The Steeple Times asks artist Leonard Johansson: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?

Inspiration, creativity and free will.

“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?

Show, don´t tell.

Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2013?

Starvation and overconsumption are unacceptable.

Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?

At this point in my life and career, the only things I miss are my rehearsal studio and my girlfriend.

What might you swap all your wealth for?

Something that can’t be bought for money.

Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank”. What’s your view on the banking crisis?

My opinion is that some play by the rules and others don’t. So, at the end of the day, the numbers won’t match and everyone denies doing anything wrong. It´s a game.

What phrase or word do you most loathe?

“I’m just gonna have one drink”.

In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home”. What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?

Doctors Without Borders and ECPAT.

The judge in Law Abiding Citizen states: “I can pretty much do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?

I support new technology that is used to do good. Unfortunately since it is evolving so fast, we will encounter many bumps on the road until society can catch up with it.

Artist Leonard Johansson (Photo by Gustaf Sandholm Andersson)

If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?

I met Jimmy Page on Paddington station last month so I would invite Led Zeppelin, Picasso, Jimmy Hendrix, Jack Nicholson and my girlfriend.

If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?

I would choose Swedish meatballs, fresh spring potatoes, lingo berries and a cold Kronenburg.

What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?

Anytime is a good time.

A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?

An old fashioned with a twist of orange peel.

Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?

I enjoy my artist friends’ parties the most as I find at them you never know what or why some things happen.

Who is the most positive person you know?

My father. He is a man who sees possibilities in everything.

What’s your most guilty pleasure?

Swedish tobacco and coffee… Loads of coffee.

If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?

I have quite a few but the one that would sum me up would be a lion on a unicycle.

If you were a car, what marque would you be?

A Mustang: an old one from the 1960’s.

Cilla Black presented Surprise, Surprise. Tell us the most surprising thing about you.

I was nearly stung to death by wasps as a kid, I have co-written songs that have gone to the top charts in Sweden and I have dinned with the Swedish royal family twice.

What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?

A wonderful picture of my girlfriend from a fashion shoot in an abandoned factory in Spain.

Leonard Johansson is an artist. He has exhibited at Art House London, Sodastream Bearspace Gallery, Libertad, Gallery Olby and Duerr Gallery.

View his official website here.

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Thank you for your attention Matthew Steeples

Another cocktail for Julian Assange

Yesterday, we suggested five of the best things that could be sent to cheer up Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who “celebrates” a year of costing the taxpayer some £4 million policing his having fled bail, in the Ecuadorian Embassy in Knightsbridge.
 

Our feature attracted both laughter and anger and one individual contacted us on Twitter to tell us that she thought our suggestions were “insulting” and “heartless”. Others got in touch with further ideas and the best, published below, was a cocktail by Assange’s neighbours, The Rib Room Bar & Restaurant on Cadogan Place. They suggested a cocktail that they named the “Wiki Tiki”.

The Rib Room’s “Wiki TikI”

The drink incorporates 50ml of Appleton VX rum, 20ml of Maraschino liqueur, 50ml of fresh pineapple juice, 25ml of fresh orange juice, 15ml of lime juice and 10ml of cinnamon syrup. It should be served long on crushed ice.

Cheers!

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Thank you for your attention Matthew Steeples

The Steeple Times suggests five things to bring cheer to Julian Assange’s grey existence

The fugitive Julian Assange will have been in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for exactly one year tomorrow, the 19^th June 2013. Last week Ecuador’s foreign minister, Ricardo Patino, commented:

“We believe he has a fundamental right to sunbathe. His right to intimacy, mobility, a normal life and health is being restricted”.

Here we suggest five of the best things that could be sent to help him in his quest for sun, cheer and intimacy:

‘PJ’s Passion’ cocktail

Julian Assange is supposedly a passionate man so the polo inspired bar and restaurant PJ’s on London’s Fulham Road have created a martini that could help him imagine he’s on the polo fields of the central Ecuadorian Andes. Fill a martini glass with ice, add 25ml crème de peche, turn ice slowly and add ¼ squeezed grapefruit. Add 45ml Hendricks gin, revolve ice around slowly, double strain into a frosted martini glass and garnish with a frozen glazed peach and grapefruit twist. Cheers!

