Sol is gunning for a Tory seat
IS IT April fool’s day already? Sol Campbell, the ex-England footballer, yesterday said he could be the next MP for Kensington, succeeding Sir Malcolm Rifkind who resigned after the cash for access scandal.
Campbell, formerly a member of Arsenal’s 2004 “Invincibles” side, indicated while speaking to Sky that he is potentially being lined up to take the Conservative safe seat of Kensington.
The retired footballer replied “step by step” when asked if he was going to go for Rifkind’s former seat by presenter Dermot Murnaghan.
A surprised Diane Abbott, a fellow guest on the show, asked “are you thinking about it?”, to which Campbell said “I think about a lot of things.”
A move into politics has been widely mooted, with Campbell also being linked to the Mayor of London candidacy when Boris Johnson leaves City Hall in 2016.
■ TWIT-TWOO, all is not well in London’s bar land. Alcohol has been removed from the menu of a pop-up bar in London which is hosting real-life owls, after thousands of people raised concerns about the welfare of the birds. More than 64,000 people had applied for tickets to see the owls while sipping a cocktail, but the event has caused outrage among some animal lovers, including the owl sanctuary for which the bar was raising money. A petition against the event has gained more than 17,000 signatures and the organisers have now bowed to the concerns of animal welfare groups such as Peta, and will no longer serve alcoholic drinks at Annie the Owl. The novelty bar will be hosted in London for just a week and features five owls named Annie, Darwin, Ruby, Cinders, Winston and Hootie – all handled by trained falconers.
■ ROWDY MPs in the House of Commons are something of an embarrassing British institution, with the weekly clash of Prime Minister’s Questions particularly raucous. Now Labour is seeking to stamp out the rather unedifying scenes we so regularly see. The opposition party has put forward a new proposal to create a rugby-style sin bin for badly behaved parliamentarians. Reports say that shadow leader of the house Angela Eagle wants to make it easier for the Speaker to kick those who are misbehaving out from the chamber. MPs who engage in foul play will be banned for an hour, and repeat offenders will be sent to the stands for three sessions. Rumours that commons Speaker John Bercow, the parliamentary referee, will be given red and yellow cards and a whistle, are, so far, unconfirmed.