Over the weekend the Sunday Mirror published pictures of Michael Gove engaging in a modest and momentary public display of affection in a restaurant. Their application for a Pulitzer Prize will have to wait…
Mikey Smith, the hack in question, hit ‘publish’. The SW1 reaction came in. Not from adoring fans or rival newsdesks begging for publication rights – but instead from everyone on X who saw no public interest and couldn’t have cared less. In fact, it was a total self-own from the Mirror, as the backlash was ferocious…
“This is not news“, said one punter. “You people are ghastly” said another. Owen Jones called it “trash” (proving a broken clock is right twice a day). Even – checks notes – Labour MP Shaun Davies asked the question the Sunday Mirror obviously didn’t: “Why does this matter?” Reach PLC is looking for further job cuts and hires who will do more with less – any of the online commenters over the weekend would have shown better judgement than their current crew…
Tom Baldwin, author of Starmer’s hagiography, spoke to Times Radio:
Tom Baldwin: “I think he’d like to do something. He’s very dutiful and driven by service. That’s why he came into politics. I think that’s characterised his time as prime minister. He hasn’t always sought popularity or been good at being popular. But I think he has some of the necessary qualities that we actually do want in a prime minister. That resilience, that relentlessness, that ability to carry the weight and the job really does weigh very heavily on people and he carries that weight very, very well.”
Jo Coburn: “NATO Secretary-General?”
Tom Baldwin: “I think that’s something that he would be interested in. I think it probably requires Andy Burnham’s government to support him in that and these are some of the questions which Andy Burnham has to resolve quite quickly.”