The Londoner: Fire at Stella McCartney’s £5m home during her holiday

A fire at the home of fashion designer Stella McCartney had to be swiftly put out by the emergency services after it started in her rubbish chute.

Three fire engines were called to tackle the blaze in Notting Hill late last month. A source told The Londoner: “Someone put a fag in a shared rubbish chute which is underneath three houses on that street. It was really dramatic.”

The large five-storey townhouse, which McCartney owns with her husband, former Hunter creative director Alasdhair Willis, is a Grade II listed building and is worth about £5 million.

McCartney is said to have been away from London on holiday at the time. The daughter of former Beatle Sir Paul is the owner of her eponymous fashion line for women, men and children, which was founded in 2001 and has more than 50 stores worldwide.

Stella McCartney is personally said to be worth more than £60 million. Her fashion line made an £11 million loss in the most recent accounts filed, down from being in profit in years previous as it goes through a period of restructuring.

The London Fire Brigade confirmed that they had attended a fire at the house. Stella McCartney declined to comment.

--

Amid the furore over Rule Britannia at the BBC Proms, writer Sathnam Sanghera tells The Londoner the debate is “entirely manufactured by culture warriors”.

“I don’t know a single BLM activist who is campaigning for the removal of the song,” Sanghera, whose book EmpireLand comes out early next year, tells us. “It’s simply a way of making protesters with legitimate concerns look ridiculous.”

--

Joe Wicks kept the nation’s spirits up with exercise during lockdown, but he is feeling flat since ending his daily workouts last month.

“I had so much purpose and people all around the world taking part so I feel a bit lost,” he told fellow trainer Richie Norton on Instagram.

“Now I feel like I’m not getting a lot done and I’m demotivated.” Drop and give us 20.

SW1A

SW1A hacks are rejoicing as The Red Lion pub has removed lockdown window boards.

“Who needs conference season?” says a regular. “I can drink overpriced London Pride on a drizzly pavement next to some bins.”

--

Ex-Labour MP Caroline Flint has mixed memories of nightclubs. She fell for her first husband when winning a dancing competition in a nightclub in Tunisia, but it ended in “disaster and divorce”.

“There’s a warning about holiday romances,” she tells the For The Many podcast.

PM’s dad is up to speed thanks to ninja techies​

Boris Johnson’s father Stanley posed with internet technicians, celebrating that his Exmoor home, where the PM spent some of his childhood, finally has good wifi.

“The Government is fulfilling its pledge of bringing broadband to remote rural areas,” he told us of the “wonderful ninja team”.

Asked if Huawei was involved, he said he “wouldn’t know”.

Elsewhere, musician Anoushka Shankar played the sitar and model Bella Hadid posted a selfie in the car.