Jail striped swimwear by aussieBums

Australian citizen Mr Assange supposedly enjoys spending time on a sunbed in the Ecuadorian embassy in Hans Crescent, SW3. A pair of aussieBums “low riding” swimming trunks in an op-art black and white pattern would be ideal for this activity. The company suggest that the product makes a man “get sexy – get low” and a pair could be had for just £33.21.

Swedish meatballs from IKEA

Sweden wish to extradite Julian Assange on allegations of rape. In case he has to go, IKEA could deliver some of their famous meatballs and prepare him by giving him what they call: “A taste of Sweden”. £3.89 for 10 or £5.79 for 20, they come served with mashed potatoes, a cream sauce and lingonberry jam. Delicious.

Banana Boat® Ultra Defense® Lotion Sunscreen

A banana boat, in our view, would be the best way to spirit Mr Assange out of the UK. Instead, if he does get the right to spend some time on a balcony (and if indeed the sun ever shines again in the UK), he could do with some sunscreen. This aptly named product would suit him just perfectly.

Liberty X’s Thinking It Over

Julian Assange probably wants his liberty back so whilst he’s waiting perhaps he could listen to Liberty X’s Thinking It Over. Maybe he could Dream About It (Just A Little) or perhaps he’ll decide to Feel The Rush to head out and hand himself to the police waiting outside in Hans Crescent.

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Thank you for your attention Matthew Steeples

The Tout’s tips for Royal Ascot

Finally for all fans of horse racing the greatest week of the year has arrived and even the ladies look forward to it with anticipation as their outfits come together in time for the greatest parade of horse flesh that any punter can see at any single meeting.

It is a slight shame that Ascot have chosen to bite so heavily on the commercialisation of the meeting but understandable in that they have given us one of the best grandstands in the world albeit with a paddock that can only ever come second to the world class and gracious enclosure that was there before.

There are thirty races and The Tout gets more excited with each one. This year a thumb stick might be useful and the golden rule for 2013 is to follow Aiden O’Brien and Richard Hannon as trainers in form and Ryan Moore as a jockey in form plus the “Dettori factor” who now has 25 rides at the meeting and is the most successful of the current generation on the 47 winner mark.

The greatest spectacle in racing: Royal Ascot 2013

It is so competitive that it would only be arrogant if The Tout could predict things at this stage with ground that could change and entries that could differ but the recommendation is to make sure that the connections of your fancied runners are in form and the short list is as follows for today, Tuesday:

Animal Kingdom for the Queen Anne, Toronado in The St James Palace and Thunder Strike in The Coventry.

For the following four days we like The Fugue, Times Up, Camelot, Just The Judge, Baihas and if you are a fan of a royal winner go against Times Up in The Gold Cup or double it up with the Queen’s horse Estimate.

Remember there are thirty races and only bet small in the handicaps but go large in the group races because that is where the favourites strike. The Tout also recommends plenty of champagne for the week as it really will help to get through the marathon feast on offer!

The Tout.

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Thank you for your attention The Tout

It’s NOT A Knockout, It’s An Utter Disgrace: Stuart Hall gets just 15 months

Paedophile Stuart Hall, 83, will be out for Christmas. Today the monster (whom the BBC continue to describe as a “veteran presenter”) was jailed for just 15 months on 14 counts of indecent assault. One of his victims was just nine years old.

Jailed today (but not for long enough): Paedophile Stuart Hall

For once I find myself in agreement with Harriet Harman who took to Twitter to express concern about the length of the sentence of the monster Hall. In a tweet, the Labour politician suggested the sentence was “unduly lenient”. She is right. The book should have been chucked at this revolting old creep.

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Thank you for your attention Matthew Steeples

Our ‘Wally of the Week’ Luisa Zissman chucks a cupcake out of her pram

Our first ‘Wally of the Week’, Katie Price (or whatever she’s now called), kept quiet. Our second, a cupcake maker turned contestant on The Apprentice let her rottweilers out after we shared the Sunday People’s story about her posing “topless, snogging girls and partying”. The St Albans based firm she founded, Dixie’s Cupcakery, tweeted us today to say we’d believed a “made up story #fail”.

