The Capitalist: Ian King’s sendoff, Guido adventures and your workplace weather rights
Ian King’s Sky sendoff, the man behind Guido Fawkes and your workplace weather rights; catch up on the latest gossip in The Capitalist
Return of the King?
Legendary Sky News business presenter Ian King has officially left the channel after 11 years, with the occasion marked last night at a proper knees-up on WPP’s rooftop bar, in glorious sunshine. King thanked all his colleagues past and present, with a special thanks to John Ryley and John McAndrew “for bringing me in.” He also raised a glass to all the guests who have appeared across his more than 2,000 shows – and “to the comms advisers who, in some cases, had to persuade them to step in front of a camera”. King says he’ll announce his next move in the coming weeks, and The Capitalist is confident that he’ll remain a major presence. Pay attention, comms advisers.
THE MAN BEHIND THE MASK
Paul Staines is better known to many as Guido Fawkes, scourge of Westminster politicians, but recently he’s deployed his journalistic skills in an epic battle with Big Tech. Having left his phone in an Uber he contacted the ride-hailing giant in a bid to retrieve it. Uber told him the driver didn’t have his phone, before adding (bizarrely) that they weren’t able to contact him. But Staines had tracked his missing device all the way to the back seat of a parked Uber in South London. When he told customer support that he was literally standing right next to it, the driver appeared and reunited the infamous blogger with his prized possession. No word yet on how this exchange has affected his passenger rating.
MAKE HAY WHILE THE SUN SHINES
As temperatures creep up to 29 degrees today, you may be wondering if there is a legal maximum temperature that makes it too hot to work. Alas, no, but workplace regulations do require employers to ensure that indoor workplaces are kept at a “reasonable” temperature, which The Capitalist thinks is wiggle room enough. Even better, thanks to London architect and man of the people Mo Dawod, you can now consult a new map showing you which London pubs are in the sunshine at any given time of day, using real-time shadow simulation based on the position of the sun in the sky and the height of surrounding buildings. According to the map, Morning Wire’s watering hole of choice, The Wren Tavern, will be out of the sunshine by just after 1pm today, so The Capitalist best be off.
PAPER PUSHERS
Six weeks after their city-wide denunciation and removal from the London Underground network due to fire safety concerns, bookswap libraries are returning to the capital. The flammable book depositories were closed with “immediate effect” at “ALL London Underground Stations” in March, but London Mayor Sadiq Khan has negotiated with Transport for London and the London Fire Brigade to bring them back provided they are housed in new fire safety cabinets and only at above ground stations. The Capitalist is reminded of when an earnest office inspector suggested Morning Wire consider the disposal of its own collection of dangerous combustibles: newspapers.
CTRL+C-HANCELLOR
Rachel Reeves has been known to plagiarise Wikipedia, but is the Chancellor now copying and pasting lines out of Morning Wire? Her speech on fintech at the Guildhall on Tuesday sounded remarkably similar to a piece written the day before by Morning Wire’s own Samuel Norman on the recent successes of the sector. Imitation is the best form of flattery, we suppose.
CONGRATS!
They say a good journalist must get to know their beat, and The Capitalist extends huge congratulations to our own retail and property reporter Amber Murray for battling through the heat to complete the London marathon in an impressive time of just a shade over five hours. How much of her run was spent contemplating the capital’s changing skyline is unknown, as Amber has taken a well-earned post-marathon holiday.