I clambered up a steep ladder on to the roof of the Overseas, Commonwealth, and Improvement Workplace this week with a GB Information digicam crew and de facto deputy international secretary Andrew Mitchell to examine that he had gone by along with his promise to fly the Commonwealth flag. He certainly had, and Mitchell requested city halls to fly the flag on council buildings to remind folks of the worth of the Commonwealth.. Submit-Brexit, there ought to be area. Ministers modified city and nation planning guidelines in 2021 to require city halls to get consent to fly the EU flag.
Wine for socks
I noticed Andrew Mitchell’s bright-red socks below his swimsuit as we clambered over the FCDO’s roof. He informed me he has dozens of an identical pairs, equipped by Tory MP Adam Holloway. “I pay in wine,” Mitchell stated. Holloway picks up the story. “Since I used to be within the Military, I’ve solely ever worn pink socks,” he tells me, including he as soon as lent “a pair of pricey pink loop- sew socks from Blacks in Covent Backyard” to an Iraqi prisoner of struggle. “A few decade in the past, I gave Andrew 10 pairs – however he’s sporting them a lot I feel I want to present him a refresher consignment,” he says.
Pam’s had sufficient
Well-liked poet Pam Ayres, who turned 77 this week, got here to prominence when she gained tv expertise present Alternative Knocks in 1975. Oh, I Want I’d Seemed After Me Enamel has been voted one of many prime 10 greatest ever poems by the BBC, and he or she remains to be publishing new ones on social media, which I feel are greatest learn in her distinctive Berkshire dialect. Right here’s her verdict on this week’s drama in regards to the Princess of Wales’s Mothering Sunday {photograph}: “I’ve to get this off my chest/ Catherine’s photograph?/ Give it a REST!” Amen to that, Pam.
Extra Cant please
Seven years after the demise of Play College presenter Brian Cant, his widow Cherry is on the lookout for a writer for his autobiography, appropriately known as By means of The Sq. Window. Within the e-book, Cant tells how he was a part of a line-up introduced to the late Duke of Edinburgh at a movie première in about 1980, although he was not within the film. When Prince Philip bought to Cant, he requested “Who’re you?” Cant replied: “I’m Brian Cant.” Philip replied: “By no means heard of you!” and walked off. Cherry tells me: “Brian thought it was humorous and dined out on that story from then on.”
Not so boring Reeves
Rachel Reeves has revealed that the-then BBC Newsnight boss Ian Katz despatched her flowers in 2013 after his description of her to colleagues as “boring, loud night breathing” made it on to social media. However her most memorable day in politics was when she needed to stand in for Sir Keir Starmer to answer the Finances two years in the past. “Keir Starmer examined constructive for Covid-19 and I needed to step in – with 45 minutes’ discover,” she stated. “I had simply sufficient time to textual content my husband to place the TV on.”
Merton’s off-grid
Comic Paul Merton is off-grid. He tells Waitrose Weekend journal: “I don’t have a cell. I’m infrequently away from [his wife] Suki – she’s bought a cellphone. And other people can e-mail me. I’m not a 24-hour plumber, so I don’t get pressing calls saying, ‘I’m as much as my neck in water. Are you able to get to Tunbridge Wells in 20 minutes?’”
Effective dealing with
Clare Balding – who has introduced the Crufts canine present on Channel 4 for years – has been reminiscing about her just lately deceased canine, Archie. “He was a Tibetan Terrier, and one of many best moments in my tv life was when his grandfather, the splendidly named Fabulous Willie, gained Finest In Present at Crufts, she tells the Oh My Canine! podcast. “I used to be presenting, so I needed to go and do the interview with Willie’s homeowners, and certainly his handler as nicely. Simply suppose that by and what the commentator has to say: ‘And right here’s Fabulous Willie dealt with by…’” We get the image Clare!
New postcode for Galloway
One of many early pledges by new Staff Social gathering of Britain MP George Galloway is for his Rochdale constituency to have its personal postcode. “Our postcode is OL – a subdivision of Oldham,” he informed MPs this week. Ministers aren’t serving to to enhance the scenario. “The allocation of postcodes is an operational matter for Royal Mail as an unbiased enterprise,” Submit Workplace minister Kevin Hollinrake informed him. “The Authorities doesn’t have a task in Royal Mail’s operational selections.” Possibly it’s time to construct political alliances to get what you need, George?
Peterborough, printed each Friday at 7pm, is edited by Christopher Hope. You’ll be able to attain him at peterborough@telegraph.co.uk