Mone forced to defend Lords record
BY DAVID MEIKLE TORY bra tycoon Michelle Mone has defended her record of attendance in the House of Lords and claimed being a woman makes her a target for critics.
Mone, 47, was made a baroness by then PM David Cameron in 2015 but there have been many calls for her to quit from opponents.
The businesswoman, from Glasgow, has only been at 89 sittings out of 457 since becoming a life peer.
But she claimed she’s attended 150 times in the past year and that she told Cameron she would always be a full-time entrepreneur.
Appearing on ITV’s This Morning, Mone said claims of poor attendance weren’t accurate, adding: “You only get registered if you go into the chamber. Not every time do I go into the chamber.” BY KELLY ALLEN SOAP actor and musician Craig McLachlan has been charged with a string of sex offences.
The former Neighbours star, 53, faces eight counts of indecent assault, one of attempted indecent assault and one of common law assault.
The alleged offences are thought to relate to when he played the role of Dr Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Show stage musical in Australia in 2014.
A spokesman for the Aussie star said: “Craig is innocent of these charges, which will be vigorously defended.”
He is due to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on February 8.
His career has included a stint in soap Home and Away and the main role in The Doctor Blake Mysteries crime drama series on BBC1 from 2013.
He also starred in BBC show Bugs between 1995 and 1999. With his band Craig McLachlan & Check 1-2, he had a No2 hit in the UK in 1990 with Mona.
His partner Vanessa Scammell, a conductor with Opera Australia, spoke in defence of McLachlan when allegations emerged this year on Australian TV.
She said: “He’s kind and gentle... Yes he’s mischievous but one of his greatest assets is he loves to make people happy and comfortable.
“We will do everything we can to move through this and clear his name.”
McLachlan vehemently denies the allegations, saying previously: “By God I will fight this. And the truth, the truth will come out.” He also said: “They seem STAGE As Dr Frank-N-Furter in the musical to be simple inventions, perhaps made for financial reasons, perhaps to gain notoriety. They are to the best of my knowledge utterly and entirely false.”
He sued the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Fairfax Media for reporting the claims. The defamation hearing was set down for four weeks from February 4 in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.
McLachlan left the stage production of The Rocky Horror Show in 2018. It is not clear if the charges relate to allegations made against him by the stage show’s actresses.
Police in the Australian state of DENIAL McLachlan says he is innocent
Victoria said yesterday the sexual offences and child abuse investigation team in Melbourne had charged a 53-year-old New South Wales man with the 10 alleged offences.
McLachlan rose to fame in 1987 in Aussie soap Neighbours as Henry Ramsay, the brother of Charlene, played by Kylie Minogue.
He was married in the 90s to his Neighbours co-star Rachel Friend, who played his on-screen girlfriend Bronwyn Davies. He has a son, Jacob, with British actress Charlotte Avery.
McLachlan has spoken previously of his pride in his Scottish roots. He said: “I love the people, I love the vibe, I love the colour of the place. My grandad Clyde was from Loch Fyne, so maybe it’s the Scottish heritage coursing through my veins.”
McLACHLAN’S SPOKESMAN AFTER THE STAR WAS CHARGED