The Foreign Secretary was left not knowing where to look at tonight’s GQ Man of the Year awards, when this parish’s very own Charles Moore declared war on the media luvvies. Invited to present the award for Writer of the Year, Hague looked noticeably relieved to hand over the gong for Moore’s epic biography of Baroness Thatcher. But the fireworks were yet to come.
Taking to the stage to Elvis Costello’s She, it was a poignant moment, only to be shattered by Moore himself who decided to take a chunk out of Russell Brand for his jokes earlier about the sponsor, Hugo Boss, who infamously designed uniforms for the Nazis.
While Brand quipped that ‘let’s face it they looked fantastic’, Moore disagreed somewhat. Over the pantomime booing, he reminded the audience of Andrew Sachs — national institution and the man who got Brand sacked from the BBC — had escaped persecution from the Nazis. Of course, Moore has form here. In 2009, he refused to pay his TV license over the Sachsgate affair and ended up receiving a fine in court.
Yet the zinger of the night was still to come. ‘It used to be Gentleman’s Quarterly’ decried Moore. ‘While it’s no longer quarterly, it is gentlemanly to pay homage to such a woman’.
Mr Steerpike believes that is called being ‘owned’. Poor Russell was at least able to take comfort from a big hug from Stephen Fry as the blow sunk in. A full account on the evening’s affairs will be here tomorrow.
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