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| Former Tribune boss sent off
by icons of left |
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Tony Benn and Michael Foot
Bob Marshall-Andrews and Rodney Bickerstaff
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IT has emerged that the Labour Party might consider Tony Benn
to be a security risk and it is possible he might miss the conference
that takes place in Brighton next week.
Diary chatted with Mr Benn at the Gay Hussar on Wednesday night,
at a party sending off former Tribune editor Mark Seddon to New
York to become Arab satellite news channel Al-Jazeera’s editor
over there.
“I had a letter from the Labour Party headquarters,” Mr
Benn said, “and it seems that my security clearance hasn’t
come through. But if I am not there I don’t really know how
to feel.” And he had plenty of compliments to pay to the channel
which has become famous, or infamous, for its broadcasting of films
from al-Qaeda.
He said: “Al Jazeera is what the BBC used to be before Lord
Hutton and Lord Butler.”
It was a packed occasion, inevitably full of wine and paté
de foie gras.
Regular habitué of the legendary Greek Street restaurant
Michael Foot held court and was joined by former agriculture minister
Nick Brown MP, journalist Francis Wheen, cartoonist Martin Rowson
and rebel Labour back-bencher Bob Marshall-Andrews.
Diary spoke with him before the General Election when he urged waiving
voters to turn to the Liberal Democrats in a protest over the Iraq
war.
And on Wednesday night he was happy to endorse this view. “Iraq
is a bloody mess,” he said.
Diary is sure that Mark Seddon will be responsible for airing similar
opinions in his role in New York.
Simon tries something completely different
IT is only a matter of time before Spamalot, the theatrical take
of Monty Python’s Holy Grail, becomes a huge hit.
But news reaches Diary that Simon Russell Beale (pictured here as
Iago in 1998), who has recently been garnering great reviews in
Christopher Hampton’s The Philanthropist at the Donmar, is
on his way to New York to appear in the show.
It seems to Diary that this marks a considerable detour in Beale’s
so far stellar career. He has been hugely applauded during his time
at the Royal Shakespeare Company, especially for his portrayal as
Hamlet last year, but how will he cope with the bumbling King Arthur?
Well, he must surely add depth to a role that is currently filled
by Tim Curry, famed for suspenders and lipstick in the Rocky Horror
Show.
One can only hope that Beale stays in the role long enough to come
over to the West End for a reprise.
Dig out your MCC blazer for cricket’s
best position
A SIX-figure salary awaits the successful app-licant to a vacant
position and, no doubt, complementary tickets to some of cricket’s
biggest occasions.
For Roger Knight (pictured), the current secretary and chief executive
of the Marylebone Cricket Club is set to stand down at the end of
next year.
He has been at the helm for 12 years but will be 60 next year and
has decided to retire.
It must surely be one of the most sought after jobs in British sport
especially after such a successful summer, when the game is at a
peak.
Sadly Diary stands little chance of running the world’s most
famous cricket club.
Applicants should preferably have been a professional cricketer
– the nearest Diary got was a scorer – and have a track
record in business and good in diplomacy. |
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