PETERBOROUGH
Ben Wallace’s big promotion
The Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, below, has won plaudits for shaping the West’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Now he is tipped for a big promotion. Not to PM, as some have cheekily suggested, but to be Nato secretary general in September when Jens Stoltenberg stands down.
The US wants a Brit in charge to counter Brussels’ plans for an EU army, while Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach has quit as chairman of a key Nato committee, so there is a vacancy for a Brit at the top. The last British subject to hold the post was Labour’s George Robertson, who was bumped up from defence secretary in 1999. Wallace “has put himself in a position where Sec Gen is very much within reach”, a senior Government source tells me. The big loser is former national security adviser Lord Sedwill, who was considered a contender.
Wallace’s friends say (as you might expect) that he is happy as Defence Secretary. But watch this space.
What the Dickens?
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Charles Dickens Museum in central London kept in touch with fans of the Victorian writer, right, around the world by boosting its social media presence. Its Instagram account now has 13,000 followers.
One problem has emerged, though; whenever it tries to open a Tiktok account, it gets blocked and reported for inappropriate language. Apparently, the name Dickens sends the site’s anti-porn filters into a tailspin. “It’s simply not fair,” one of the museum’s directors tells me.
“We’ve tried every combination but it just doesn’t like the ‘Dick’ in ‘Dickens’ ... Tiktok does not seem to have the same problem with a ‘Cocker Spaniel’ or ‘Cockermouth’ in Cumbria.”
A clear case of double standards.
Dave bets on Boris’s survival
David Cameron’s rivalry with his Old Etonian school chum Boris Johnson goes back years. I reported last year that Johnson is obsessed with beating Cameron’s six years in office. That looked in severe doubt during the Partygate scandal. But now I hear that Cameron has bet a slap-up dinner with a good friend that Johnson will still be in No 10 by the end of this year.
The bet was struck before Tory MPS like Douglas Ross withdrew their calls for Johnson to resign this week. It looks like Dave can start leafing through the Michelin restaurant guide now.
Carry on at Canterbury
There is upset at Canterbury Cathedral, where the well-liked Dean Robert Willis is being forced to retire a day before his 75th birthday. Willis – who has held the post for over 20 years – became a viral sensation during the Covid lockdowns when his cat Leo, above right, with Willis, was seen wandering into view during his Youtube sermons and disappearing beneath his robes. The Church of England’s canon law dictates that clergy must retire at 75, even if they are fit and well, which Willis says is “a deep disappointment”. He says: “We are now faced with the fact that when the clock strikes on 16 May I shall no longer be the Dean and can take no part from that moment onwards.
“We are really disappointed that all the energy and vision we have can no longer be used for this place because of this anomalous law which pertains only to the clergy.”
Given the repeated warnings about shortages of vicars in the Church of England, is this not a requirement that could be relaxed?
Will Bercow quit the Privy Council?
John Bercow, the former House of Commons speaker, might have been banned for life from Parliament, but he has hung on to his membership of the Privy Council, which advises the Monarch. This is causing some concern among privy councillors, one of whom points out that he will be able to play a role in the accession of the Prince of Wales to the throne.
This is because every member of the 700-strong council is summoned to form an Accession Council in St James’s Palace to make the necessary formal proclamation of the succession. Some hope that Bercow might quietly give up his Privy Council membership, following the example of disgraced ministers John Profumo and Jonathan Aitken.
But don’t hold your breath. The only member to be formally removed from the council in the past century was former Labour MP Elliot Morley after he went to prison over the expenses scandal.