Londoner’s Diary: Touring politicians on sticky wicket as crisis looms

IT’S alright for some: despite the gloomy economic news, a group of politicians are in Jamaica on a sponsored cricket tour. Conservative chief whip Chris Heaton-Harris and minister Nigel Adams, as well as Tory MP Caroline Dinenage and her husband, peer Mark Lancaster, are on tour with the Lords and Commons team.

Dinenage posted this snap and one with West Indies star Chris Gayle online. How the trip was funded is not clear but the team has been criticised previously for taking money from billionaire Sanjeev Gupta for a tour of Australia. The group’s whites sport a Commons logo and that of Virgin Atlantic, who told us they paid for flights. It seems not everyone is struggling to pay the bills.

Enough is enough

A NEW headache for Keir Starmer, as Labour MP Zarah Sultana has teamed up with union leaders Mick Lynch and Eddie Dempsey on a new campaign to combat the cost of living crisis. New group Enough is Enough are calling for a pay rise and energy bill cuts, among other policy ideas. Labour leader Starmer has been uncertain over whether his MPs should be supporting strikes. Enough is Enough is proving popular: it had so many sign ups yesterday its website crashed.

Actresses defend intimacy coordinators

ACTOR Sean Bean says the vogue for ‘intimacy co-ordinators’ who help manage sex scenes on film sets can “spoil the spontanity” of how lovers behave in real life. But Marvel’s Jameela Jamil disagrees, saying sex scenes are like a “stunt”, and “nobody wants an impromptu grope”. American star Rachel Zegler said intimacy co-ordinators create safety for actors. She added: “Spontaneity in intimate scenes can be unsafe. Wake up”.

Ibiza rocks

Londoner’s Diary 09 08 22

Party people decamped to Ibiza for concierge service Deliciously Sorted’s 20th birthday bash last night. Among the stars were actors Matt Smith and Sienna Miller, photograher Nikolai Von Bismarck and model Emilia Boateng. Smith, who is about to star in Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon, recently complained that the show has too many sex scenes in it. Had he seen the original series?

Grease musical tribute

THE West End musical Grease has dedicated the rest of its run at the Dominion Theatre to Olivia Newton-John, who sadly died yesterday. The star played Sandy opposite John Travolta in the 1978 hit film. Posting online, the musical called her an “icon”.