Luisa Zissman may deny these are images of her… “The Sunday People” and others suggest otherwise

Another “alleged” shot of Miss Zissman

The tweet we received from the firm Luisa Zissman founded, @DixiesCupcakery

Luisa Zissman, a former glamour model, plainly hasn’t checked Google this afternoon (or alternatively the firm she’s employed to eliminate images from her past aren’t at work today). We did a simple search and found the following.

Our advice to Miss Zissman: Put a cupcake where the sun don’t shine.

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Thank you for your attention Matthew Steeples

Frankie Dettori signs with Your Golf Travel

Champion jockey Frankie Dettori is back in the saddle and back in business. As well as performing his trademark flying dismount after winning at Goodwood on Friday on Stormy Paradise, the Italian has signed a five-figure sponsorship deal to become an ambassador for the world’s largest golf travel business, Your Golf Travel.
 

Champion jockey Frankie Dettori’s most definitely back on course

Of the deal, Peter Burrell, Dettori’s manager, stated:

“Frankie will be doing representational work for Your Golf Travel, the same company Darren Clarke works for. The deal was signed in the last week and there are various other things in the pipeline, including a book planned for the autumn”.

Andrew Harding, the managing director of Your Golf Travel, added:

“There is a great synergy between fans of horse racing and golf so the opportunity to join Frankie Dettori, one of horse racing’s icons, with Your Golf Travel was one we had to do. We’re delighted to have aligned ourselves with one of the very best in sport”.

A busy week beckons for Dettori at Royal Ascot. We are sure you will join with all at The Steeple Times in wishing our favourite jockey the best of British.

For more about Your Golf Travel, click here.

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Thank you for your attention Matthew Steeples

Stuart Hall’s sentencing must set an example to others

Stuart Hall’s fall will be complete today when he is sentenced at Preston Crown Court in relation to 14 counts of indecent assault. A prison sentence is inevitable and it will be much deserved.

Convicted paedophile Stuart Hall pictured with actor William Roache (who awaits trial on similar allegations)

Stuart Hall pictured with William Roache and Owen Oyston. All three have been accused of having had sex with girls under sixteen. Oyston was jailed after being convicted of rape in 1996 and Hall will be sentenced after being convicted on 14 counts of indecent assault this morning. Roache will be tried in January 2014 in relation to historical sex offences against five girls. Both Roache and Hall have been directors of Oyston’s companies.

Yesterday’s Daily Star reported that the former It’s A Knockout presenter is suspected of yet more offences in both the UK and Spain. It is unlikely that these will now be pursued but the outcome of today’s hearing will mark an important landmark in the fallout from the Jimmy Savile scandal. Mr Hall deserves the harshest punishment possible.

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Thank you for your attention Matthew Steeples

An attention seeker who needs to be removed from our screens

A contestant on The Apprentice who stated that she has “the energy of a Duracell bunny, the sex appeal of Jessica Rabbit and a brain like Einstein” most definitely had to be our second Wally of the Week.

“Fame hungry” Luisa Zissman, a former glamour model, the Sunday People revealed employs a search engine optimisation firm named SE077 to try and eliminate images showing her “topless, snogging girls and partying”.

Luisa Zissman

An unnamed “friend” told the newspaper:

“The last thing she wants is for a potential client to search her name and to be faced with a series of sordid pictures of her with her legs wide open. She is very hard working and wants to be taken more seriously”.

Miss Zissman plainly has a stronger desire to be a “celebrity” than a “businesswoman”. Please, could someone just take this wally off our screens?

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Thank you for your attention Matthew Steeples

The Steeple Times asks fashion creative, writer and television host Nik Thakkar: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?

I fear there isn’t time to accomplish the things I must.

“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?

I am my past all played at once. Be present in every action, it dictates the man you become.

Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2013?

Laziness in every form.

Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?

There is a sad but sweet feeling behind truly missing someone or something. Mine is private, not from shame but out of respect to a nostalgia rare to me.

What might you swap all your wealth for?

The collective wealth of Beyonce and Jay-Z.

Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank”. What’s your view on the banking crisis?

It’s simply needing someone more than they need you. Never be that girl.

What phrase or word do you most loathe?

“Mate” used in a colloquial sense.

In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home”. What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?

I’m a fashion ambassador for Greenpeace alongside some well-known industry names.

