It’s Friday, readers, and what a relief!
Society Diary would bet £1,000 that one man looking forward to the weekend is Rishi Sunak. Our tactless leader was heavily criticised on Monday after agreeing to pay a grand to a refugee charity if he lost a bet to “get anybody on those planes” to Rwanda before the election.
Former hedge fund manager Sunak rowed back on his punt later in the week, saying he’s “not a betting person”, despite previously saying that spread-betting on cricket was “great”, and that he was “taken totally by surprise” by the offer of a wager.
So, the Eat Out to Help Out king was hoodwinked by that master of subtlety and nuance, Piers Morgan.
Diary wants to know whether the windfall would have counted as government funding for charities critical of government policy, which the Centre for Migration Control think tank warned about in the Telegraph last week.
Dishi Rishi managed to alienate more charities and potential voters on Wednesday with his crass “defining a woman” gag in front of Brianna Ghey’s grieving mother.
But don’t worry fellow Rishi stans, our hero has a trick up his sleeve – he is sitting in as a GB News host for Jacob Reese Mogg on Monday! As an avid viewer of the channel, Diary expects to be charmed and won back around in time for the general election.
Pets on Pancake Day
In lighter, fluffier, tastier news, it’s Pancake Day next Tuesday – Diary’s favourite festive celebration.
But wait, ravenous reader! Did you know that treating your pet pooch with a piece of cheese while preparing your batter-based meal is bad for their health?
PDSA Vet Nurse Nina Downing warned dog owners in the north west of England this week: “Just one cube of cheese is the equivalent of 11 pancakes to a small dog, six to a medium dog, and 3.5 to a large-sized dog. So, what originally may have seemed a harmless little treat, actually equates to more than 110 extra calories, which is over 30% of a small dog’s daily calorific requirement.”
So, keep the pets away, readers, while you tuck into 11 delicious pancakes on your own.
Valentine’s Day dog biscuits?
Hot on the heels of Pancake Day this year is the supermarket-ready meal highlight of the year, Valentine’s Day.
Dogs Trust turned the heat up by publishing a beetroot biscuit recipe “for your best pal-entine”.
The strawberries, beetroot and peanut butter-flavoured treats look good enough for human consumption but remember to “allow to cool before serving to your four-legged valentine”.
To set the scene, Dogs Trust recommended pet owners should light some candles and put some romantic music on (we’d recommend Who Let the Dogs Out by Baha Men).
