Matthew Bell: The <i>IoS</i> Diary (04/04/10)
It's just one long holiday
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Your support makes all the difference.Wielding, as ever, his sword of truth, George Galloway says TalkSport has "killed off" his "highly popular" radio show. He tells fans the decision was a business mistake and considers the show's demise premature. But isn't all this ranting itself, um, a touch premature? When I ring TalkSport to ask why they have given it the chop – was it his £100,000 salary or the fervent position on Israel, I wonder? – a spokesman says, oh no, it hasn't gone for ever, but parliamentary rules prevent them from broadcasting an MP in the run up to an election. Still, Gorgeous has taken it hard and has stomped off to set up his own radio station, Rebel Radio. Technicalities such as funding are still to be ironed out, but "the radio insurrection will begin soon," he insists. "It's just over the rainbow." Just without that £100k pot of gold.
A bravery medal for More 4 for broadcasting Chris Atkins's documentary Starsuckers on Tuesday, which exposes the murky practices of some tabloids. Atkins has received at least five legal warnings, including three from the News of the World, who have demanded to see the film before airing (though we don't recall them showing Max Mosley their "Nazi orgy" splash before publication). One of the threatening letters came from no-win no-fee experts David Price Advocates, which is odd since the NoW is on record for criticising the "chilling effect" of Britain's creeping libel laws, singling out practices like, er, David Price Advocates. The programme has been the subject of an injunction from publicist Max Clifford, and Bob Geldof has also sent a letter rebutting a number of allegations. When I ask Atkins if he is worried, his response is unequivocally Anglo-Saxon. What larks.
Conrad Black likes to keep up appearances despite being sentenced to live in a Florida penitentiary for six-and-a-half years, so it's most inconsiderate of his family members to let the side down. Vicky Ward, the New York journalist married to Black's step-nephew is quoted in the May issue of Tatler as saying: "Conrad was never a big deal in New York." This is a terrible slight for anyone, but Ward then goes further by revealing how gauche Conrad could be, telling how, at her wedding, he took the parking space reserved for her bridal limousine. I suppose it's small fry compared to being found guilty of fraud but, still, Conrad does have a reputation to uphold, you know.
Green party leader, Caroline Lucas, has come up with a neat little soundbite to show the woeful pace of change at Westminster: "We supposedly have 'The Mother of all Parliaments', and yet we're 69th in the world for the percentage of women we have as part of that Parliament. Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates have more women in their parliaments. If we keep accruing women to Parliament at the same rate we are doing now, it would take 200 years to have equal representation. That's the same amount of time it would take a snail to walk the Great Wall of China." Our money's on the snail.
Fans of Richard Ashcroft were horrified to see his death announced by a music journalist on Facebook last week. Although it was 1 April, the person in question has previously broken the news of genuine deaths on Facebook before and the news appeared to be corroborated by an NME journalist who left a sympathetic comment. Of course it turned out to have been a gag, and when someone pointed out it was on the wrong side of tasteful it promptly disappeared. We won't name names, but you know who you are.
Palace officials are bracing themselves for an unofficial new biography of Princes William and Harry, to be published by Random House in June. The book is timed to coincide with what will effectively be their first joint official tour, when Harry joins William in South Africa. Although the palace has not granted access, I'm told author Katie Nicholl has secured a few inside scoops from speaking to friends and former aides to the princes. Nicholl is best known as the Mail on Sunday's royal correspondent and diarist, and has a string of royal exclusives attached to her name. But one person who has seen the book says the princes have nothing to worry about. We can't wait.
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