Pandora: Morrissey's turkey talk is off the menu

(EPA)

Few vegetarians in the public eye can lay claim to fighting for the cause with the kind of vigour offered by that revered Mancunian miserablist, Morrissey.

Having well and truly nailed his colours to the mast with Meat Is Murder, the celebrated Smiths album from 1985, the singer has continued to prove unrelenting in his crusade as the years have passed.

Earlier this year, he briefly left the stage during a festival appearance in California when the smell of a nearby burger van dared to waft past his nostrils.

So I think it's safe to assume that the sensitive old flower would not have been amused by the latest advert for his American merchandise. In an attempt to stir fans into buying Mozza memorabilia before Christmas, the Official Morrissey Wesbtore announced: "Thanksgiving is over, so put down those turkey legs!"

It wasn't long before the faux pas was brought to its attention and a correction uploaded, saying: "The Official Morrissey Webstore wishes to apologise to Morrissey mailing list members who may have seen the mass email advertisement that was sent out after Thanksgiving which mentioned eating turkey.

"Morrissey is a strict vegetarian and abhors the killing of defenceless animals."

Maguire rules himself out (and in)

Having been repeatedly tipped as the lead in the forthcoming big-screen version of The Hobbit, Tobey Maguire's half-hearted attempt to distance himself from the part is unlikely to put speculation to bed. In response to reports that he met the film's makers Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson, the Spider-Man star said: "The source was not accurate at all." Just when the confusion appeared resolved, he helpfully added: "I love Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson and I certainly wouldn't take myself out of the conversation." What?

Sales of Blears brooch rock the town hall

While she might be getting rather fewer Christmas cards in the post, Hazel Blears is proving an unlikely commercial asset this festive season. The former communities and local government secretary, who was embroiled in this summer's expenses scandal, succeeded in ruffling plenty of feathers after quitting the Labour frontbench when she cheekily chose to don a brooch bearing the mischievous slogan "rocking the boat".

Now, Pandora learns that sales of replicas are going great guns at a jewellery exhibition at Manchester Town Hall, not far from Blears's Salford consituency

"We sold out of that design completely," says an excited spokesman.

"We ordered more in, but now we are about to sell out again. We had no idea it had become quite so famous."

Rusbridger's ready to spell it out

Alan Rusbridger, editor-in-chief of The Guardian, enjoys a suitably grand billing on invitations to attend next month's Hugh Cudlipp Lecture, which he will deliver as the guest speaker of the London College of Communication. The profound title of his presentation is "Does Journalism Exist?".

However, it seems that the annual event has a few teething troubles – embarrassingly, Rusbridger's name has been misspelt on the invites as "Rushbridger".

Marr misses the point on Kidman

Andrew Marr caused quite a stir when he asked the Prime Minister about his alleged use of painkillers a few months back. So why did the BBC hack allow the most entertaining part of his encounter with Nicole Kidman (she refused to answer questions about Scientology) to be omitted from last Sunday's BBC1 broadcast? While the Beeb insists it was of little interest, when the said footage eventually appeared online it was hastily reported by several media rivals – unlike, it has to be said, the rest of the interview.

pandora@independent.co.uk