Londoner's Diary: Assange link sets Pamela on rape campaign

In today's Diary: Pamela Anderson goes on the rape campaign trail | Boris Johnson is money Hungary | Victor Sebestyen | Katy Perry makes no bones about her Brit skeletons | Jess Phillips every woman every party | Gina Miller compares PM Theresa May to Miss Trunchbull | Jake Arnott debuts his new book The Fatal Tree 
(Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images
24 February 2017

Pamela Anderson, the pneumatic blonde with a heart as big as her chest, has been a fervent campaigner for animal rights and environmental issues for much of her career. But now the bombshell has a surprising new cause — helping men accused of rape.

Yesterday Anderson, speaking to the Russia Today network, criticised Sweden’s treatment on sex crime accusations. The country, she said, “has these very progressive laws against sexual crimes, whatever you want to call it — it’s almost too progressive, it’s almost paralysing”.During the interview, with the Going Underground programme hosted by Afshin Rattansi, Anderson said: “I’m going to actually start campaigning for men who have been victims of being accused of rape when they haven’t actually done anything.”

Anderson said in 2014 that she had been molested and raped as a child, and a teenager. Her sympathy for men accused of rape may have come about in Knightsbridge recently. The former Baywatch star has made regular visits to Julian Assange, taking the WikiLeaks founder and Ecuadorian Embassy’s writer-in-residence Pret lunches on several occasions over the past few months. Assange is holed up in the Knightsbridge townhouse to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is accused of sexual assault. He has been there for almost five years, in which time all but one of the accusations have passed beyond the statute of limitations. The final case will stand until 2020.

Pamela has never confirmed she is the girlfriend of Assange, who used to have his own show on the state-funded Russia Today network, but does seem to have become his advocate.

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A nice little top-up of Boris Johnson’s bank balance, all the way from Hungary. The register of MPs’ financial interests has been updated and shows that the Foreign Secretary has just got a bit of a bonus: last month he received £8,544.36 for the Hungarian sub-rights and US royalties of an already written book, presumably his Winston Churchill biography. Now that he’s Foreign Secretary, surely he will be donating his earnings to charity.

Bannon feels the heat of revolution

Revolutionaries stormed Notting Hill’s Tabernacle last night for Victor Sebestyen’s book Lenin the Dictator — almost exactly 100 years after the first 1917 Revolution.

Ex-Standard writer Sebestyen feels change is in the air. “For an Eastern European Jew, I’m actually normally quite cheerful,” he said. “But now there’s lots to be down about.

Sebestyen singled out Trump’s inner circle for concern. Steve Bannon said in 2013 that “Lenin wanted to destroy the state and that’s my goal too.” And Sebestyen’s response? “When you think the Chief Strategist for the White House claims proudly that he is a Leninist you know that the world is turning upside down. I’ll send Steve Bannon a special copy. From one Leninist to another.”

Quote of the day

‘If David Bowie could be here tonight, he probably wouldn’t be here tonight’

Michael C Hall, star of David Bowie musical Lazarus, reminds us that the late legend would have been too cool to accept his Brit Awards last night

Ed bares his chest and Katy tips the wink

(Photo by Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
Getty Images

To Universal's post-Brits bash at 180 The Strand last night, hosted by Soho House, where Mayor Sadiq Khan told us of his disappointment at the gongless Stormzy and Skepta before we congratulated Katy Perry on her Trump and May skeletons at the ceremony. “Oh, is that what that was?” she replied with a smile and a wink.

At Freemasons’ Hall, at the Warner party with Ciroc Vodka, guests winced at the dancer who tumbled off the stage mid-routine. “I feel their pain,” Eric Underwood of the Royal Ballet told us. “I was on tour with the Royal Ballet in Mexico and my trousers fell to my ankles.

I stood there, in my dance belt, completely exposed.”

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NOT everyone, or everywoman, turned up on time for the Brits last night. Jess Phillips MP, who had been invited, was holding her own party in the State Rooms of The Speaker’s House in the Palace of Westminster to launch her Everywoman book. An unusual venue for a book to appeal to the people, The Londoner observed. “I just asked the Speaker,” said Phillips. Books were selling fast, and Phillips was signing fast. “I’ve got to go to the Brits — I look a right mess.”

Miller’s tale ain’t over

WATCH out, Theresa May: Gina Miller is back. The Article 50 campaigner told us she thinks the Prime Minister was “despicable” for sitting in on Monday’s Brexit debate in the House of Lords. “She reminds me of Roald Dahl’s horrible headmistress in Matilda,” Miller told The Londoner. “Miss Trunchbull.”

Miller, pictured, brought an Article 50 notification to a parliamentary vote through a legal challenge and now has a fresh crusade: she has started Campaign2018.org to build a movement to demand politicians a full vote on Brexit negotiations.

Campaign2018’s strapline is “A good deal for Britain”, and urges that “the Brexit Bill be amended to allow Parliament a full vote on the outcome of the negotiations” rather than a simple yes or no. The site has 2,500 supporters since Monday.

Miller urges bodies unto the breach. “In the face of no opposition, whoever feels the need to be the voice of reason needs to speak up now,” she tells us. “Currently MPs are too weak to do that — so we must do it for them. If it doesn’t work, then we will try again with the Great Repeal Bill or try and get emergency legislation.”

Tweet of the Day: “It’s By-Election Day and a vicious storm is sweeping the nation. Because we needed more metaphors.”

BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Janine Gibson considers the fusion of the battles in Stoke Central and Copeland and Storm Doris

Celebs were more fun in the old days

Crispin Hughes

The Foundling Museum in Bloomsbury hosted the launch of Jake Arnott’s novel The Fatal Tree last night, about Georgian-era celebrity gossip. Arnott, pictured above left with actors Frances Barber and Mark Strong, said: “18th-century celebrities were more interesting than today’s subjects.” Don’t tell the famous guests.

For all of today's Diary click here.

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