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
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 spanner in the works of Starmer’s deportation plans.
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 has denied any wrongdoing – and last month, Siddiq denied further claims made by prosecutors that she has been issued with a national identity card and passport. However, as reported by the Times, files have emerged that appear to show the Labour MP was indeed issued with these documents.
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 perhaps done the most to fan the flames of divisive, far-right politics around the world'. Crikey! Khan continues: Six years later, the tactics we see from today's White House seem no different. Scapegoating minorities, illegally deporting US citizens, deploying the military to the streets of diverse cities. These actions aren't just inconsistent with western values – they're straight out of the autocrat's playbook. Talk about pulling no punches!
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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 Yard. Oh dear… Last year, a selection of politicians and journalists admitted they had been messaged by a person on WhatsApp, calling themselves 'Charlie' or 'Abi' depending on who the target was. William Wragg, a former senior Conservative, confessed that he had started speaking to the person behind the scam. He sent explicit images of himself to them and also handed out the phone numbers of other politicians.
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 of a number of parliamentary committees – and will join Nigel Farage's party as an ordinary member. Meanwhile his colleague, and former minister, Caulfield proclaimed on GB News this morning that 'the future is Reform'. She told the outlet that: If you are Conservative right-minded, then the future is Reform. The country is going to change a lot. The same people who thought that Brexit would not happen think that Reform will not happen. They are in for a shock.
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 deal to France has been delayed after lawyers submitted eleventh-hour legal challenges – putting a spanner in the works of Starmer's deportation plans. A flight leaving Heathrow Airport today was due to have a number of migrants on board – but the Home Office admitted that there would be no deportations for the second day in a row.
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 prosecutor, told the Old Bailey 'we simply cannot continue to prosecute this case'. The trial was due to begin next month but Little said that the evidential threshold had not been met. Cue outrage from various Sinosceptics.... A quintet of senior parliamentarians have now written to Stephen Parkinson, the Director of Public Prosecutions, demanding answers.
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 sexually explicit messages. Uh oh… It transpires that Paul Ovenden had exchanged messages with a former colleague in 2017 in which he discussed a game of 'shag, marry, kill' involving Labour MP Diane Abbott. In the messages, Ovenden – a close ally of Morgan McSweeney – retold a rather graphic account of the story in which two women described performing sex acts on the now 71-year-old MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington.
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 scandal, British ambassador Peter Mandelson over Epstein and saw a Tommy Robinson rally demonstrating how increasingly polarised the UK is becoming. As Labour continues to struggle in the polls, some in Starmer's army believe that a poor performance at next May's local and devolved parliament elections could spell the end for Sir Keir. Some backbenchers are so furious about their party's unpopularity under the former lawyer that they've gone public with their admonishments.
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 Farage's London presser this morning, telling his audience: I hoped after our defeat last year that the Conservative party would learn the obvious lesson, that the old ways don’t work, that centrism is not enough, that real change is needed. But no. We have had a year of stasis and drift and the sham unity that comes from not doing anything bold or difficult or controversial. And the result is in the polls.
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 on many others, he was in fact wrong. Speaking on his podcast The Rest of Politics, Campbell bleated within hours of Kirk's death that 'it is important that we don't lose sight of some of the views that he expressed because they were horrific'. He went on to fume: 'I remember one clip I saw of him saying that, literally reading the bible, gay people should be stoned to death.
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 afternoon after a man was arrested in connection with the incident, with Utah governor Spencer Cox confirming: 'We got him.' 22-year-old Tyler Robinson has named as the suspect, after a family member came forward with information that Robinson had implied he had committed the crime. The gunman was initially reported as on the loose – but earlier this afternoon the US President claimed that the police had arrested a suspect over the fatal attack.
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 raise Jenrick's public profile outside of the Westminster bubble. And now Mr S can reveal it appears to have had some real-life consequences. It transpires that after the publication of Jenrick's video, the Transport for London (TfL) started cracking down on fare dodgers too. A Freedom of Information response to Steerpike's questions on fare dodgers has revealed that penalty fares issued this year have surged on those dished out in 2024.
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 speak today is Baroness May of Maidenhead, the former Prime Minister, who is expected to lead the charge against the legislation. And research suggests she will not be alone. For Steerpike has got his hands on the speaking list for day one of the Leadbeater Bill, which was sent this morning to peers. Some 95 of their noble lords are scheduled to speak.
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. The Welsh parliamentary constituency has been held by Labour since its creation in 1999. But it seems that the reds are doing all they can to lose this onetime safe seat, with both Plaid and Reform UK breathing down their necks… The Labour leader of Caerphilly council has sensationally resigned and left the Labour Party today. Sean Morgan has now told the BBC that he expects Plaid to win and Reform to come second and described his old party as a ‘busted flush.
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 Prime Minister and his team figure out how to fend off further questions about exactly what was known – and when – about the details of Mandelson's relationship with the convicted abuser, attention is beginning to turn to who might step into the Prince of Darkness's shoes.
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 last 24 hours, the theme of political violence has dominated the news too. The death of political activist and Trump ally Charlie Kirk has shocked people across the world, after he was shot during an event at Utah Valley University last night. And today, closer to home, a Labour MP awoke to find her constituency office had been extensively damaged in a suspected arson attack.
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 longer than I should have done.’ It comes after a congressional investigation discovered that the Labour peer had referred to Epstein as his 'best pal' in a birthday message he wrote for the convicted sex offender in 2003. What did Mandy tell Starmer about his relationship with Epstein before being appointed Ambassador? Mandelson told Cole there are further email exchanges between himself and Epstein that 'we know are going to surface'.
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 PM's team at the start of last week saw Darren Jones MP move from the Treasury to No. 10. And even before that, the Prime Minister recruited another strategist in a bid to turn his government's fortunes around after an, um, difficult first year in office. But it wasn't a match made in heaven, with new recruit Tom Kibasi (who helped Starmer win his 2020 leadership campaign) quitting the job after just two weeks in post.
From our UK edition
On Friday, Angela Rayner resigned as Deputy Prime Minister after a probe into her tax affairs by Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s ethics adviser. In a rather extraordinary scandal, Rayner was investigated after it emerged she had underpaid stamp duty when purchasing a seaside apartment in Hove, East Sussex. Sir Keir Starmer hinted on Thursday that he would move to sack Rayner pending the results of the investigation, but Rayner jumped before she was pushed. Her departure triggered a cabinet reshuffle, while Labour's NEC will meet at noon today to discuss the timeframe for a deputy leadership election. But as Rayner moves to the backbenches, one big question about the ex-DPM remains: will she take her £17,000 golden goodbye?