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Alba MP’s press release gaffe

Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Ping! No, not the latest sound of the dreaded test and trace app. An email has arrived in Steerpike’s inbox, subject line: ‘HANVEY CALLS FOR “UNITED FRONT” TO DEFEAT DRACONIAN POWERS.’ It is of course the latest dispatch from Scotland’s little-loved sixth party, Alba, Holyrood’s home for the dispossessed and the never-possessed. Intrigued, Mr S ploughed his way through the reams of impenetrable copy to learn of the latest masterstroke from Alex Salmond’s anti-SNP vehicle.

In tones more fitting for a Braveheart remake, it details how Alba MP Neale Hanvey has written to his parliamentary colleagues in Westminster, urging them to join the fight against powers to limit protest at the Scottish Parliament. It lists Hanvey, a regular fixture of antisemitism rows, as having written to Ian Blackford, Wendy Chamberlain, Ian Murray and ‘the former Conservative Cabinet Minister David Davies.

Steerpike
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Steerpike

Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

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