ANDREW PIERCE: Jammy Lammy proves that Labour is quids in too

ANDREW PIERCE: Jammy Lammy proves that Labour is quids in too… the shadow foreign secretary has banked more than £240,000 since 2019 from his outside interests

Labour’s attack dogs have long snarled at any Tory MP who dared to have a second job.

Now the party is castigating ex-Cabinet ministers for bagging plum TV presenting roles.

Former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries — also a Daily Mail columnist — has a show on Murdoch-owned TalkTV, while former Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg presents his own show on GB News.

Labour vice chairman Chris Elmore MP shrieks: ‘While Tory MPs are feathering their nests with lucrative media jobs, ordinary people are struggling to make ends meet, pay their mortgages and even put food on the table thanks to the Conservatives and the cost of living crisis.’

All very worthy, I’m sure. But has Elmore forgotten that his own esteemed colleague, shadow foreign secretary David Lammy, has banked more than £240,000 since 2019 from his outside interests? Lammy’s LBC radio show has earned him some £128,000 of that fortune.

Has Elmore forgotten that his own esteemed colleague, shadow foreign secretary David Lammy (pictured), has banked more than £240,000 since 2019 from his outside interests?

As for Elmore, he’s gladly accepted £2,000 worth of freebies from Channel 4.

How’s that for ‘lucrative’?

Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker is mulling over a new policy. ‘I’m thinking about only giving interviews to journalists I’ve sky-dived with,’ he says. Baker has leapt from planes more than 300 times and has just completed another jump for two mental health charities in his Wycombe constituency. Well, it’s one way to ensure Government policies don’t fall flat. 

Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker has leapt from planes more than 300 times and has just completed another jump for two mental health charities in his Wycombe constituency

Lesley-Anne Down, who plays Mrs Thatcher in an upcoming biopic of Ronald Reagan, is the latest to join the campaign for a Damehood for Glynis Johns, 99. ‘I am blessed to have worked with Glynis in a not-terribly-good touring production of The Marquis,’ says Down. ‘She was a star in every sense and inspired my desire to emulate her decorum.’ 

Channel 4 boss Ian Katz sounded decidedly cocky when he addressed the Wales Screen Summit in Cardiff last week.

‘Two prime ministers, three chancellors and a new king later, Channel 4’s ownership is one of the few things about our island that hasn’t changed,’ boasted the ex Guardian journalist. You could say the same thing about his outlet’s programming: Gogglebox, Come Dine With Me and Grand Designs, all on endless repeat.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan — ploughing on with expanding his hated Ultra Low Emission Zone scheme — will plug his book Breathe at the Southbank Centre on Wednesday. Tickets are £15 to £35. Resellers are flogging them for just £6.50. Maybe the £12.50 Ulez charge to drive there is putting people off. 

After protesters disrupted last week’s National Conservatism Conference in London, Tory MP Danny Kruger thanked organisers, quipping ‘. . . even though they’re as good as the UK Border Force in keeping people out’. 

Ever wondered what a Prime Minister and an editor of the BBC’s Sunday morning political chat show might talk about in the Broadcasting House lift together? Very little, it seems, at least when David Cameron was in No 10.

According to Rob Burley, the BBC’s ex head of political programmes, Cameron was ‘aloof, eschewing eye contact’.

Burley recalls thinking: ‘I know you’re the Prime Minister, there’s no need to be a d*** about it.’

Rumours swirl that Boris Johnson’s third child with wife Carrie — his eighth overall — is part of an electoral strategy.

Broadcaster David Baddiel cheekily asks: ‘Is [his] plan to have enough children to eventually return him to power?’ PS: Boris is not even the most prolific Prime Minister. Whig Charles Grey, PM from 1830 to 1834, had 16 children while abolishing slavery in the Empire and inventing Earl Grey tea.

How did he find the time?

Rumours swirl that Boris Johnson’s third child with wife Carrie (right) — his eighth overall — is part of an electoral strategy

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