EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: Why Rishi as PM would please Narendra Modi
EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: Why Rishi as PM would please Narendra Modi
Why isn’t prime ministerial hopeful Rishi capitalising on the huge support on offer from Indian premier Narendra Modi?
Modi has privately pledged a generous trade deal and other lucrative links should his fellow Hindu assume No 10, according to Indian High Commission sources.
Having Sunak in power, the first Hindu to occupy Downing Street, would gratify the wily Modi.
Having Rishi Sunak in power would gratify the wily Narendra Modi
Having an Indian-born wife, Akshata Murty, daughter of one of the country’s most successful businessmen, would further raise the Sunak profile on the sub-continent.
Modi, says the source, would probably be one of the first visitors to Sunak’s No 10.
Alas, for him, Liz Truss seems a cert to beat Sunak to the top job, even without summoning her regular snapper for poses in a sari.
With Channel 4 planning a musical about Prince Andrew and two dramas about his Newsnight interview in the pipeline, might his ex-wife be in demand? Fergie produced for a number of outlets including the BBC as well as The Young Victoria (finding a role as an extra for Princess Beatrice) and has worked on a mini-series all about herself with Oprah Winfrey. In May she announced she has co-founded a new production house, Vestapol Films, based in Paris. Who better to offer inside knowledge on Andrew’s mannerisms? But is she unbiased? ‘He is the best man I know,’ she gushed. ‘It’s just incredible what he has done for Britain… a giant of a principled man.’ Doesn’t make for great telly.
Apropos one-legged lothario Al Capp who libidinously auditioned a young Goldie Hawn for the screen version of Li’l Abner.
‘He told me, ‘Walk over to the mirror and lift your skirt,’ recalls Goldie, pictured.
‘Then he told me to sit next to him, and he exposed himself. This THING was staring at me!’
When he got the brush-off, Capp raged, ‘Why don’t you just go back home and marry a Jewish dentist, because you’re never going to make it in this business!’
Within five years Goldie had won an Oscar.
Former QI presenter Sandi Toksvig takes issue with previous host Stephen Fry’s alleged superior intellectual ability saying: ‘There’s a general presumption that Stephen knew all these things without anyone having to tell him, and that I had to be schooled, which is just bizarre.’ She adds: ‘Stephen was given the answers just the same as anyone else. They were all on a piece of card in front of him and those cards weren’t as heavy as I was led to believe, so a woman was perfectly capable of hosting.’
Relieving himself in a motorway service station Michael McIntyre was startled when a stranger in the toilet barked: ‘Right, shake it like a good boy.’ ‘The fear that was going through my mind was like, ‘I have got to get out of here’,’ McIntyre recalls. ‘Then he said, ‘Now put it away. Wash your hands and come and hold daddy’s hand.’ I nearly threw up on the floor but as I turned I saw he was accompanied by a kid.’
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