Cause celebre
Reliable sources say almost the last stroke of the outgoing General Bobby was a fresh jab at the Leaks drama, and an attempt to get the beleaguered journos to reveal all. Apparently, it was being demanded that the journos turn in their laptops and cell phones so that all their chatter and correspondence could be monitored. Last we heard, there was stiff resistance to this demand. The matter has already become an international cause celebre and will involve more embarrassment if not dealt with fairly.
Trounced again
The Great Khan’s ex-bro-in-law Zac Goldsmith suffered another electoral defeat recently when he contested a by-election for Parliament from Richmond, a constituency in Greater London. Six months earlier, Mr Goldsmith lost the election for Mayor of London to Sadiq Khan, whose family hails from Pakistan. During the mayoral campaign, Mr G tried to woo Indian voters by declaring that he was a huge fan of Bollywood. When asked to name his favourite film or star, he couldn’t come up with a single title or name! He didn’t get much support from Pakistani-Britons either, although The Great Khan went out to London especially to campaign for him. The Richmond by-election was Mr G’s second loss in 2016, losing to an anti-Brexit Liberal Democrat woman candidate. A famous wag tweeted, “Imagine being Zac Goldsmith. It’s 2016. Everywhere the Right is triumphant. And you lose, twice in six months”. In an unpleasant aside, Zac’s younger brother Ben threw a tantrum on Twitter and abused Mr G’s opponent Sarah Olney and the musician Bob Geldof (a prominent anti-Brexiter who came to campaign for her) calling her “unimaginably drab” and Geldof “a prime c***”.