He stunned his colleagues by stepping down from the Cabinet – a move many thought cost him a decent chance of one day becoming prime minister.
asserted
many → stun → minister
At the time, Alan Milburn explained his decision to resign as Health Secretary was due to his wanting to spend more time with his family.
asserted
his → explain → family
But, 23 years since he left Tony Blair’s government, it seems the Labour grandee may be seeing rather less of one relative.
uncertain
grandee → leave → relative
I refer to Milburn’s wife, Ruth, with whom he has two adult sons.
asserted
he → refer → sons
The couple have been together since 1990, though they only married in 2007 – some 11 years after their youngest, Danny, was born.
asserted
youngest → marry → 2007
And I can now disclose that Ruth, 63, who qualified as a GP before specialising in psychiatry, has resigned her directorship in the private consultancy firm she established with Alan, 68, in 2006.
asserted
she → disclose → 2006
Ruth has also redeemed her 231 class B shares in AM Strategy, which offered advice to businesses including healthcare firms.
asserted
which → redeem → firms
In March, when she cashed them in, her shares were valued at more than £1million according to recently filed documents at Companies House.
uncertain
shares → cash → House
Alan Milburn's wife, Ruth, has resigned her directorship in the private consultancy firm she established with her husband in 2006
It’s a sum which gives a literal validation to the words Milburn uttered just months after leaving government.
asserted
Milburn → resign → government
‘My life is a million times better, with much less worry and much more time,’ he reflected.
asserted
he → reflect → worry
The accounts disclose AM Strategy holds more than £4.6million in accumulated profits, including £793,000 from the last financial year.
asserted
Strategy → disclose → year
Milburn declines to comment on whether Ruth’s departure from the firm presages – or, indeed, mirrors – an end to their marriage.
asserted
departure → decline → marriage
But he has plenty to get his teeth into regardless.
asserted
he → have → teeth
Aside from leading a government review into unemployment, including cracking down on the ‘at-home’ culture of youngsters, he’s also an adviser to private equity firm Bridgepoint Capital.
asserted
he → lead → Capital
All a far cry from Milburn’s youth as a £20-a-week assistant at Days of Hope, a Marxist bookshop known in Newcastle as Haze of Dope.
asserted
All → know → Dope
My private life has been a bit of a mess, reveals Tim Rice
asserted
Rice → reveal → mess
Sir Tim Rice’s celebrated musicals include Evita, Chess and The Lion King – but the Oscar-winning lyricist has admitted his love life has been more tangled than any theatrical plot.
asserted
life → include → plot
‘I think my private life has been a bit of a mess,’ says Sir Tim, 81.
asserted
Tim → think → mess
‘Nothing serious, I hope, but going through one or two relationships, and this, that and the other, I think you do get to appreciate other people’s points of view.
asserted
you → hope → view
‘I don’t think that’s affected my work.
asserted
that → think → work
I think the other way round – I think the problems one’s had, the ups and downs, have come out in the work.’
asserted
one → think → work
Sir Tim has two children with his wife of 41 years, Jane.
asserted
Tim → have → years
They separated in 1990 after his affair with singer Elaine Paige, but it’s never been reported if they divorced.
asserted
they → separate → Paige
He also has a daughter Zoe, 28, with ex-lover Nell Sully, and a fourth child, Charlotte, nine, born in 2016 following his relationship with Cambridge-educated playwright Dr Laura Jane Foley, 44.
asserted
He → have → Foley
His other works include Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Jesus Christ Superstar, which he created with Andrew Lloyd Webber during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
asserted
he → include → 1960s
Sir Tim also has three Oscar-winning songs: Aladdin’s A Whole New World, The Lion King’s Can You Feel The Love Tonight? and You Must Love Me from Evita.
asserted
You → have → Evita
How William loves his royal Dudeness
asserted
William → love → Dudeness
Prince William wanted nothing to do with one man who abandoned his duties and moved to California.
asserted
who → want → California
But a different Los Angeles slacker has seemingly impressed the heir to the throne.
asserted
slacker → impress → throne
William is, it has been disclosed, a big fan of The Big Lebowski – a 1998 film about Jeffrey ‘The Dude’ Lebowski, who had no job, shirked his responsibilities and spent most of the day smoking marijuana.
asserted
who → disclose → marijuana
‘It turns out he [William] is a Lebowski fan,’ says one of the film’s stars, John Goodman, who met him at the London premiere of Digger.
asserted
who → turn → Digger
‘I didn’t expect that at all.’
asserted
I → expect → that
Giving rugby a try (in pink satin shorts)
The Crown star Emma Corrin went for a rather experimental outfit at Paris Fashion Week
I can't see this look catching on at my local rugby club!
asserted
look → give → club
Emma Corrin went for a rather experimental outfit at Paris Fashion Week, pairing a blue-and-purple striped rugby shirt with thigh-high pink, satin shorts.
asserted
Corrin → go → shorts
The star, who played Princess Diana in Netflix drama The Crown, was attending a party hosted by the label Miu Miu, for which the 30-year-old is an ambassador.
asserted
old → play → which
Emma’s shorts revealed many tattoos, including one on the left leg featuring the name ‘Zachary’ – apparently a tribute to boyfriend Zachary Hart.
asserted
shorts → reveal → Hart
Harry Styles’ ex-girlfriend Roxie Nafousi has made a fortune from her books about ‘manifesting’, the idea we can ‘think’ a goal into reality.
asserted
we → make → reality
‘I am no longer convinced about some of what I believed,’ says the Footballers’ Wives star, 55, who’s married to snooker champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, 50.
asserted
who → convince → O’Sullivan
On the advocates of manifesting, she says: ‘What evidence is there for what you’re teaching? And how much of your own success came from these methods, and what advantages did you have before you started practising them?’
asserted
you → manifest → them
Ben goes up a gear for anniversary
asserted
Ben → go → anniversary
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
