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
From our UK edition
The otherwise run-of-the-mill First Minister’s Questions in the Scottish Parliament came to a dramatic conclusion this afternoon. Before the Presiding Officer moved onto the next item of business, former Conservative leader Douglas Ross made a point of order alleging that he had been assaulted by an SNP government minister. Crikey! He told SNP First Minister John Swinney:
From our UK edition
Well, well, well. At long last, two months after it was agreed, the first illegal migrant has been deported from Britain to France under Keir Starmer’s ‘one in, one out’ deal with Emmanuel Macron. The news comes after this week saw a number of delays thanks to lawyers submitting eleventh-hour legal challenges – putting a
From our UK edition
Oh dear. Former government minister Tulip Siddiq has come under scrutiny over former claims she made about holding a Bangladesh national identity card. The Labour MP is on trial in abstentia in Bangladesh after being accused of influencing her aunt, the deposed authoritarian ruler Sheikh Hasina, to buy plots of land for her family. She
From our UK edition
Sadiq Khan has taken to the august pages of the Guardian today to vent about the US President, just hours after Donald Trump touched down in Britain. London’s Mayor fumed about Trump’s tariffs and the US president’s criticism of the capital, before launching into a rant on how ‘President Donald Trump and his coterie have
From our UK edition
Well, well, well. This morning news has come that 28-year-old Oliver Steadman, a former Labour councillor, has been charged with offences including blackmail over the honeytrap scandal in Westminster. The former local politician has received charges of communication offences relating to five victims – including MPs – according to the Crown Prosecution Service and Scotland
From our UK edition
You spend ages waiting for a defection then two come along at once. On the same day that former Tory health minister Maria Caulfield defected to Reform, Mr S can reveal that Henry Smith, the former Conservative MP for Crawley, has also jumped ship. Smith was first elected to parliament in 2010 and was a member
From our UK edition
It’s not been Sir Keir Starmer’s week. After a 100,000-strong march at the weekend saw Brits protest issues like Britain’s borders, the news that the Home Office has failed to deport migrants to France for the second day in a row is unlikely to defuse tensions. Thanks to human rights claims, the one-in one-out migrants
From our UK edition
Oh dear. It seems that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has blundered again. The latest furore is about the agency’s decision to drop a China espionage case that alleged the involvement of more than two dozen reports to Beijing intelligence. The case collapsed yesterday and ‘not guilty’ verdicts were entered after Tom Little KC, the
From our UK edition
When it rains for Starmer, it pours. As if the Prime Minister didn’t have enough on his plate – what with his deputy Angela Rayner resigning over her tax affairs before Starmer sacked Peter Mandelson from his ambassador role over his links to Jeffrey Epstein – now one of his top aides has quit over
From our UK edition
Oh dear. If Sir Keir Starmer thought his first 12 months in office had been rocky, his second year in power is shaping up to be an even bumpier ride. This weekend saw myriad briefings against the Prime Minister after a tumultuous two weeks in which he lost his deputy Angela Rayner to a tax
From our UK edition
Another day, another defector joins Reform. This time it’s Tory MP Danny Kruger, who has joined Nigel Farage’s outfit to lead the party’s ‘preparations for government’ – despite the politician never having held a ministerial job himself. The first sitting Conservative politician to defect to Reform since last year’s election gave a punchy statement at
From our UK edition
Well, well, well. It’s not often that onetime New Labour spinner Alastair Campbell expresses any form of contrition. But after he made a pretty startling claim about the late political activist Charlie Kirk – who was shot and killed last week – the communications director-turned-podcaster has been forced to concede that on this occasion, like
From our UK edition
To the US, where the FBI has been searching for Charlie Kirk’s shooter, after the 31-year-old was tragically killed while speaking at an Utah Valley University event. The Trump ally was a firm advocate of free speech and debate, and his death has shocked supporters across the world. The FBI has given a statement this
From our UK edition
Robert Jenrick has had a good summer. Back in June, the shadow justice secretary caused a social media stir when he clipped a video of himself confronting Tube passengers walking through barriers. The minute-long piece – in which one fare dodger threatens the Tory MP with a knife – received millions of views and helped
From our UK edition
Happy Friday, one and all. It is a big day in the House of Lords as peers gear up to scrutinise Kim Leadbeater’s Assisted Dying Bill. A potentially record-breaking 191 peers have put their names to speak, with many expressing concern about the legal, political and moral consequences of the Bill. Among those scheduled to
From our UK edition
Oh dear. It’s not just in Westminster that Keir Starmer’s party is having trouble. Welsh Labour are also having a meltdown as they prepare to face their next electoral test. The Caerphilly by-election – called after the tragic death of Hefin David – has kicked off in earnest, ahead of polling day on 23 October.
From our UK edition
A day is a long time in politics. On Wednesday Keir Starmer said during PMQs he had full confidence in the UK’s ambassador to the US, Lord Mandelson, despite concerns about his relationship with American paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Less than 24 hours later, Mandelson has got the sack. Life comes at you fast, eh? While the
From our UK edition
It’s not been a quiet news week. From Israel’s strikes in Qatar to Russian drones appearing in Polish airspace to the increasing scrutiny of Donald Trump over Jeffrey Epstein – and the sacking of UK ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson over his links to the paedophile – there’s been no let up. In the
From our UK edition
Can Lord Mandelson cling on as Our Man in Washington? That is the question all of Westminster is asking this morning. The British ambassador to the United states did a grovelling interview with the Sun‘s Harry Cole today in which he admitted that he had continued his association with the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein ‘far
From our UK edition
It’s all change in Sir Keir Starmer’s government. After his former deputy Angela Rayner resigned from both her government and party positions on Friday following an ethics probe into her tax affairs, the Prime Minister reshuffled his cabinet and his junior ministers. Those weren’t the only changes Starmer made, however – new appointments to the
