EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: ‘Cancelled’ David Starkey is unrepentant as he takes on trans lobby
Uh-Oh, Dr David Starkey is whipping up a storm again — and this time he’s taking on the notoriously prickly trans lobby.
The television historian, who was ‘cancelled’ after making racist remarks in 2020, has now publicly questioned the right of transgender women to identify themselves as female.
‘One of the terrible problems of the age that we live in is the refusal to confront the truth,’ declares the Tudors expert.
David Starkey (pictured) was ‘cancelled’ after making racist remarks in 2020
The television historian has now publicly questioned the right of transgender women to identify themselves as female
‘The whole world of so much of the social media, the whole world of critical race theory, and the whole world of transsexuality is a gigantic lie.’
He explains: ‘It’s an act of faith — it’s preposterous the idea that a man can become a woman.
‘These are simple absurdities.
‘And large parts of the population — the young population, those who, one would hope, are more questing, are most disillusioned with fiction — swallow fiction.’
Speaking on LBC’s Iain Dale All Talk podcast, Dr Starkey adds: ‘We don’t need a new Jesus Christ; we need a teller of blunt, cruel truth. Well, perhaps that was Jesus. If you read the Bible, the Bible was brutal.’
Dr Starkey, 76, apologised after his incendiary remarks about slavery. He was dropped by his long-standing publisher, HarperCollins, and his literary agency, Rogers Coleridge & White, as well as losing top academic posts after he claimed that slavery did not constitute genocide.
Dr Starkey, 76, apologised after his incendiary remarks about slavery. He was dropped by his long-standing publisher, HarperCollins, and his literary agency, Rogers Coleridge & White, as well as losing top academic posts after he claimed that slavery did not constitute genocide
Last year, however, he shocked diners in London’s Soho by saying he stood by his original offensive comments.
‘I don’t regret that statement,’ he said at the London Grill Club.
‘I regret how I said it, and the fact that I gave a handle to my enemies, which is a stupid thing to do.
‘I regret stupidity, I don’t regret a moral position.’
Sophie goes for a beer, the long way
Forget lying on a sun lounger by the Med. Newsreader Sophie Raworth has spent her summer hols completing an ‘ultra-marathon’.
Newsreader Sophie Raworth (pictured) has spent her summer hols completing an ‘ultra-marathon’
The BBC star, 54, ran a gruelling 35 miles across the Alps from Switzerland to France via three mountains and almost 12,000 ft of climbing. ‘Mountain madness,’ says the businessman’s daughter, pictured at the finishing line before enjoying a well-earned drink.
‘It took me 11 hours and 54 minutes to get to that beer. It has never tasted so good.’
Erstwhile drag queen Paul O’Grady is not impressed that desperate TV executives keep reviving old shows, the latest being 1990s hit Gladiators, lined up for a major reboot on BBC1. ‘I wish they’d bring out some new shows, really, instead of regurgitating the old formats,’ the Lily Savage comedian tells me. ‘It would be nice to have some new stuff.’ O’Grady is not against reviving the odd old show, however: he hosted Blankety Blank after it had been off the air for seven years.
Sleeping bag style for royal partygoer Amelia
Once described as the most beautiful royal by Tatler magazine, Lady Amelia Windsor is also one of the most sartorially daring.
Lady Amelia, 27, wore it a quilted green jacket over her £55 pink slip dress made from recycled polyester and designed by womenswear brand Omnes
The model granddaughter of the Queen’s cousin the Duke of Kent sported a quilted green jacket to a fashion party in London that could have passed for a sleeping bag.
Lady Amelia, 27, wore it over her £55 pink slip dress made from recycled polyester and designed by womenswear brand Omnes.
She says being vegan influences her fashion style and has used her Instagram page to show off eco choices, such as a £295 recycled leather bag, made with her input.
Even some of the country’s most celebrated restaurateurs will struggle to survive this winter. Michelin-starred Tom Kerridge, a judge on Great British Menu, says: ‘Energy costs at one of my pubs have gone from £60,000 to £420,000 a year. It is just absolutely ludicrous. I have to earn an extra £360,000 a year profit from that pub — or an extra £3 million a year turnover — just to keep going. ‘Hospitality in this country is going to close.’
Dame Emma’s sis lives the high life
Dame Emma Thompson enjoys a red-carpet existence, with homes in North London, Scotland and Venice. Yet the Oscar-winner’s sister and fellow actress, Sophie Thompson, lives in a different world.
Dame Emma Thompson (left) enjoys a red-carpet existence, with homes in North London, Scotland and Venice, whilst her sister, Sophie (right) lives in a different world
‘[My home] is an attic in the East End of London and it’s full of colour,’ says Sophie, 60, who’s divorced from actor Richard Lumsden. ‘I always say to my mates, “I’m in the eyrie”, which is usually used to describe a bird’s nest.
‘I have to keep it tidy as it’s pretty small. I used to live in a big, ramshackle house with a kitchen.’
She adds: ‘My money is mostly spent in cheese shops and charity shops. I get my whole wardrobe from the charity shop.’
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