Lackey about how he felt awe at two top whips who were awarded the Military Cross in World War II for their heroism.
Col. Bob Boscawen (a tank commander) was seriously wounded in an attack by an enemy bomb on his tank. It happened during April 1945, one month into the end of the war in Europe.
Former Tory chief whip Andrew Mitchell has been exposed as one of the biggest earners in Parliament ANDREW PIERCE writes
He was in hospital for three years, recovering from his injuries.
Colonel Carol Mather was taken by the Italians from Libya in 1942. She was then transferred to Italy by submarine. But she escaped 9 months later, walking 600 miles through Apennine mountain ranges to the Allied lines.
Mather was then hit with four bullets three years later when his Auster observation plane was shot down in the Netherlands. He sustained severe injuries and was unable to use his kidney.
Mitchell records an interesting exchange after a visit to the Whips’ Office by then home secretary Douglas Hurd, who was wearing a Loden coat, a style of attire common in pre-war Germany.
He says: ‘When Hurd left, one of the colonels turned to the other and observed: “Huh. Last time I saw a man wearing a coat like that, I shot him”.’
Pam makes a stanza to save the world
Pam Ayres is a famous celebrity supporter who has written a poem in support of the fight against climate change
Pam Ayres, a celebrity spokesman has written a song in support of climate change.
I bought a bamboo toothbrush, As I’d like to save the planet,
It was purchased for every kittiwake, albatross and gannet.
I would like to try and send a message to everybody, just as me.
People always buy the plastic ones. They end up in seawater.
With poems like these, the green lobby you’re certain to please, Pam!
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries’s call for the BBC to end its anti-Government comedy bias has fallen on deaf ears. Next week’s guests on Have I Got News For You are Left-leaning comic Phil Wang and Baroness Warsi, the former Tory Cabinet minister. ‘Sayeeda dislikes the Government so much, Wang will actually be providing the balance,’ says an insider.
Impressionist Rory Bremner says: ‘There have been so many U-turns under Boris Johnson’s leadership that the Met Office should give them names.’ How about ‘Hurricane Owen’ for the latest?
Interesting footnote by John Howell (backbencher), first elected MP to Henley-on-Thames after Boris Johnson quit as Mayor of London.
He told primary school pupils: ‘I was told I had big shoes to fill after Boris. I talked to him after that and he told me, “My shoe size is 9.5”, and I responded, “I take size 10”, and we had a good laugh about it.’
With Boris dancing faster than a Riverdance pro trying to sidestep sleaze claims, Howell probably would not want to be in the PM’s shoes right now.
Khan’s in fast lane to hypocrisy
Sadiq Khan of London recently expanded ultra-low emission zones from Central London to the north and south.
Sadiq Khan, London’s Mayor, has once more displayed his talent for double standards.
Right, Khan spoke at Cop26. He reaffirmed his environmental credentials by moving the ultra-low emissions zone of Central London further north and south last month.
The Labour Mayor estimates 100,000 cars, 35,000 vans and 3,000 lorries will trigger the daily £12.50 levy in the enlarged zone — plus the £15 congestion charge.
This is the same Sadiq Khan who last week endorsed the idea of a Formula One Grand Prix in London’s East End, where the cars would belch out fumes in an area he has already warned is one of the most polluted in the capital.