Newsnight stages an act of reunion

You might call it Newsnight’s very own act of union. Last night, the show presented a special edition dubbed An Act of Disunion, in which guests debated the Act of Union 300 years on. The ever-snarling Jeremy Paxman had been specially shipped up to Edinburgh to present the show alongside Kirsty Wark. Little remarked upon was that this was the first time that Wark (so Scottish that she lives in Glasgow and commutes to London) and Paxman (so English that he wrote a book called The English) have appeared together on Newsnight studio. The last time that they presented a show together was in 1989. Back then, Paxman’s hair was considerably bigger, Wark’s hair was considerably smaller and both were working on the BBC One programme Breakfast Time.

Fashion marches on — this week up and down the catwalks of Milan. Ever chic, People was grateful not to have missed Giorgio Armani’s admission as Fashion Week began: “Black is cool,” he said. “We tried to put colour in the collection, but as you can see, we couldn’t.” Perhaps it’s the new . . . no.

Success can change people. In particular, reckons Bill Nighy, it has changed him. “I used to think that prizes were demeaning and divisive,” he mused insightfully, after winning a Golden Globe for his part in Gideon’s Daughter. “Until I got one. Now they seem meaningful and real.”

For some weeks the increasingly depressing Lembit Öpik has been telling Liberal Democrat colleagues of the many, many “media bids” that he and his Cheeky Girl have received. This week’s Hello! is the final result. To save you £1.90 (and, potentially, an Oedipus-style blinding with a brooch) you may like to know that the 15-page spread also features an interview with his ex, Siân Lloyd. Particularly upsetting is the picture of Magrit Semal, the Cheeky mother, who really should wear longer skirts. Look, we know it’s not nice, but it’s our job to keep you informed about these things. You should be grateful.

The Roundhouse in Camden, North London, has hosted some of the biggest names in rock, including David Bowie, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix. This week, David Lammy, the Culture Minister, was there to promote choral singing in schools. Lammy is qualified in this respect and talked fondly of being offered a choral scholarship to The King’s School, Peterborough, at the age of 11. This, he said, was his “Billy Elliot” moment. Rock on.

More than 400 police officers, recruits and civilian staff are to “attempt to break the world record for the most people handcuffed together” tomorrow at Richard House children’s hospice in Beckton, East London, according to a slightly breathless press release from Scotland Yard. All those taking part will pay £3 to the charity for the privilege. A team of non-handcuffed officers is to be on hand to release them all — eventually. Expect John Reid to be watching closely. As a method of dealing with overcrowding, this sounds like a better idea than prison ships.

In last weekend’s edition of The Sunday Times, Michael Winner wrote approvingly of the Sandy Lane hotel in Barbados and mentioned, in passing, that he had become “extremely ill towards the end of my stay through having an antibiotic which disagreed with me.” People now learns that, throughout his subsequent short stay in a Barbadian hospital, the hotel sent over a meal a day. So at least he still had a chance to sample the menu fully.

On the Today programme the other day, James Naughtie accidentally introduced Peter Davis (author of a new Tory report) as Peter Davis (the former chairman of Sainsbury), before blaming the mix-up on a briefing note that he hadn’t believed, anyway. If Google was the Today team’s main research tool, he could just as easily have been Peter Davis (of the Welsh Kite Trust), Peter Davis (sub-principal clarinettist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra) or Peter Davis (the husband of the Prime Minister of New Zealand).

Tough times for Padma Lakshmi, wife of Salman Rushdie. Contestants on her American TV show Top Chef were less than complimentary when asked about their host by New York Magazine. Replies included: “Um, are we allowed to say disparaging things about Padma?” and: “Next question.”

“I can never have a gun in my house,” Tom Petty tells Classic Rock magazine. “I’d just start shooting. Not at people, but I’d go out and kill a tree.”

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