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The news that two senior establishment figures were pressured to leave London’s exclusive Garrick Club amid a firestorm of sexism was one of the biggest stories of the last week.
However, listeners to Jon Sopel and Emily Maitlis’ top-rated current affairs podcast, The News Agents, didn’t hear anything about it, and I think there might be an explanation.
Because I can reveal that former BBC journalist Sopel has just become a member of the historic Covent Garden institution after a long wait – although the timing could be better.
The £1,700-a-year club is at the center of controversy over its all-male membership policy. Last week, senior civil servant Simon Case and MI6 chief Sir Richard Moore resigned after their names were published in a leaked list of members.
Jon Sopel, 64, will meet former BBC colleagues in the elegant halls of the Garrick club
Sopel has just become a member of the historic Covent Garden institution after a long wait.
Critics said his participation in the 193-year-old club made a mockery of his efforts to make its institutions more inclusive, but one member felt he demonstrated a lack of “backbone” by being “intimidated by club police.” thought” to make him resign.
Sopel, 64, will meet former BBC colleagues in the club’s elegant corridors. Jeremy Paxman finally came to power some time ago, 11 years after being banned for writing an anti-establishment book.
The institution, famous for its links with the salmon and cucumber club, has long been urged to allow women in as members, not just as guests. In 2011, Joanna Lumley tried unsuccessfully to become the first female member when Downton star Hugh Bonneville proposed to her.
Member Stephen Fry recently told me that he would like to see women join in, saying: “The Garricks would be much better off if they did and would rub their eyes in amazement that anyone would ever be against the idea.”
Maybe Sopel will now help lead the charge…