The judge in Law Abiding Citizen states: “I can pretty much do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?

There’s only so much creative inspiration you can get from staring at a screen. Try a window or a painting to change it up.

Nik Thakkar

If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?

Those who were at Studio 54′s New Year’s Eve in 1978. Grace Jones performing, of course.

If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?

Oysters by the pool on a private rooftop in New York.

What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?

To each their own.

A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?

Tea.

Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?

Anywhere with more surgically enhanced noses than real ones. Cannes is a good start.

Who is the most positive person you know?

My aunt.

What’s your most guilty pleasure?

I don’t feel guilt.

If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?

If I decide to stop working out tattoos are a good alternative. I’ll think about it then.

If you were a car, what marque would you be?

My black Jeep Wrangler works well to sum me up. People notice it and it’s rough around the edges.

Cilla Black presented Surprise, Surprise. Tell us the most surprising thing about you.

I’m approachable.

What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?

Bottles of Snow Queen Vodka, and various hangers with Ada + Nik leather jackets, dress shirts and jerseys from my upcoming menswear collection.

Nik Thakkar is a fashion creative, writer and television host based in London and New York. He has starred on Sky’s Fashion One and worked on campaigns with Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton and Jean Paul Gaultier. Thakkar launched a new menswear brand, Ada + Nik, with Ada Zanditon in June 2013.

View Nik Thakkar’s official website here and read his blog Karl is my Unkle here.

View the official website for Ada + Nik here.

Follow Nik Thakkar on Twitter here.

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Thank you for your attention Matthew Steeples

Robbie Williams’ Wiltshire estate for sale again for £2.6 million less than he paid for it

Singer Robbie Williams paid £8,100,000 for Compton Bassett House, near Calne in Wiltshire in 2008. In the years since he’s tried to sell it several times but even now that it has been relaunched for just £5,500,000, will it sell?

The original Compton Bassett House was a vast residence built by Sir John Weld in 1674. It was demolished in 1929 by Captain Sir Guy Benson, who decided to convert the stables of the property into a home in 1935.

Compton Bassett House, Compton Bassett, Calne, Wiltshire, SN11 8RE

An aerial shot of the house

The original Compton Bassett House was demolished in 1929

Robbie and Ayda Willams

The stable block, which took the name Compton Bassett House, subsequently passed through the hands various owners including Lord Foster. The acclaimed architect sold the house to a Mr John Pringle in 1992 whom then sold it to a couple named Paul and Selene Cripps in 2001. Each occupant carried out various alterations to the 18^th century building and, according to The Country Seat blog, it is reported that Cripps alone spent some £3 million on the interior.

One of four vast reception rooms features a piano no doubt played by Robbie Williams

This swimming pool forms part of an extensive leisure complex

The Cripps’ put Compton Bassett House on the market at a price of £8,500,000 in 2007. Paul Cripps told The Times that he’d decided to sell because he and his wife were “fed up of having to get into the car for a paper or a pint of milk”. Said to be an “impulse purchase” on the part of the Take That singer in December 2008, Williams seemed pleased with his new home at first and said: “It’s lovely down there and the people have been great with us”.

Residents of Compton Bassett, however, were said not to be impressed with their new celebrity neighbour and the modifications that he made to the property. Amongst these were a full-sized football pitch and a dirt track for quad biking. One villager, Gemma Rochester, a barmaid at The White Horse public house, told the Daily Mail:

“It’s a close community and Robbie has never been part of it”.

In May 2010, just over a year after buying Compton Bassett House, Williams, by then engaged to his now wife actress Ayda Field, decided to sell and placed the estate on the market for £1,000,000 less than he paid for it with estate agents Savills. Of why he was selling, Williams explained:

“I can’t really afford to keep it. Maintenance is a lot. I’ve done a few impulse buys and it leaves you no money”.

At the time, an unnamed source told the Daily Mail:

Other facilities include a tennis court, football pitch and quad bike trail

The 71 acre plot includes landscaped gardens and woodland

“Robbie used the grounds for his own interests, not really considering the impact on the picturesque estate”.

“It is, though, no wonder they [Savills] haven’t been used in the pictures to sell the house in the magazine… After all, football pitches and dirt tracks don’t really appeal to your average Country Life reader with millions of pounds to lavish on an estate”.

