Steerpike

The magic grandpa is back in town! Jeremy Corbyn’s new leftwing outfit – ‘Your Party’ – is seeking a rebrand, ahead of its long-awaited launch. The outlet has so far got off to a rocky start, after co-leader Zarah Sultana shocked some involved by launching it late one Thursday night. But now, in a bid to shed their (already) chaotic image, ‘Your Party’ is now seeking a new name, with suggestions being submitted online. Cue the inevitable deluge of suggestions… 'Votey McVoteface' and 'Party McPartyface' were quickly pitched alongside the 'Tooting Popular Front'. The 'Judean Peoples' Front' has been touted, not to be confused with that awful bunch over at the Peoples’ Front of Judea.

The new party of the left has got off to a pretty shaky start. It doesn't have a proper name, its co-leaders (Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana) barely get along and already left-wing activists are trying to oust party strategists. But no matter: the group is ploughing ahead and will, it transpires, be launching its first Scottish branch next month. How very interesting… Your Party – which is not the official name of the group, Sultana fumed on social media – will launch a Scottish branch in Glasgow next month, with an assembly to take place on 5 September. In a statement, the group has said: Glaswegians are champing at the bit for change. We are ready to play our part in building a new democracy from the grassroots up.

Migrant hotels have been the talk of the week after the High Court granted Epping Forest district council a temporary injunction on Tuesday – meaning the asylum seeker residents of Essex's Bell Hotel must be moved within 24 days. It's a landmark ruling that will have significant ramifications for the rest of the country – with just under 30 other councils considering similar legal action. Talk about getting the ball rolling… Politicians have been quick to make use of the situation for political point scoring, with shadow home secretary Chris Philp attacking Labour for ‘tearing up the deterrents the Conservatives put in place’.

Scottish Labour MSP Colin Smyth has been arrested and charged in connection with the possession of indecent images. The 52-year-old politician – who has represented the South Scotland constituency for a decade – was taken into custody at a Dumfries property earlier this month and a police investigation has been launched. The Scottish Labour party suspended Smyth after he was charged, with the politician now an independent MSP. A party spokesperson said: The whip has been removed from Colin Smyth MSP, pending an investigation. We cannot comment further on this matter while the investigation is ongoing. A Police Scotland spokesperson added: On Tuesday, August 5, 2025, officers executed a warrant at a property on Marchfield Avenue, Dumfries.

Asylum seekers will be removed from the Bell Hotel in Essex after Epping Forest district council was granted a temporary injunction by the High Court. The legal action comes after a series of protestors gathered outside the venue after a resident was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. The council's lawyers claimed that Somani Hotels had breached planning rules, given the site is not being used for its intended purpose. The barristers argued that the situation 'could not be much worse', with Philip Coppel KC adding: 'There has been what can be described as an increase in community tension, the catalyst of which has been the use of the Bell Hotel to place asylum seekers'.

Back to the UK's bloated civil service. As if the government didn't have enough on its plate trying to slash Whitehall red tape, the number of sick days taken by civil servants won't help Sir Keir Starmer's army pick up the pace on progress. Civil servant absences are on track to reach a record high – and the Foreign Office is no exception to the trend. Mr S can reveal the number of sick days taken by FCDO mandarins shot up by more than 50 per cent in the financial year ending March 2024 compared to the previous year – while the number of days lost to mental health issues soared by more than three-quarters.

The SNP's former Dear Leader Nicola Sturgeon released her memoir this week – but it has not quite had the reception she anticipated. The trailed excerpts prompted Alex Salmond's allies to accuse Sturgeon of besmirching her former mentor's name, brought her failed gender reform bill to the fore and confused pro-independence supporters after the Queen of the Nats hinted she was considering a move to, er, London. Now another admission in the 450-page tome has led the Scottish Tories to write to the Scottish Permanent Secretary to examine whether Sturgeon broke the ministerial code.

Well, well, well. Back to Scotland's self-identifying 'newspaper', which has planted itself at the centre of a row over the delisting of a gender critical book from a national library exhibition. Women's rights campaigners flagged concerns after The Women Who Wouldn't Wheesht – a selection of gender critical essays – was removed from the National Library of Scotland's Dear Library exhibition, after having been previously selected. The Times ran the initial story, titled 'censorship row as library bans gender-critical book'. The National then took it upon themselves to claim this wasn't true – insisting the National Library had 'debunked' accusations of censorship.