Ephraim Hardcastle
NEW Lord Chancellor, David Lidington, tells legal eagles: ‘Your intellect, your sharp legal minds, your wealth of knowledge, together with your dedication, personal integrity and commitment ensure we have a judiciary that is fair, free from improper influence, and truly independent.’ We’re entitled to suspect that – as a non-lawyer – Lidington is buttering up legal luminaries to win the support they denied his lay predecessor, Liz Truss. CELEBRITY cook Delia Smith and Harry Potter author J K Rowling became Companions of Honour, which are in the gift of the Prime Minister. Commendably, Theresa May has restored the original purpose of this gong – recognising achievements in arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry and religion. In David Cameron’s six years in No 10, of the 19 people he appointed, ten were politicians. SENIOR royals are praised for their swift, sympathetic reaction to recent tragedies. What a difference from 2016. During last year’s Royal Ascot, after the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox, neither the Queen nor other royals reacted. The death of Mrs Cox, who, like all MPs, had sworn to ‘be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth,’ was ignored. Suggestions for a short silence after the royal arrival at Ascot were rejected. SCHEMING former EU Commissioner Lord Mandelson – twice removed as a Labour Cabinet minister – tells Radio 4 he’s available to assist in Brexit negotiations. Aren’t there enough snouts in this trough? For his part, our chief trade negotiations adviser, Crawford Falconer, suggests some EU bureaucrats ‘have a personal financial interest in stringing out negotiations’. BBC Europe Editor Katya Adler describes Brexit minister David Davis ‘hanging on to that handshake as hard as he could’ while posing with the EU’s Michel Barnier. (She might have described Barnier similarly, but didn’t.) She asked Davis: ‘Can the EU trust that what you ask for today will be what you ask for in a few days’ time, considering the political confusion in the UK?’ Is multilingual Mrs Adler working for the BBC, the EU – or is there any difference? ACTRESS Shirley Anne Field, 80, says that Sir Sean Connery, 86, wined and dined her at Scott’s in Mayfair, adding: ‘He’d say, “You’ll only want one course.” ’ But she’d tell him: ‘I’ll eat everything on the menu if I like!’ She muses: ‘He still talks about being poor and sleeping in a drawer as a child.’ A top drawer, surely.