Compton Bassett House did not sell and eventually Williams withdrew it from the market.

In May 2013, the 12^th century church next door to Compton Bassett House was the scene of the marriage of Williams’ father, Pete Conway, to a South African charity fundraiser named Melanie Mills. According to The Wiltshire Gazette & Herald, police and private security staff prevented villagers from “getting in”.

At the beginning of this month, Xposé Entertainment also reported that Williams was using a “no-frills steel structure” in the grounds of Compton Bassett House to practice for his upcoming Take the Crown tour. Paul Beard, the tour’s musical director, commented:

“Robbie didn’t want to practice in stuffy, posh studios. The shed has a table tennis table, and Robbie and his band play games between rehearsals”.

In the same article, Williams revealed further information about his songwriting activities at the estate in a further comment about his having been testing out his new material on his baby daughter, Theodora ‘Teddy’ Rose, there:

“I wrote her a song called Go Gentle. I had a really lovely moment walking around the estate where we live with the baby, and I sang this very, very sincere song … And she threw up on me”.

“I don’t know if that is baby for: ‘That is amazing, dad’ or ‘I have just thrown up because you make me nauseous’”.

Plainly Williams isn’t getting quite enough inspiration at Compton Bassett House as he’s once again trying to sell. The brochure for the 71.55 acre estate lists the 150 foot long unlisted main house as having 19,913 square foot of internal floor space and featuring 4 reception rooms, 7 bedroom suites and a leisure complex with a gym, swimming pool, hot tub, steam room, sauna and changing rooms. In addition there is a detached cottage, two staff flats, garaging and a helicopter hangar.

Of this latest attempt to sell the property, Rupert Sweeting of Knight Frank, a joint agent with Strutt & Parker, told The Sunday Times:

“Robbie is spending so much time in LA that [the estate] is now surplus to requirements so he is very sadly selling it”.

Sweeting neglected to make reference to another reason for the sale and as to why the house is being marketed for £2,600,000 less than Williams for it. Compton Bassett House stands less than a mile away from a planned waste disposal facility which, if built, would process 235,000 tonnes of waste a year.

Equally, plans were recently approved for a 60 acre quarry development just two fields from Compton Bassett House by Wiltshire County Council according to the Daily Express. Of the approved plans, John Reis, a Compton Bassett parish councilor, stated:

“[We will] have an enormous numbers of lorries going through [the village] and they will be carrying sand and gravel. Mechanical diggers will be used to excavate and that would cause a lot of noise for those living nearby… This quarry is of enormous concern to everyone in the village… Robbie Williams [will] probably find it harder to sell his house – it looks right down onto the site”.

Comedian Michael McIntyre is a neighbour of Robbie Williams in Compton bassett

McIntyre paid £2.5 million for Breach House, Compton Bassett, Calne, Wiltshire, SN11 8SN in May 2013

The detrimental effects of the waste facility and proposed quarry, however, have not stopped other personalities purchasing properties in Compton Bassett. The comedian Michael McIntyre paid £2,500,000 for Breach House, a 6-bedroomed property in the village, in May 2013.

For more information on Compton Bassett House contact Luke Morgan of Strutt & Parker on +44 (0) 20 7629 7282 or email him at: luke.morgan@struttandparker.com.

Download the sales brochure for the house here.

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Thank you for your attention Matthew Steeples

This English folk-rock singer-songwriter hails from Brighton and topped the charts in 16 countries in 2013 with Let Her Go. Passenger, whose own style is described as “evoking the style and hardworking creativity of the troubadours of old”, cannot stand Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On.

Thank you for your attention Matthew Steeples

This Roman Catholic novelist and Italian translator’s works have included A Darker Shade of Love, Web of Passion and Anita: A Memoir. A former debutante and model, Dunhill also writes about love, life and lunches on the site Angela Darling’s Blog and is a granddaughter of the luxury goods titan Alfred Dunhill.

Thank you for your attention Matthew Steeples

The Red Arrows flypast over Buckingham Palace is an annual delight

Every year on the Queen’s official birthday the skies of London become a spectacular theatre for just a few minutes. Today was no exception.

