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You can read my review of the Royal Opera House’s world premiere of Anna Nicole in today’s Independent, here. It was quite a night, all things considered…

What has transpired in Egypt is truly historic. After covering events there for this magazine and spending long periods of time with protesters in Tahrir Square I’m disappointed to have missed their celebrations this evening. I’ve been speaking by phone to some of the people I met while out there and they tell me a massive party is underway.

No, not Facebook… This is about our leading cultural institutions and their membership systems. Friends schemes are a wonderful thing if you’re in them; and as public subsidy shrinks we’ll be seeing more and more developing. But with demand for membership starting to outstrip the supply of seats, the most sought-after events can sell out before booking has opened to the general public.

Reproduced below is an article from Conservative Home by Haras Rafiq, supporting the Prime Minister’s Recent Speech in Munich.

In last week’s issue of the Spectator, Peter Oborne threw his weight behind a faction within the coalition government, headed by Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, who are urging David Cameron and some of his closest allies to reassess their current stance on the role Islamist groups should play both in the direction of British Islam and in the government’s counter-radicalisation efforts.  He believes that Cameron’s neoconservative cabal in Whitehall has fundamentally misunderstood what constitutes extremist Islam, and is mistaken in its rejection of a wide array of British Islamist organisations.  Instead, he thinks Cameron and his allies must understand that non-violent Islamist groups can act as a useful bulwark against violent extremism.  As well as being flawed, his argument also reveals a surprisingly low opinion of Britain’s Muslims.

Mr Justice Peter Smith has been taken off a case after expressing strong views about a defendant law firm - and not for the first time.

Happy Monday, all. A few bits and pieces to tell you about today.

1. WEDNESDAY, 2 FEB, SYMPHONY HALL, BIRMINGHAM

Andris Nelsons is conducting Mahler 9 and I will be giving a pre-concert talk. The topic is: “Musical endgames” and it’s all about love and death, but will be a lot more fun than that sounds. Kick-off is 6.15pm. Do come along & say hi. More here.

A High Court judge has been criticised by the Court of Appeal for writing a judgment that was “far too long, too discursive and too unwieldy”.

The Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has promised ‘decisive measures’ against protestors today. Large scale demonstrations are likely to follow Friday prayers today, which will end within the next hour.

Internet traffic is already being disrupted and the country’s text message service is down.

We’ll keep you posted on any significant developments.

Press TV, the propaganda arm of the Iranian regime, has had its bank account frozen by NatWest Bank. AFP reports: