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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| No takers for supreme court hats but a prized sweater finds new home No takers for supreme court hats but a prized sweater finds new home | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Monday | Monday |
| The supreme court is surprisingly cosy and intimate, laid out more like a modern university seminar room than the Old Bailey. It also has its own over-priced cafe – £7 for a meal deal of a sandwich, a bag of crisps and a soft drink may be a bargain for QCs on £500k per year, but it seemed a bit steep to me – and a gift shop, where you can buy supreme court teddies and baseball caps. There didn’t seem to be any takers for either. Even so, it was apparently intimidating enough to make some experienced barristers act like novices when the government’s article 50 appeal came to be heard. The attorney general, Jeremy Wright, rushed through his opening statement as if he couldn’t wait to get the whole thing over with, and James Eadie, the principal government barrister, managed to give two conflicting answers to the same question within five minutes on the first day. The case also seemed to induce collective amnesia among the legal profession. It wasn’t until the final day, after lots of chat about lobster factories, requisitioning hotels and the treaty of Utrecht, that Manjit Gill, acting for EEA family nationals, pointed out the bleeding obvious. The reason that the 2015 Referendum Act made no reference to parliament triggering article 50, he observed, was that no one had ever expected the Brexiteers to win. | The supreme court is surprisingly cosy and intimate, laid out more like a modern university seminar room than the Old Bailey. It also has its own over-priced cafe – £7 for a meal deal of a sandwich, a bag of crisps and a soft drink may be a bargain for QCs on £500k per year, but it seemed a bit steep to me – and a gift shop, where you can buy supreme court teddies and baseball caps. There didn’t seem to be any takers for either. Even so, it was apparently intimidating enough to make some experienced barristers act like novices when the government’s article 50 appeal came to be heard. The attorney general, Jeremy Wright, rushed through his opening statement as if he couldn’t wait to get the whole thing over with, and James Eadie, the principal government barrister, managed to give two conflicting answers to the same question within five minutes on the first day. The case also seemed to induce collective amnesia among the legal profession. It wasn’t until the final day, after lots of chat about lobster factories, requisitioning hotels and the treaty of Utrecht, that Manjit Gill, acting for EEA family nationals, pointed out the bleeding obvious. The reason that the 2015 Referendum Act made no reference to parliament triggering article 50, he observed, was that no one had ever expected the Brexiteers to win. |
| Tuesday | Tuesday |
| While most of the country’s top legal and parliamentary minds were trying to get to grips with Brexit, a few MPs were busy debating something rather more serious in the Commons: the legacy of Andy and Jamie Murray. As so often in parliament, there was more than a little self-interest involved, with most of the handful of MPs in the chamber coming from the ranks of the SNP. Some even tried to claim some of the credit for the Murrays’ efforts. “Back in 2014,” said Steven Paterson, SNP member for Stirling, “I was able to play a small part in recognising Andy’s achievements at that point, when, as a councillor, I was able to vote in favour of conferring the freedom of the city of Stirling on him at a ceremony in Dunblane, his home town.” I’m sure Andy would never have ended up world No 1 without Paterson’s intervention. Quite what difference this debate will have made is another matter. Back in the 70s and 80s when John Curry, Robin Cousins and Torvill and Dean were picking up golds for ice skating, there was endless talk of legacy. Now you’re lucky to find skating broadcast on Eurosport. | While most of the country’s top legal and parliamentary minds were trying to get to grips with Brexit, a few MPs were busy debating something rather more serious in the Commons: the legacy of Andy and Jamie Murray. As so often in parliament, there was more than a little self-interest involved, with most of the handful of MPs in the chamber coming from the ranks of the SNP. Some even tried to claim some of the credit for the Murrays’ efforts. “Back in 2014,” said Steven Paterson, SNP member for Stirling, “I was able to play a small part in recognising Andy’s achievements at that point, when, as a councillor, I was able to vote in favour of conferring the freedom of the city of Stirling on him at a ceremony in Dunblane, his home town.” I’m sure Andy would never have ended up world No 1 without Paterson’s intervention. Quite what difference this debate will have made is another matter. Back in the 70s and 80s when John Curry, Robin Cousins and Torvill and Dean were picking up golds for ice skating, there was endless talk of legacy. Now you’re lucky to find skating broadcast on Eurosport. |
| Wednesday | Wednesday |
| I’ve reached the age where I worry about what’s going to happen to some of my possessions after I croak. Not the big stuff, like the house and my books, which are all taken care of by my will. But the sentimental stuff that will be of no interest to my kids but which I would nonetheless rather weren’t given away to a charity shop. One such item was the sweater worn by Wasim Akram in his man-of-the-match performance in the cricket World Cup final in Melbourne in 1992. I had spent the whole of that tournament with the Pakistan team – I was writing a book about Wasim and Waqar – and Wasim gave me the sweater in the dressing room moments after Pakistan had won the trophy. I was – and am – immensely touched by his gesture, but the fact remains that for the last 24 years it has been gathering moth holes in a drawer and is of no interest to my family. So I decided to put it up for auction in India, where today it sold for 3.3 lakh rupees. That’s about £3,900, which will be going to a cricket charity. Bizarrely, the sweater was bought by the MCC museum, so my kids can go and visit it at Lord’s should they be interested one day. I’m not holding my breath. | I’ve reached the age where I worry about what’s going to happen to some of my possessions after I croak. Not the big stuff, like the house and my books, which are all taken care of by my will. But the sentimental stuff that will be of no interest to my kids but which I would nonetheless rather weren’t given away to a charity shop. One such item was the sweater worn by Wasim Akram in his man-of-the-match performance in the cricket World Cup final in Melbourne in 1992. I had spent the whole of that tournament with the Pakistan team – I was writing a book about Wasim and Waqar – and Wasim gave me the sweater in the dressing room moments after Pakistan had won the trophy. I was – and am – immensely touched by his gesture, but the fact remains that for the last 24 years it has been gathering moth holes in a drawer and is of no interest to my family. So I decided to put it up for auction in India, where today it sold for 3.3 lakh rupees. That’s about £3,900, which will be going to a cricket charity. Bizarrely, the sweater was bought by the MCC museum, so my kids can go and visit it at Lord’s should they be interested one day. I’m not holding my breath. |
| Thursday | Thursday |
| Much has been made of the vast amounts of cash George Osborne has been raking in for making speeches about “How I spent six years as chancellor of the exchequer imposing austerity only for Philip Hammond to completely reverse the policy when he realised it wasn’t working”. But the list of member’s interests also throws light on the hierarchy of MPs’ moonlighting activities. While Osborne was picking up £80,240 (plus travel and accommodation) for a speech to Palmex Derivatives in New York, Iain Duncan Smith was more of a bottom feeder. IDS collected just £2,000 for a speech to Target Jobs in Wallingford and £2,500 from Scottish Widows in Edinburgh. Even so, having heard rather too many of IDS’s speeches, I can’t help feeling he may be over-charging. I remember one of his speeches during the referendum campaign that was so poorly attended – not even the hacks could be bothered to make it – that they had to bring in a few campaign fillers to bulk up the numbers. | Much has been made of the vast amounts of cash George Osborne has been raking in for making speeches about “How I spent six years as chancellor of the exchequer imposing austerity only for Philip Hammond to completely reverse the policy when he realised it wasn’t working”. But the list of member’s interests also throws light on the hierarchy of MPs’ moonlighting activities. While Osborne was picking up £80,240 (plus travel and accommodation) for a speech to Palmex Derivatives in New York, Iain Duncan Smith was more of a bottom feeder. IDS collected just £2,000 for a speech to Target Jobs in Wallingford and £2,500 from Scottish Widows in Edinburgh. Even so, having heard rather too many of IDS’s speeches, I can’t help feeling he may be over-charging. I remember one of his speeches during the referendum campaign that was so poorly attended – not even the hacks could be bothered to make it – that they had to bring in a few campaign fillers to bulk up the numbers. |
| Friday | Friday |
| Politicians’ Christmas cards are always a matter of some curiosity and Theresa May has come under the microscope for appearing to have chosen one that shows Santa behind bars. Still it could be worse: Labour’s Jonathan Reynolds says colleague Michael Dugher was once offered a Christmas scene of Santa being crucified on the cross. But this year’s festive highlight has to be the release of Jeremy Corbyn’s Christmas single by Robb Johnson and the Corbynistas. After a sleigh bell opening, the chorus runs: “I’m voting Jeremy Corbyn / I’m voting Jeremy C / I like his ideas / They’re fair and they’re clear / Jezza and me, we agree / We’re all for peace and for justice / JC4PM for me.” The launch party took place in a curry house in Hounslow and ended with a discussion of media bias. All proceeds go to the Trussell Trust. | Politicians’ Christmas cards are always a matter of some curiosity and Theresa May has come under the microscope for appearing to have chosen one that shows Santa behind bars. Still it could be worse: Labour’s Jonathan Reynolds says colleague Michael Dugher was once offered a Christmas scene of Santa being crucified on the cross. But this year’s festive highlight has to be the release of Jeremy Corbyn’s Christmas single by Robb Johnson and the Corbynistas. After a sleigh bell opening, the chorus runs: “I’m voting Jeremy Corbyn / I’m voting Jeremy C / I like his ideas / They’re fair and they’re clear / Jezza and me, we agree / We’re all for peace and for justice / JC4PM for me.” The launch party took place in a curry house in Hounslow and ended with a discussion of media bias. All proceeds go to the Trussell Trust. |
| Digested week, digested: Red, white and blue Brexit means … good news for the French. | Digested week, digested: Red, white and blue Brexit means … good news for the French. |