The Red Arrows over Buckingham Palace: an annual delight

At lunchtime today, to mark the conclusion of the Trooping of the Colour parade to mark the 87^th birthday of our Monarch, the Red Arrows performed a flypast over Buckingham Palace.

This annual tradition is a fantastic delight and for that reason we make it The Steeple Times Picture of the Week.

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Thank you for your attention Matthew Steeples

Theresa May agrees to fund full-scale Met inquiry into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann

Last year, Theresa May hosted a reception with a woman named Lady Meyer in Downing Street. Kate McCann, the mother of Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in 2007, was amongst the guests. Now, it has been claimed that May has agreed to fund a full-scale Metropolitan Police inquiry into the McCann case.

Kate McCann pictured with one of her daughter’s toys

The Metropolitan Police have spent an astonishing £5 million reviewing the disappearance of the three year old in Praia da Luz, Portugal in the last year two years. According to the Mail Online, who state that Portuguese police cannot reopen the case unless there is new evidence due to the country’s laws, Scotland Yard is “tidying up” initial aspects of their inquiries and looking to find “new evidence and perhaps the case being solved”.

Mmm… Who said connections aren’t useful?

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Thank you for your attention Matthew Steeples

Claire Rubinstein laments this year’s Father’s Day offerings

As far as celebrations go, Father’s Day seems to be a decidedly tepid affair if the dismal offerings from the High Street are anything to go by.

We’d like to see some more creative, thoughtful ideas this year. So rather than the traditional day-release mandatory trip to B&Q, how about a year’s membership to Spearmint Rhino or a pre-loved Chieftain Battle Tank?

“A box of Basset’s dad?” For goodness sakes, no.

How about buying dad an armoured 12-litre Rolls-Royce engine battle bus commissioned for Margaret Thatcher? Offers are invited. Contact Tanks-A-Lot on +44 (0) 1295 768400

Or what about a Tucker? Yours for £10,000. Also from Tanks-A-Lot.

Nothing says: “I don’t give a damn” like a box of Bassetts (as I spotted in Sainsbury’s “No. 1 Dad section”). If that’s the best you can do, proceed to life’s departure lounge, put your (novelty-socked) feet up and slip into a sugar coma.

For details on the Tucker click here and for Maggie’s battle bus here.
 
 

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Thank you for your attention Claire Rubinstein

The Steeple Times comes under attack from the BNP

Since founding The Steeple Times I’ve come under attack from many quarters. This week, though, I achieved the ultimate accolade. I was called a “leftie wanker” by a supporter of the British National Party.

Those who know me will realise that my political leanings are somewhat right of centre. I am a natural Conservative but find much of what the United Kingdom Independence Party stands for appealing. The British National Party, to my mind, is abhorrent but that one of their number thinks me left-wing is quite laughable.

The Tweet received from a supporter of the British National Party

The British National Party stands for nothing but bigotry and hatred

It was an article about the BNP’s leader visiting Syria’s President Assad that got the goat of this particular individual. In a tweet that told me to “fuck off” and which stated “what a load of shit that article was”, this bigot showed exactly what is wrong about their movement.

I’m prepared to admit it. I’d much rather be in political league with Neil Kinnock, Michael Foot and Harold Wilson than tarred with any connection to anything to do with the British National Party. It is with great delight that I share this badge of honour with our readership.

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Thank you for your attention Matthew Steeples

The Steeple Times asks television producer and host Nick Oram: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?

The willingness to change and learning from my mistakes.

“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?

The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”

Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2013?

North Korea – Kim Jong-un bromance with Dennis Rodman.

Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?

Not seeing my family often enough.

What might you swap all your wealth for?

To be even happier… If that’s even possible

Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank”. What’s your view on the banking crisis?

Overleveraging and margin calls were the undoing of the big banks. Too big to fail? … Or not (as the case turned out).

What phrase or word do you most loathe?

“With all due respect”.

In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home”. What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?

I believe in offering benevolent goodwill towards the needy and suffering. I support the Children’s Miracle Network.

The judge in Law Abiding Citizen states: “I can pretty much do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?

Can you hear me now?!?

Nick Oram

If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?

My besties.

If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?

Having a picnic on a lawn eating surf ‘n’ turf.

What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?

Noon.

A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?

A martini on the rocks. Slightly dirty.

Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?

My own. They’re all with my favorite people.

