Mandrake

Paul Dacre’s Canaird River Company – backed by EU subsidies – reports record profits, Boris Johnson still refuses to acknowledge his Telegraph salary… and how Andrew Marr could raise his game if he only listened to his wife on Brexit. If Evgeny Lebedev and Sultan Muhammad Abuljadayel fail in their attempt to acquire the Daily […]

Our diary reveals how the BBC had second thoughts about Gina Miller, the three top Labour people blocking any change of policy on Brexit and why has Boris Johnson still not declared his Telegraph salary? BBC has second thoughts on Gina If there was one individual who could have dissected the ‘no deal’ Brexit papers […]

Tim Walker’s diary reveals Paul Dacre may soon be heading up a Saudi-backed Telegraph, Damian Green’s nice little earner and how fellow actors rallied round Sir Patrick Stewart in his hour of need Frances Barber attending the premiere of Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool as part of the BFI London Film Festival, at the […]

Tim Walker’s diary also focuses on why Sarah Sands won’t be sacked as editor of the Today show and a former colleague recalls Daniel Hannan’s difficulties mastering facts. Sarah Sands remains “stubbornly in place” as editor of the Today programme on Radio 4. Picture: PA – Credit: PA Archive/PA Images Mr Bean shuts down the […]

Tim Walker exclusively reveals that Danny Boyle is to direct James Graham’s controversial Brexit drama… and asks is the Daily Mail’s Paul Dacre about to take charge of the Telegraph? Boyle set to direct Brexit The Movie Confounding the doubters, Danny Boyle made the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Summer Olympics a national and […]

Tim Walker’s diary focuses on the secretive Border Planning Group, our new trade envoy to Libya and what Donald Trump has been telling Nigel Farage. PM’s top secret Brexit department After being on the brink of resignation for so long now, David Davis’s departure as Brexit Secretary was even more of an anti-climax than many […]

The diary also focuses on open secrets in David Davis’s Brexit dept, David Cameron’s refusal to be provoked by Danny Dyer and the Goves’ love of lucre writes TIM WALKER It’s a measure of the McCarthyite times in which we live that Sir David Attenborough – without question the nation’s most revered broadcaster – has […]

TIM WALKER on how Boris Becker wants justice for Gottfried von Cramm, Katya Banks’ property empire, an awkward encounter with Daniel Hannan and Jeremy Corbyn’s horror of the EU flag. Protesters demand action on Brexit from Jeremy Corbyn – Credit: Archant Boris Becker – the German former world No 1 professional tennis player – has […]

Tim Walker’s diary focuses on the astonishing 168 films Boris Johnson has commissioned – starring himself, naturally – and asks if Bernard Jenkin will turn up fully clothed at Buckingham Palace for his investiture. Home Secretary Amber Rudd Photo: REUTERS/Neil Hall – Credit: Press Association Images Johnson’s film factory exposed After some goading from Mandrake, […]

Tim Walker tells all about Daniel Hannan’s Twitter block, Boris Johnson’s latest vanity project and Sir Vince Cable’s hopes for Seabiscuit in by-election It says a lot about the Brextremists that few, if any, of the people who’ve worked with them recall the experience fondly. The researcher Dr Richard North, who laboured alongside the MEP […]

Mandrake discusses the deliberate disappearance of the former Prime Minister as the public debate around Brexit sours. Anxious about his safety as public anger about Brexit grows, David Cameron – who decided to hold the EU referendum – has more or less gone into hiding. ‘He sees this as a difficult year and has battened […]

Nigel Farage’s market value as a speaker would appear to be plummeting as rapidly as UKIP’s standing in the polls. Freddie Fox arrives for the First Light Awards, a celebration of the next generation of British filmmakers held at the Odeon Leicester Square, London. – Credit: PA Archive/PA Images Mandrake hears that the man who […]

Mandrake challenges the Today presenter John Humphrys to declare the income and hospitality he receives from the Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre Veteran BBC interviewer John Humphrys. Picture: Dominic Lipinski – Credit: PA Wire/PA Images Unlike the politicians that he interrogates on the Today programme, John Humphrys does not have to declare the hospitality or […]

This week’s Mandrake column diaries the attempts to have The New European recognised by the Today programme, and securing an interview with Nigel Farage. At least a couple of scandals before Windrush – it’s actually getting hard to keep track now with this government – Boris Johnson pledged to avenge the attempted murder of the […]

In this week’s diary column, Hitler’s ghost comes back to haunt the Daily Mail and Mandrake wonders how rehearsals are going for Brexit opponents. Oh dear, it’s turned out Nazi again Just as the Daily Mail was pointing an accusing finger at Jeremy Corbyn over anti-Semitism, Adolf Hitler’s ghost came back to haunt the newspaper […]

In a one-year period since he was appointed foreign secretary, Boris Johnson has managed to rack up a £150,000 travel bill for taxpayers, covering just shy of 180,000 miles. My man in Whitehall says the air miles – they would stretch half way to the Moon – are testament to Theresa May’s ‘resolute determination’ to […]

In this week’s diary column, the Queen is not amused by Liam Fox and Mandrake’s hopes for a Brexit television drama look as though they may become a reality. The Queen’s wish to bow out gracefully from next month’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting – expected to be her last in charge – is being […]

In this week’s diary column, the editor of the Today programme is spotted at lunch with an unholy trinity. My picture shows a lady named Sarah Sands supping with Nigel Farage, Rupert Murdoch and Liam Fox at a party held in south London not long after the EU referendum result. Miss Sands happens to have […]

In this week’s diary column, EU workers find a champion in the Home Office and the plan is laid out for the next phase of the Leveson inquiry The European Union’s managerial class has found an unlikely champion in the Home Office. Mandrake hears that Amber Rudd’s department has not taken kindly to Amnesty International’s […]

In this week’s diary column, Liam Fox longs for his drinking partner and Rebekah Brooks lets bygones be bygones Rebekah Brooks. Picture: PA/Yui Mok – Credit: PA Archive/PA Images If Liam Fox looks a trifle morose in the photograph above – a reader snapped the International Trade Secretary downing beers at Munich Hofbräuhaus with some […]

In this week’s diary column, Farage’s wealth remains a mystery and the BBC finally acknowledges The New European. One question Nigel Farage could usefully be asked when he makes his 32nd appearance on Question Time this week is how much money he is actually trousering each year. The accounts that the former UKIP leader, pictured, […]

In this week’s diary column, the BBC continue to overlook The New European and fracked off playwright digs out Boris Johnson. James Chapman, former chief of staff to David Davis, says that the Daily Mail has to be ‘prised’ out of the hands of John Humphrys as the Radio 4 Today programme goes on air […]

In this week’s diary column, Lib Dems distance themselves from comedy stalwart and Tim Shipman considers a new Conservative ‘dream team’. Don’t mention the EU Referendum After parting company with his third wife Alyce Faye Eichelberger and any discernibly funny scripts, John Cleese’s relationship with the Lib Dems appears to have petered out, too. The […]

In this week’s diary column, Cameron welcomes the plaudits and Gina Miller suppresses her political endeavours. Cameron wields the airbrush With an ongoing bloodbath in Libya and Brexit among his dubious achievements, no wonder David Cameron wants to go down in history as the man who legalised same-sex marriage in the UK. The former prime […]

This week, The New European revives Tim Walker’s Mandrake diary column – three years after the much-feared political diary was shut down by the Daily Telegraph. Cameron takes on the paper tigers Although it’s hard to feel enthusiasm for David Cameron’s forthcoming memoirs – it’ll be like hearing from an ex after a messy break-up […]