Anthony D Padgett has immortalised the would-be Labour leader as a symbol of the north
Andy Burnham’s head may be turning in the direction of Norwich but, in Manchester, it’s been cast in bronze. Just when the Manchester mayor is looking to skip south, an artist called Anthony D Padgett has created a Burnham bust for display at the city’s art fair, immortalising the would-be Labour leader as a symbol of the north. Readers will be unsurprised to hear that the ego-free mayor collaborated with Padgett in the project. “Politicians in London have a great profile,” Padgett said. “The same cannot often be said of regional leaders. I wanted to address this and promote figures of the north on a national scale.” Promotion on a national scale must be music to Burnham’s bronze ears.
Jokes? Pull the udder one
The Commons benches were groaning on Thursday, not from being packed but from MPs sharing dad jokes. It was in support of The Dad Shift’s campaign to expand paternity leave and Josh Newbury, who opened the International Men’s Day debate, furnished an otherwise excellent and moving speech with a joke about cows producing more milk when farmers talk to them. “It’s a case of in one ear, out the udder,” he said. That set the tone. Connor Rand said he was hesitant to joke because he’d once fluffed a gag about Chewbacca from Star Wars: “It was a Wookie error.” Health secretary Wes Streeting was also cautious. “I have less sense of humour than Downing Street has for tolerating my jokes,” he said. “Though I did once hear of a Canadian politician who was popular with everyone. It’s probably not Trudeau.”
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Fridays in the House of Lords are currently dominated by the assisted dying bill, and there are two groups who are determinedly battling to pass the law or vanquish it. To add to the parliamentary drama, the rival factions have ended up being based in adjoining rooms as they discuss their tactics. Peers think it could be a good setting for James Graham’s next play, but it has also led to skullduggery. At least one of the sides has attempted some eavesdropping by hacking into the other room’s audio loop. As recently discussed in this column, hearing aids are a handy weapon in Westminster.
Check out Dawkins’ hacker
The scientist Richard Dawkins has had his email hacked, and he’s a bit disappointed in anyone who fell for it. In an email alerting contacts to the situation, Dawkins said that someone had sent a dodgy link around, but he also noted that those who had queried the hacker had received a reply which must surely have confirmed that this was a hoax. “He told them to ‘check it out’,” Dawkins said. “As if I’d use a phrase like ‘Check it out’”.
There was amusement in the BBC as Nick Robinson and Emma Barnett did a rare spot of co-hosting on Radio 4’s Today programme. The two reportedly have a feud and have not been a frequent partnership, but it did not escape colleagues’ notice that the editors had paired them up on a day when the top story was about a supposed truce ending a long-standing conflict. Peace in our breakfast-time.