HUGH GRANT was the best Prime Minister this country has ever had*.
The way he danced down those steps at No10 to the strains of The Pointer Sisters: Sublime.
But that was almost 20 years ago. Now, in real time, he needs to wind his neck in . . . and leave the politics to the politicians.
The anti-Tory multi-millionaire has slammed the campaign for a referendum on the Net Zero emissions target.
Just over four months since Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner apologised for inciting hatred with her Tory “scum” comments, Hugh did a whole lot of inflaming himself, calling for campaign orchestrator Nigel Farage, whom he labelled a “Russian warship”, to go “f***” himself. Minus the asterisks. Lovely.
Net Zero is all very well and good.
We should all be doing our bit — not wallowing in eight baths a day, driving tanks or monstering Wagyu beef morning, noon and night.
But let’s recap Hugh’s dedication to the environment.
Here’s a chap who’s been photographed on a runway while apparently boarding a private jet.
A holiday lover who has enjoyed the hospitality on superyachts and a man who, in January, was pictured clambering into his £240,000 Ferrari F12 while wrapped up in a nice, snug Canada Goose jacket — a brand previously slated by animal rights groups over accusations of “cruelty”.
Let’s not forget this is a Moët-swigging networker who, in 2017, enjoyed a lovely holiday in Venice alongside Russian billionaire (Lord) Evgeny Lebedev.
Weird, then, that Hugh should highlight Farage’s reported Russian connections in his tweet.
To be v clear, I am no fan of Nigel, a rabid Brexiteer who once described Putin as a “brilliant” political operator. Much of what he says shouldn’t have been said, ever.
But Hugh’s inflammatory remarks, coming as they do a couple of weeks after he called for people to back an anti-Boris Johnson march in his home town of London — and then didn’t appear to turn up himself — seem a bit rich.
Which the multi-home-owning Hollywood star most definitely is.
As one commentator remarked: “Congratulations to Hugh Grant, who — against all the odds — has managed (to become) the UK’s most insufferable, virtue-signalling t***er. Well done Hugh!!”
Another added: “Sorry rich person but I’m literally having sleepless nights worrying about being able, or rather not being able, to pay my household bills.
“My heating hasn’t been on all winter. So anything done to make household energy more affordable is good. On this occasion I’m with Farage.”
Net Zero, which former Chancellor Philip Hammond claimed will cost the UK economy £1trillion to implement, is all well and good for the star of Love Actually.
Hugh’s inflammatory remarks, coming as they do a couple of weeks after he called for people to back an anti-Boris Johnson march in his home town of London — and then didn’t appear to turn up himself — seem a bit rich.
Hugh, who made the role of Paddington’s nemesis his own in Paddington 2, is someone I adore on screen. He is also perfectly entitled to his opinions off it.
But these views aren’t so palatable for families struggling to put food on the table. Those operating on a shoestring budget, desperately trying to keep their loved ones safe, warm and happy.
Next month household energy bills will rise by up to 50 per cent.
Before Russia invaded Ukraine, economists forecasted that inflation will hit seven per cent. That figure is now likely ten per cent.
Britain is responsible for just one per cent of all global emissions. Yet Boris and Co are obsessed with decarbonising us by 2050, quicker than any other G7 country.
The Government should be encouraging self-sufficiency, actively helping our farmers to grow more food, rather than paying them to rewild.
Ukraine is a large cereal producer, but now its yields will be depleted. Surely our Government should be getting farmers planting more wheat this spring so we can grow more of our own food, like during World War Two, not strong-arming us to the electric car garage forecourt?
When we see Hugh pootling around in a Toyota Prius, just maybe we will take him more seriously. Until then, enough.
*With apologies to Winston
KIRSTIE ALLSOPP has opinions and isn’t afraid to express them.
Which, in the narrow-minded, left-leaning eyes of Twitter, makes her a human punch bag.
Some of the vitriol she gets is abhorrent — and would floor most people.
Last week she came under fire for hitting back at calls to ban World Book Day, over claims it was unfair on poorer parents.
The Location, Location, Location presenter tweeted: “#WorldBookDay requires only imagination and certainly no expense.
“How hard is it to make a child look like Gangsta Granny, Stig Of The Dump or Harry Potter?”
As one whose mother dressed her up as a rubbish bin one year — and packed her off, aged seven, to watch The Rocky Horror Show dressed as a fishnet tights-wearing prostitute “because everyone in the audience dresses up” (they didn’t) — I’m with Kirstie.
My friend sat near her on a business-class flight a few years ago, and was mildly bemused to spot her kids turning right, into Economy.
I subsequently contacted her PR, asking for an official comment — only for Kirstie to email me back directly, explaining that, yes, her kids do fly Cattle Class.
“Club Class should be a huge treat you’ve worked hard for,” she explained.
“If kids get used to it, what do they have to work towards?
“It seems like an absurd waste of money and very spoiling.”
Most celebs would lie or obfuscate.
Without defiant women such as Kirstie, we’d be living in a one-dimensional echo chamber, listening only to people parroting the palatable, woke world view.
TODAY marks International Women’s Day, an event created because every minute of the past 2022 years, three months and seven days has been a celebration of men.
While female celebs were, obvs, quick to leap on the XX chromosome bandwagon, it’s real women, in the here and now, who deserve our praise.
Nothing exemplifies this better than in Ukraine, where stories of everyday heroism are emerging.
Take the case of Valentyna Pushych, a military paramedic, who was shot dead by Russian forces as she tried to evacuate the injured from the Kyiv front line over the weekend.
Or the mothers who made anti-war posters for their kids, and helped them lay flowers outside the Ukrainian embassy.
Or the woman who was filmed angrily confronting a Russian soldier, handing him sunflower seeds to put in his pocket so that, when he died, “at least sunflowers will grow”.
The video, posted to Twitter, has been viewed more than nine million times — and is nine million times more powerful than any Russian state propaganda.
As each day of this illegal war passes, new heroines are born.
THE planet’s biggest cruise ship has set sail.
The Wonder of the Seas, five times bigger than the Titanic, weighs in at 236,857 tonnes and boasts an ice rink, casino, 19 swimming pools, revolving bar, cinema, surf simulator, “aqua theatre”, 20 restaurants and 11 bars.
If hell has nine circles, this, surely, is the tenth.
I absolutely cannot think of anything worse than being stuck on this claustrophobic behemoth, watching off-Broadway numbers of an evening and chain-supping pina coladas.
Inexplicably, my best friend has just returned from a cruise. In just seven days, she put on a stone. Which, again, would be me.
No thanks.
DON’T worry, world, our problems could soon be over.
Killing Eve fans spotted one Russian psychopath casually sitting two seats down from another.
So here’s hoping cold-blooded assassin Villanelle, played so brilliantly by Jodie Comer, succeeds in her latest mission.
THE capital was crippled by Tube strikes last week, and the resulting road and train chaos.
Workers on the minimum wage were forced to spend hard-earned pounds they can’t afford, to simply get into work.
So how did London Mayor Sadiq Khan — a man who before his election earnestly promised “zero days of strikes” — knuckle down and deal with errant union bosses?
By partying with celebrity Lottie Moss, fresh out of rehab, at the NME Awards.
After all, this is a man who loves red carpets a hell of a lot more than he does red buses.
ROYAL Mail is desperate for us all to ditch email and go back to good old-fashioned letter-writing.
So, obviously, to implement its cunning plan it is increasing the price of a first-class stamp by 10p to 95p.
That’ll do it then. Sigh.
