London diary: Has Britain’s Home Secretary Sajid Javed passed the loyalty test?

Britain’s Home Secretary Sajid Javed, first-ever Muslim to occupy one of the great offices of state, now has his sights set on the top job to replace Theresa May and has reportedly already started referring to himself as “The Saj”.

“He uses phrases like . . . ‘The Saj will sort this out.’ It’s bizarre — I think he’s losing the plot,” one colleague was quoted as saying.

With May’s future hanging in the balance following her botched handling of the Brexit process, he has joined a growing cast of contenders that includes Boris Johnson, former foreign secretary.

“The Saj” is positioning himself as a strong no-nonsense leader who will come down hard on crime and terrorism. His controversial decision to revoke the citizenship of teenaged Muslim girl, Shamima Begum, who fled to Syria to join Islamic State but now wants to return, is said to be part of that positioning. The 19-year-old mother of a new-born baby—stuck in a camp in Syria—is now stateless and nowhere to go.

His move has shocked liberal opinion and he has been accused of flaunting his patriotism in order to clear any doubts about his suitability because of his Muslim faith. Critics have said even a white home secretary might have hesitated to take such a drastic action.

“The French have a phrase for this behaviour: plus royaliste que le roi (more royalist than the king). As home secretary, responsible for immigration and anti-terrorism, Javid (as a Muslim) is under incessant pressure to prove that his first loyalty is to the UK,” wrote The Sunday Times columnist Sarah Baxter.

So, has he passed the loyalty test?

“Sir” is sexist

Guess, which is the most sexist page in most British newspapers?

It’s the letters page where the old practice of prefacing the letters to the editor with “Sir” still survives. Except The Guardian, all major national newspapers continue to follow what’s grandly described as an “old tradition”.

But a debate has begun after one female reader decided enough was enough and called out “this ridiculous and offensive tradition”. Liz Hatch of Oxfordshire complained to the editor of her local 134-year-old newspaper, The Henley Standard, that it was an outdated practice and it was time to drop it.

No, she was “by no means a feminist”, Ms Hatch wrote but “I can’t believe it is necessary to maintain this sexist attitude. I very much doubt whether readers are even aware of the gender of the editor and why is it even relevant anyway?”

To his credit, the Editor Simon Bradshaw promptly agreed . He even thanked her for “bringing this to my attention” and said the paper would drop “Sir”. But after a backlash from “traditionalists” , including some women, he wrote he would leave it to correspondents to decide “whether to address me as ‘Sir’ or not and will publish their letters accordingly”.

A study at the University of Surrey a few years ago said that writing “Sir” before “Madam” was sexist. The practice goes back to 16th century when the thinking was that men were the “worthier sex”.

“This grammar has continued with ‘Mr and Mrs’, ‘his and hers’ and the names of romantic couples like Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet,” he told The Times which itself remains stuck in the 16th century in this respect.

French leave

Poor Brits. Forever castigated for being “lazy” and reluctant to work long hours. But, apparently, it’s the French who are among the most work-shy in Europe with absenteeism reportedly costing the economy more than €100 billion a year, far more than other European countries.

It’s estimated that a French worker takes about 23 days off in a year compared to five sick days a Briton does. Comparative figures for the Germans are nine, and for the Italians 19.

The French government now plans to force people to work from home while on sick leave. Doctors are to be asked to prescribe “teleworking” for those not too ill but not well enough to attend office. The move follows a study commissioned by Prime Minister Édouard Philippe. It has reported that the system was “too binary” and doctors should have the option of prescribing “work from home”.

But the French being French trade unions are already hopping mad and the government has its work cut out as it tries to sell its plan.

Grooming the groom

Welcome to a hotel wedding venue in Scotland which offers courses in domestic duties for grooms. It teaches fiancés to do laundry, make cocktails and serve breakfast in bed.

“We are calling all lovely brides-to-be before they say ‘I do’ (to) whip their men into shape and cut the mothers’ apron strings,” it says. But it has already provoked a reaction.

“Breakfast in bed? Cocktails? Are these women looking for a husband or a servant?”, one asked.

Good question.

And, lastly, 49 per cent of Britain’s ruling Tory party see Islam as a threat to the British way of life, and 47 per cent believe the conspiracy theory that there are “no-go” Sharia-dominant areas where non-Muslims cannot enter, according to anti-racist think tank “Hope Not Hate.