Ephraim Hardcastle

HOME Secretary Theresa May is the toast of the Tory backbenches following her successful extradition of Abu Hamza, the opt-out from 130 EU crime and justice laws and now her refusal to put Asperger’s sufferer Gary McKinnon on a plane to face charges in the US. Bookies have cut her odds on becoming the next Tory leader from 16/1 to 12/1. Some excitable MPs compare the McKinnon decision to the moment in the movie Love Actually when a British PM stands up to Washington. A minister confides: ‘She’ll definitely stand if there’s a leadership election.’ Boris v Theresa might be a political attraction on a par with Muhammad Ali and George Foreman’s 1974 ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ in Zaire. DOWNTON Abbey’s Earl of Grantham declared in a recent episode: ‘I’ve never trusted Catholics, there’s always been something of the “Johnny Foreigner” about them.’ An RC expert opines: ‘The upper classes have been anti-Catholic for centuries. Even today there are vestiges of it, even in the Royal Family.’ Not Downton’s creator, Julian Fellowes, surely. He’s a left-footer himself. NEWS International boss Rupert Murdoch manages to spear detractors at the New York Times and the BBC with this message to Twitter fans: ‘Boring Sunday morning. Practically nothing in NYT. Look to new CEO [ex BBC Director General Mark Thompson] to shake up NYT unless recalled to BBC to explain latest scandal.’ Rupert’s 81 but doesn’t miss a trick. SURELY TV heartthrob Jon Hamm, 41, pictured, isn’t ruthless like the character he portrays, advertising man Don Draper of Mad Men? According to a US report, he erupted when his partner of 14 years, actress and writer Jennifer Westfeldt, 42, asked about marriage, and is quoted as saying: ‘If you want to get married, go right ahead. There’s the door. Go find someone else to marry because it’s not going to be me!’ Love, a many-splendored thing. WRITER Jeanette Winterson has been holidaying in Mexico with psychotherapist Susie Orbach, pictured, who is in a ‘post-heterosexual’ relationship with the lesbian author. They roosted at the Hemingway Hotel in Tulum, from which Winterson reports: ‘White sand. Cabin on beach. Turtles hatching. First holiday in 18 months. So happy. Lucky life.’ The guileless hotelier inquired: ‘Are you sisters?’ ENTERTAINER Rolf Harris, 82, announces: ‘I’m recording an album of folk songs, including duets with people like Sir Cliff Richard, Kate Bush and Bonnie Tyler.’ Isn’t it typical of big-hearted Rolf to allow this washed-up trio to piggyback on his success? FIVE Live’s Victoria Derbyshire read out messages from listeners about their attitude towards the BBC after the Savile scandal, including this heartening tribute: ‘Apart from harbouring tax dodgers and paedophiles the BBC does a great job.’