Ephraim Hardcastle

HARRIET Harman’s bid to become Commons Speaker might not be aided by her objection to Geoffrey Boycott’s gong because of his domestic abuse conviction. It will remind MPs how the Paedophile Information Exchange was mistakenly allowed to affiliate to the National Council for Civil liberties in the 1970s. Harman subsequently admitted she ‘got it wrong’. But will it be sufficient to persuade colleagues she should succeed Squeaker Bercow? SIR Oliver Letwin, challenged by Nick Robinson on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme after calling for private documents on the suspension of Parliament to be made public, squirms at mention of his 2011 dumping of parliamentary documents in a bin, for which he had to apologise, saying: ‘Well, I’ve plenty of embarrassing incidents in my life, as you know, Nick.’ EMILY Maitlis, pictured, celebrating audiences of more than a million since she took over as numero uno presenter on BBC 2’s Newsnight, failed to show at yesterday’s Oldie magazine lunch, held at Simpson’s In The Strand, to talk about her book Airhead, citing political workload. It prompted MC Barry Cryer to wonder: ‘Has she been elected prime minister?’ REFLECTING on Squeaker Bercow’s daft Commons performance, Labour’s Kate Hoey wonders: ‘I said he needed anger management, but now I think he needs even more “specialist help”.’ Is there a doctor in the (prorogued) House? THERESA May’s former representative on earth, Fiona Hill, banned Nicky Morgan MP from meeting the PM after she criticized May’s appearance in £995 leather trousers before the last election. Does that merit a CBE? HOW did Sophia Loren, pictured in her prime, avoid the Hollywood casting couch in the age before #MeToo? She explains: ‘I had my mother next to me,’ adding: ‘If it had happened, I would have fled. The solution is there: go away, run!’ HAPPILY married to air steward James Coyle, the Queen’s cousin, lord Ivar Mountbatten, is asked by Tatler if his decision to come out had been good for the royal Family: ‘Well, you would hope so! But then they don’t really talk about it. I mean, the royals, they don’t communicate very well.’ HAS cross-dressing potter Grayson Perry become a Conservative? His new show at the Victoria Miro gallery in Mayfair has a ceramic pot with photographs of leading Conservatives emblazoned with the motto: ‘Vote Tory.’ I’m a middle-brow activist,’ he tells Vogue. ‘Taking the p*** out of everyone.’