Ephraim Hardcastle

THe Q ueen w on’t tolerate p ilfering a t h er palaces a ny l onger, I h ear. Casual s taff h ave occasionally b een k nown t o k eep a r oyal memento, o r p ull a g old b utton o ff t heir state l ivery. N ow t here a re r outine searches a nd n o o ne i s a llowed t o l eave until a c ount o f t he c utlery h as b een done. M y s ource s ays: ‘ There i s e ven a dedicated s nooper a t t he P alace w ho checks e Bay a nd t he l ike f or w hat a re termed “ privileged i tems” a nd t ries t o track d own t he s eller. W oe b etide anyone o n t he p ayroll w ho i s f ound o ut.’ THE Reform Club – a pop band, not the gentleman’s club – appear on BBC Two’s Daily Politics today. Why so? Perhaps because their lead singer is former Lib Dem MP and minister Norman Baker. They’ll perform two tracks from their new album, Never Yesterday. As for Baker, his recording label Angel Air commends him thus: ‘His former boss, Nick Clegg, referred to him in his MP/ minister role as “a cross between Gandhi and a battering ram”.’ MPs having given their initial support to england adopting its own national anthem i n p lace o f G od S ave T he Queen, I r ecall t hat t he l atter w as o nce the cause of brief embarrassment for the Duchess of Cambridge. When attending a P rince’s T rust c oncert at the royal Albert Hall in 2011, organised by pop star Gary Barlow, Kate w as u nsure a bout t he p rotocol when the audience sang God Save The Queen a t t he s tart o f t he s how. Standing next to Prince William in the royal Box, she was spotted on camera inquiring of her other half: ‘Are you singing?’ H e r eplied: ‘ Trying t o.’ o nly HM is excused from joining in. But she is estimated to have listened to it 25,000 times d uring h er r eign. FORMER FIrst Minister Alex Salmond was embarrassingly forced to admit he used the pseudonym James T Kirk ‘for security reasons’ when booking a flight. But it seems he is not the only avid Star Trek fan within the SNP ranks. Nationalist MP Philippa Whitford yesterday boldly went where no British politician has gone before and delivered a Vulcan salute, pictured above, in the Commons during a debate on the future of the UK space industry. Clearly the SNP does not lack for space cadets. GAY L abour M P C hris B ryant ‘ warmly congratulates’ T ory S cottish S ecretary David M undell, w ho h as ‘ come o ut’, telling t he C ommons: ‘ He s aid h e h opes he w ill n ot b e t reated d ifferently b ecause of h is s exuality, a nd c an I j ust a ssure h im that b eing g ay d oesn’t n ecessarily m ake you a ny b etter a s ap olitician?’ W hen this w as m et w ith w idespread l aughter in t he c hamber, B ryant r esponded: ‘ oh, I didn’t t hink t hat w as v ery f unny.’