Steerpike

To the Ministry of Defence leak, which has created a flurry of news this week after journalists were eventually allowed to report on the scandal following the lifting of a super-injunction on Tuesday. A number of politicians have found themselves in the firing line over the issue, with former defence secretary Grant Shapps the latest to be criticised. After the ex-Tory MP told the BBC's Today programme that he was 'surprised [the super-injunction] lasted quite so long', a Whitehall source remarked to the Times that the politician was 'trying to rewrite history', adding: 'Everyone knows he was the one personally demanding to keep the super-injunction in place after the election was called last summer.' Shots fired!

The 2024 election was something of a disaster for the Tories. Two in every three MPs departed the Commons last July, with many cut down while only in their thirties and forties. Consequently, a disproportionate number are keen to return to parliament next time. But, it seems that their hopes have been dashed, according to an email which has gone out this evening from the CCHQ candidates’ team to those who are on the list… It begins thus: ‘As a former Member of Parliament, the Party thanks you for all your hard work and public service during your time in Parliament.’ It goes on to detail the hoops necessary to jump through for a seat next time.

Well, well, well. It was only a fortnight ago that the government was forced to gut its own welfare reform in the face of a full-blown backbench rebellion, leaving Rachel Reeves with a £5bn black hole to cover up. And now, fresh from their self-inflicted bloody nose, the Department for Work and Pensions revealed on Tuesday that the number of people receiving Universal Credit has soared within Labour’s first year by, um, over a million. The DWP also acknowledged that over a million recipients are foreign nationals – in the first time the immigration status of benefit claimants has been published. 7.9 million people are currently on the dole. That’s a 16 per cent increase from the 6.8 million in the dying days of the last government, with the vast majority (6.

Immigration is never off the news agenda these days, as Brits remain concerned about the influx of people to the country while the cost of living crisis and housing pressures only seem to worsen. Last week Sir Keir Starmer sealed a ‘one in, one out’ migrant returns deal with France’s President Emmanuel Macron which some number-crunching suggested is a little more akin to an, er, 17 in, one out set-up. The Labour lot have other borders-related problems on their plates too, however, as an independent watchdog has warned that the cost of supporting asylum seekers is set to absorb a whooping one-fifth of the gutted aid budget. Crikey!

Oh dear. It seems that Layla Moran – the oracle of Oxfordshire – has been left with egg on her face once again. Since her election in 2017, the pansexual pioneer has distinguished herself in two ways. First, her consistent embrace of every passing progressive cause. And second, her determined commitment to oppose any new development in her constituency. No wonder Robert Jenrick has dubbed her 'the greatest Nimby in the House of Commons'... Whether it is new homes or solar panels, Moran is always there to block anything which might offer a boost to Britain's anaemic economy. One notable crusade was her 2022 attack on a new reservoir in Abingdon, to cope with consumers' increasing demands.

It is a century this year since the Iron Lady's birth – and conservatives are determined to mark it in style. Amid a whole host of dinners and seminars, the Margaret Thatcher Centre held a symposium on Monday to debate the legacy of the former Prime Minister. Among the likes of Lord Lilley, Sir Anthony Seldon and David Starkey was a writer from the New Statesman who duly filed a predictably snippy piece about the day. Quelle surprise... Yet it seems that the piece has backfired somewhat. For Donal Blaney, the conference organiser, has penned a letter in response.

Well, well, well. It transpires that Independent MP Rupert Lowe – formerly of Reform UK – has now been cleared by parliament's standards commissioner after he was probed over funds for his independent 'Rape Gang Inquiry'. Lowe was investigated after allegedly failing to register hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations for his project, with more than £600,000 raised by a Crowdfunder started by the Greater Yarmouth MP in March. The Commissioner noted: I opened a formal inquiry on 10 July 2025. My inquiry sought to confirm whether these donations qualified as registrable interests and whether Lowe had failed to register them within the 28-day window set by the House.

Well, well, well. There has been a rather interesting appointment made to the Foreign Office board by David Lammy, as Karen Blackett joins as a non-executive director. This is not the advertising executive's first brush with the now-Foreign Secretary however – as it transpires that Blackett is actually a Lammy donor, putting a whopping £5,000 towards the Labour MP's campaign in the run-up to the general election last summer. How very interesting… Blackett has joined the board to help provide 'strategic direction, oversight, support and challenge for the department with a view to the long-term health, reputation and success of the FCDO' – and will be paid up to £15,000 a year for the job, which typically requires a commitment of 20 days a year for three years. Alright for some!