Ephraim Hardcastle

NEWLY-appointed Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, 44, fell out with Theresa May in 2011 after attacking the ‘obnoxious bigotry’ of feminism. He suggested men should ‘burn their briefs’ in protest at the ‘equality bandwagon’. Then-home secretary (and minister for women) Mrs May warned Raab in the Commons: ‘Labelling feminists as obnoxious bigots is not the way forward.’ All forgotten now? PIERCE Brosnan, 65, promoting his new film, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, released on July 20 – he starred in the 2008 original, pictured – says: ‘I think the world is ready to hear me sing once more.’ Surely not. Critics compared his 2008 warbling to ‘a water buffalo’, ‘a donkey braying’ and ‘a wounded racoon’, one of them adding: ‘He looks physically pained choking out the lyrics, as if he’s being subjected to a prostate exam.’ THERESA May faces no public clamour to reverse anti-Putin policy and send FA president Prince William and (in the absence of resigning Boris Johnson) a Foreign Office official to Moscow to cheer on England’s World Cup team. But if the Three Lions get to the final, and triumph there, the public mood may change and the clamour for them to be honoured will be huge. If guided by precedent, Mrs May will be cautious. After winning the 1966 World Cup, England manager Alf Ramsey was knighted in the 1967 New Year Honours, and captain Bobby Moore got an OBE, but five of the team received no gongs until 1999 when – keen to further ingratiate himself with voters – then-PM Tony Blair gave MBEs to surviving 1966 stars Nobby Stiles, Alan Ball, Roger Hunt, Ray Wilson and George Cohen. FA president Prince William’s Kensington Palace Twitter feed proclaimed, after England beat Sweden 2-0, ‘Football’s Coming Home! W.’ Is HRH guilty of over-hype again? Prior to Russia being picked to host the 2018 World Cup, William announced: ‘I am confident that our bid will make you proud.’ England received only two votes out of 22 – one from England. THE Today programme’s John Humphrys tells the now ex-Brexit Secretary David Davis: ‘You can imagine them in Brussels rubbing their hands and saying, “Look, so much disagreement in London, even the man in charge of the Brexit negotiations has resigned! For goodness sake, what a mess they’re in!”’ Davis responds: ‘Now can you do it in French? In [chief EU negotiator] Michel Barnier’s accent?’ Of course not! WITH 74 royal box seats to fill every day of the Championships in Wimbledon, giving hospitality packages to the Middleton family has become standard. You are now more likely to recognise a Middleton there than a royal. The invitation packages include lunch, tea and end-of-day drinks. Speaker John Bercow – complying with Parliament’s register of interests – valued his day there last year at over £8,000.