The Londoner: Jesse Norman’s prang in a driverless ‘pod’

Occasional mishap: Jesse Norman
Getty Images
13 March 2018

Roads minister Jesse Norman MP didn’t declare his position during the Brexit referendum, but the Leavers’ advice might be apt: “Take back control.” At least those words might have run through his head when a driverless vehicle he was travelling in crashed during a tour of a test facility for the “pod” cars in Greenwich Peninsula.

The manufacturers behind the pod are keen to emphasise that the accident was “probably caused by human error”. and say there is an “open investigation”. We understand that Norman’s vehicle was cruising no faster than a milk float when it hit and then scraped along the perimeter fence. Norman assures us that he emerged from the pod unscathed. “I wasn’t remotely shaken or concerned,” he says.

Actually he was “reassured that this was a genuine live trial” because the car stopped and “technicians checked what had happened and after a few minutes it went on its way perfectly happily”.

He adds cheerily that “successful innovation inevitably means the occasional mishap. After hundreds if not thousands of successful runs for these vehicles, this just seems to have been one of those things”.

Later the same day, March 6, Norman announced the Government was looking at who the “responsible” person was if a driverless car crashed. Also on the trip was Nicholas Paines QC, who will be advising on legislation for driverless liability. Their visit marked the start of a three-year review into legal obstacles to self-driving cars, which will also examine “how to allocate civil and criminal responsibility where there is some shared control in a human-machine interface”.

In a statement Paines said: “British roads are already among the safest in the world and automated vehicles have the potential to make them even safer. Provided our laws are ready for them.”

Rees-Mogg’s life comes full circle

Jacob Rees-Mogg is on manoeuvres: he and his wife, Helena, are packing up their six children and relocating from his four-bedroom townhouse in Mayfair, to Westminster.

The larger, older property — currently being overhauled by builders — is moments from Jacob’s childhood home in Smith Square. Of course no one can accuse Rees-Mogg of living in the past. His new pad is a stone’s throw from the Commons. “I fear nanny won’t like it,” he says, “because she will be concerned I will be popping home all the time”.

---

Curious timing at Condé Nast. Patrick Demarchelier takes top billing in Vanity Fair but Demarchelier, who was Princess Diana’s personal photographer, was accused by six women last month of sex attacks. Even so, he’s in one of Vanity Fair’s features, snapping away at Bryan Cranston. Perhaps they didn’t get the memo.

---

The Queen is a board game fan but can a special Windsor town edition, for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding, break her embargo on Monopoly? In 2008 Prince Andrew revealed that the game was banned because “it gets too vicious”. But what if the dog character were replaced by a corgi? And might Eton be used as jail?

Britain’s got talent, as Oprah finds out over tea at The Connaught

Welcome to London Oprah Winfrey! The world’s most famous host was at the Connaught Hotel having tea and cakes yesterday ahead of the London premiere of A Wrinkle in Time. The queen of US television plays an omnipotent goddess in the film, Choosing her was easy, says the film’s director Ava DuVernay: “When you’re trying to cast the wisest woman in the world, what’s the question?”

Also rolling out the welcome carpet at a party hosted by Vogue’s Edward Enninful were actors Chiwetel Ejiofor, Gwendoline Christie, Idris Elba, artist Steve McQueen and novelists Chimamanda Adichie and Sir Salman Rushdie. Good to know that Oprah values Britain’s talent.

The Londoner can’t help wondering if Oprah’s trip presages a future presidential visit. Despite her blustering protestations, wouldn’t it be great to have a woman who once declared “I always knew I was born for greatness” enter the race in 2020?

SW1A

Fixed it for you: Theresa May (Photo Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) 
Getty Images

It’s a relief to hear that the fine minds of the Conservative Party are in synch on one crucial issue: how to avoid a repeat of last year’s conference fiasco when the letters fell off the backdrop during Theresa May’s big speech. For the Tory spring forum this weekend, the letters will be glued permanently in place (one can only imagine screams for guarantees that accompanied the order of this strong adhesive). But why on earth did Tory HQ use velcro in the first place? The answer: so that the letters could be moved up and down whenever an usually short or tall Tory minister took the podium.

---

Politicians ought to know their onions. Or should that be avocados? At the SXSW indie music festival in Austin, Texas, the Mayor, Sadiq Khan, told an interviewer, prompted by the avocados on his socks, that “the avocado eaters of London” were “a very important demographic to my electorate”.

Hairy friends rule in the MoD

Does Gavin Williamson need a good whipping? I ask because the former Chief Whip is indulging in impressive spinning in his new role as the Defence Secretary, in what could be described as psychological warfare against the Treasury to demand money for the generals.

Williamson, owner of Cronus, the tarantula kept on his desk (and which ministers used to dare each other to eat when they were “summoned” to his lair), is safer than most from a lashing because the new Chief Whip, Julian Smith, is his other hairy best friend.

Quote of the day

Pasta pals: Rebecca Long-Bailey (Photo Jonathan Nicholson/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) 
LightRocket via Getty Images

‘Our main conversation comes down to what we’re going to have for tea.’ Shadow BEIS Secretary Rebecca Long- Bailey, who shares a flat with Angela Rayner MP, says they spend more time discussing pasta than politics

Holi queens: Noor Fares and Saloni Lodha (Photo Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Dave Benett/Getty Images for Saloni

You missed a bit. Designers Noor Fares and Saloni Lodha show a new look, splattered with paint at Holi celebrations in Udaipur, India. Talk about getting highlights done.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in