ANDREW PIERCE: Is Cleggy falling out of love with his beloved EU?

By ANDREW PIERCE FOR THE DAILY MAIL

PUBLISHED: 01:16, 14 October 2024 | UPDATED: 09:38, 14 October 2024

Has arch-Remainer Sir Nick Clegg, one-time leader of the LibDems, changed his mind on Brexit?

Clegg, now earning a reputed salary of $15 million (£11.5 million) as president of global affairs at the social media giant Meta, has been wailing about regulations in, you've guessed it, his once beloved EU.

Clegg is masterminding the roll out of Meta's Artificial ­Intelligence (AI) model across the globe, including the UK. But the software has hit a brick wall in Europe.

'We're expanding Meta AI to more countries, including Brazil and the UK,' says Clegg. 'Unfortunately, we still can't roll it out in the EU because of the regulatory ­uncertainty we face there.'

This is the same Clegg who sanctimoniously warned of a 'disorderly' and 'chaotic' exit from the EU and even published a guide entitled How To Stop Brexit (And Make Britain Great Again) after the referendum.

A catty exchange between two Tory MPs in the Commons after Morgan McSweeney replaced Sue Gray as the PM's chief of staff.

'They say McSweeney was the architect of Labour's landslide election victory,' said one.

Cue the other MP: 'I thought that was Rishi Sunak.'

Exercise guru of the week

In his podcast Spooning With Mark Wogan, the son of the late, great Sir Terry explains his father enjoyed the good life. 

'When it came to the subject of exercise, his comment was: "Cheetah, fastest animal in the world, life expectancy four years. Giant turtle, 300. Slow down."'

James lost by a whisker

Perhaps the Tories never were serious about change. If James Cleverly had won the Tory leadership contest, he would have been the party's first leader with a beard since Lord Salisbury in 1902. 

A sweet moment in the Lords when Scotland's new Advocate General took her seat. Lady Smith of Cluny is a daughter of late Labour leader John Smith. One of her official supporters was Lady Smith of Gilmorehill – or as she generally calls her, 'Mum'. 

No leaks about the Tory leadership contest from Bob Blackman, chairman of organisers the 1922 Committee: 'I'm so discreet I don't even discuss it with my wife.' 

Michael Gove certainly did his homework for his review of Boris Johnson's bestselling memoir Unleashed. The former Levelling Up Secretary reveals Boris mentions his dog Dilyn more often than his chancellor Sajid Javid or deputy prime minister Dominic Raab.

Gove, newly appointed editor of The Spectator, concludes: 'Boris, like Dilyn, is a creature happiest and most lovable when he is unleashed.'

Boris also comes out fighting for Owen Paterson, the former minister trying to clear his name over a lobbying scandal, saying: 'He was not given a chance to defend himself. The process was deeply unfair.'

As I revealed last week, Sir Anthony Hooper KC, a former court of appeal judge, also questioned the process.

Hands off our parkin! 

The National Trust is keen to highlight any unsavoury links its properties might have with the empire. So it's a surprise to find its magazine praising parkin cake, a Yorkshire delicacy.

The sticky, spicy teatime treat was investigated by Leeds Council in 2021 because many of its main ingredients – sugar, treacle and ginger – apparently have questionable origins.

A council spokesman said some of the ingredients 'would have been sourced from around the empire and would have involved the labour of enslaved people'.

Can we expect an apology and a strong denunciation of parkin in the magazine's next edition?