Who is the most positive person you know?

My mom.

What’s your most guilty pleasure?

Sleeping on crisp clean cool white bed sheets.

If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?

Superman.

If you were a car, what marque would you be?

My car. A Porsche  911 Carrera.

Cilla Black presented Surprise, Surprise. Tell us the most surprising thing about you.

I grew up on a farm. Well, almost.

What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?

Pictures of family and friends.

Nick Oram is an American television producer and host. He is also well known as a spinning class teacher. His “rides” have helped shape the bodies of Justin Timberlake, Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Wahlberg, Alicia Keys, Kelly Ripa, Katy Perry, Nicole Kidman, Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise, Ashley Tisdale, Paris Hilton and Carmen Electra.

View his official website here.

Like his Facebook page here and follow him on Twitter here.

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Thank you for your attention Matthew Steeples

Theresa May’s leadership ambitions

Theresa May is no Margaret Thatcher and for that reason, suggestions that she wishes to lead the Conservative Party are most worrying.

A hopeless Home Secretary, Mrs May’s better known for her bad fashion choices rather than progressive policies. She is a harpy and a harridan yet yesterday the Daily Telegraph reported that a speech she gave to the Reform think-tank on Wednesday has been described as “prime ministerial in its canvas”.

The Right Honourable Theresa May MP

Similarly The Huffington Post reported that after a Labour MP named John Spellar “crowbar[red] in a reference to May” in a question to the Conservative business minister Michael Fallon:

“Isn’t it extraordinary that other government departments don’t back the British car industry, especially the police who are buying more and more foreign vehicles? Will he talk to the home secretary and get her to back British industry? It might even help her leadership ambitions”.

In reply, the minister, a Cameron loyalist, did not ignore or laugh off the jibe about May. Fallon answered: “They may not need that much help”.

It can most definitely be argued that May is part of the problem rather than the solution and for that reason her leadership campaign truly deserves to grind to a halt.

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Thank you for your attention Matthew Steeples

As Rupert Murdoch divorces Wendi Deng, we ask if he’ll be requesting that the press ‘respect his privacy at this time’

That Rupert Murdoch filed for divorce from his wife Wendi Deng in New York State’s Supreme Court today is illustration that living with a tycoon isn’t necessarily quite the bed of roses that one would imagine.

A website named Deadline revealed the information this morning and a New York Times corporate media reporter, Amy Chozick, shared the information in a series of tweets that read:

“Company confirms the Deadline story. Rupert has filed for divorce. Wendi has been informed”.

“Ira E. Garr is Murdoch’s divorce lawyer. He will be busy”.

“Rupert Murdoch divorce filing says the ‘relationship between husband and wife has broken down irretrievably’ ”

Rupert Murdoch and Wendi Deng

Deng is Murdoch’s third wife and mother to two of his daughters. She is best known for slapping an assailant, Jonathan May-Bowles, whom attacked her husband whilst he was giving evidence to the culture, media and sport committee in July 2011.

In December 2012, Ying-Shu Hsu, a former nanny and Chinese tutor to the Murdoch and Deng’s children, spoke out about her time working for them. At the time Gawker reported:

“Working for Wendi, Hsu said, was like being in a ‘war zone’: ‘Everyone who works for her hates her and is scared of her’, she said. ‘When she’s there, it’s like a war zone’.”

“Deng was given to profanity-laced outbursts for seemingly minor affronts, Hsu said, often in front of her daughters. ‘She had a very bad temper and would get angry very easily. Once, when we were leaving the house, I forgot to bring a hair clip for one of the girls, and Wendi yelled at me. So I ran back into the house to get it, but I got the wrong one. Wendi threw it on the ground in front of the girls and everyone’. On another occasion, Hsu says, after a housekeeper turned on the baseboard heating at the Murdochs’ Arizona compound against Deng’s orders, ‘she went nuts—yelling, cursing… She would curse like that in front of the kids’.”

“‘Murdoch is a gentleman’, Hsu said. ‘He appreciated us at the end of the night. But she also curses Rupert all the time. A lot of F-words. She’s always yelling, crying. Murdoch is the calm type’.”

Will Mr Murdoch be asking the press to “respect his privacy at this time”?

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Thank you for your attention Matthew Steeples