The Londoner: BBC’s flat denial of QC's Jeremy Corbyn bias allegations

A prominent QC claims to have proof that the BBC codes “negative messages” in its coverage of Jeremy Corbyn. Jo Maugham QC has posted screenshots of messages, allegedly from an unnamed senior BBC journalist, online.

They detail how certain “taboo” criticisms of the Labour leader are “transmitted in code” in reporting. These messages, dating from June 2016, see this alleged BBC figure describe “taboos about the fundamental critique of Corbyn”: that “he is a very stupid man, ill-equipped for the complexity of his job”, and secondly, an “old man, who doesn’t have the vigour required to learn the necessary skills”. “It would be shocking to see those things written out plainly,” they add, “so it’s all transmitted in code.”

The BBC has strongly denied the claims. A spokesperson said: “These anonymous messages from 2016 don’t set out the BBC’s position now or at any time in the past, nor do they appear to say what is being suggested, so we don’t have anything more to say about them.”

Maugham, who founded the Good Law Project, which brought the case that prompted this week’s ECJ ruling that the UK could unilaterally revoke Brexit, first published the screenshots in March of this year, but received limited news coverage without the ability to certify the sender of the screenshots. Now, Maugham has invited Rob Burley, editor of the BBC’s live political programmes, to “mutually agree” a “senior lawyer who I will show the messages to and who will certify that the journalist is an important figure in BBC News”. Burley has so far not responded to the invitation, but did retweet the allegations in a move that Maugham describes as “trolling”.

Maugham would not share the identity of the sender to The Londoner but emphasised the figure’s importance, as “somebody who is not just a journalist but has a degree of control of BBC news’ editorial policy”.

“My interest in the BBC is a governance interest. The BBC’s dominance of news in the UK is such that it is vitally important it acts properly and not as the state’s broadcaster.”

Rose leaves her warts-and-all past behind at premiere

Does Rose McGowan ever have a night on the sofa? The activist and Hollywood actor was full of Christmas cheer with pal Jaime Winstone at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on Monday, only to head out again last night to celebrate the premiere of immersive art film Indecision IV, at bistro Wild by Tart in Eccleston Yards.

McGowan was joined by her partner, model Rain Dove, founder of HEIST Gallery, Mashael Al Rushaid, and New York Times culture critic Hettie Judah for conversation, canapés and cocktails following the screening. Life hasn’t always been one of cocktail parties in Belgravia for McGowan, though. The #MeToo activist has written about growing up as a part of a controversial commune, and recently recalled a less than glamorous job when she was 15 “at a company that represented makers of breast implants”. She remembers “the manager had a wart on the end of her tongue that she’d push against her teeth, making a very specific sound”.

Celia and Co join a Christmas Carol

Heavenly hosts galore in London last night. Alison Steadman, Celia Imrie and Tamsin Greig were three wise women at a carol concert held in aid of GOSH, the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity. The event, the 19th in its history, raised more than £300,000 for the cause and was hosted at St Paul's Church in Knightsbridge.

Also last night, in nearby Chelsea, actors Clarke Peters and Bill Nighy enjoyed mince pies and mulled wine at a concert in aid of Nordoff Robbins, the music therapy charity. They joined Michaela Coel - writer and star of Chewing Gum - and singer Nile Rodgers, who performed.

May’s Iron deficiency

David Davis MP gave the fifth annual Margaret Thatcher Centre Lecture this week, recalling meeting the Iron Lady in his days as a Conservative student leader. “They were very different times,” he said. “The country was in a parlous state. At home industrial unrest was rife, and strikes were common. Economic growth was weak and inflation was high. Abroad there was an existential nuclear threat from a powerful communist bloc led by the Soviet Union. Well, perhaps not so different times, in that case.” The former Brexit secretary theorised what Thatcher would have said about May’s negotiations attempts: “No, no, no.”

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Robert Hardman, author of the Elizabeth II biography Queen of the World, was at yesterday’s Oldie Literary Lunch. “There’s just one record the Queen is still to claim and that’s for the ‘longest reign ever’,” he explained. “She’s only got until 2024, when she will overtake Louis XIV of France. Then it’ll be two years before she has the rare distinction of sending a 100th birthday card to herself.”

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Speaking of the royal family, PR guru James Henderson has nothing but fine words for those who stuck by him after the collapse of his firm, Bell Pottinger. “I’ve continued to do a lot of work with the duchess and the York family,” he tells Boisdale Life. “They are supportive, lovely people.”

A show we do best

What must the Americans think as our politics goes mad? “One of my goals for 2019 is to understand UK politics,” says model Chrissy Teigen. But it’s a struggle: “I read and read and try and learn, but my brain cannot grasp it,” she adds. She’s not the only one raising an eyebrow at the UK at the moment. Singer Bette Midler says she’s “grateful someone besides us is going through a political s***show right now”. She points out, however, s***show “sounds better” with a British accent. Small mercies.

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It’s the return of QVC’s favourite shopgirl: Catherine Zeta-Jones. The Oscar-winning actor was showcasing her wares on the shopping channel yesterday, including her signature reversible bathrobes.

SW1A

Stewart McDonald, SNP MP for Glasgow South, yesterday accused Labour MP Dennis Skinner of calling him a “piece of s***” in the Commons. Later McDonald (below) also hit out at “abuse in the workplace egged on” by journalists. But he has not always been so sensitive. In 2013, following a row about Greg Mulholland MP insulting a gay rights activist, McDonald tweeted “Why are people so upset at an MP calling someone a ‘little s***’?”

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Father Christmas showed up in the Commons Tea Room yesterday to visit MPs. “You’ve all been very naughty,” he bellowed, according to Labour MP Wes Streeting. Coal all round.

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Sarah Champion MP has asked the House of Commons to make the 209 Women exhibition — a gallery of photos of female MPs — permanent to mark 100 years of votes for women. It is the “first time I’ve walked down a corridor not full of portraits of old white men”, she says.

Quote of the Day

‘I have not only laid off the Mars Bars, I have axed the cheese’ Boris Johnson on his 12lb weight loss. That’s lucky — Mars Bars may be in short supply post-Brexit