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
Over the past few weeks, company emails have been flooding into inboxes asking the recipient to give consent to remain on mailing lists. Given the repetitious nature of the message, the emails have begun to all fade into one. So, today’s GDPR email from the Labour party stuck out thanks to its originality. In a
Jacob Rees’Mogg’s appearance on the new Conservative Home Moggcast has caused a stir in Westminster. In the broadcast, the arch-eurosceptic – and chair of the European Research Group – questions Theresa May’s commitment to Brexit: ‘I fear we’re getting to the point where you wonder whether the Government really wants to leave at all.’ Although
To the launch of Onward, the new liberal Conservative think tank. A who’s who of the Tory party, including Liz Truss, Tom Tugendhat and James Cleverly, gathered in Parliament’s Churchill room to raise a glass to the new venture – headed by Theresa May’s former policy wonk Will Tanner. Launching the event were the new
Andy Burnham is now making a career out of being an aggrieved northerner, fed up with London dominating the agenda. Never mind that the Mayor of Greater Manchester made his name down south, Burnham takes a pop at the Westminster ‘bubble’ whenever the opportunity presents itself. But Mr S wonders whether he really thought through
Once upon a time, Labour politicians were lining up to praise the socialist achievements of the government in Venezuela. These days it’s a much harder sell thanks to the fact that 82pc of households live in poverty. Happily, John McDonnell has found a workaround. Speaking on the Sunday Politics, the shadow chancellor rejected the idea that
This weekend, John McDonnell set the cat among the pigeons with an interview on the Sunday Politics. With Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro winning re-election amid claims of vote-rigging, the shadow chancellor was asked whether Venezuela was an example of a failed socialist economic model. McDonnell’s reply? The country isn’t socialist enough. He said it ‘took a wrong
Oh dear. Although Theresa May’s divided government is currently in a state of deadlock over Brexit, the Prime Minister can at least take heart that the Tories aren’t the only party experiencing difficulties here. This morning Barry Gardiner was the victim of a car crash interview on the Andrew Marr show. With Marr on sick
This week Rod Liddle took over the London Palladium for one night only. Mr S’s colleague and comrade spoke to a sold out audience about his approach to writing and politics – as well as his managerial style at the BBC (clue: not legal). For those readers unable to bag a ticket, Mr S is pleased
It’s fair to say that Labour’s Emma Dent Coad is no fan of the Royals. The MP has backed the abolition of the monarchy and ran into trouble last year after poking fun at Prince Harry’s military record. It comes as little surprise then that Dent Coad won’t be watching tomorrow’s Royal Wedding. But instead
Diane Abbott tried to go on the attack on Question Time last night, by suggesting that one of her fellow panellists has said that victims of knife crime in London were all drug dealers. The shadow home secretary said: ‘It’s really not true to say that every young person that gets stabbed in London is
Benedict Cumberbatch has a reputation as one of Britain’s finest actors. The Sherlock actor has won plaudits across the world. He is also politically engaged – previously ranting on-stage about the government’s response to the refugee crisis following a performance of Hamlet at the Barbican. According to the Daily Mail, Cumberbatch let it be known
Although the local elections saw the Conservatives do better than expected, there is a sense that the Tories are not out of the woods yet when it comes to defeating Jeremy Corbyn at the next election. In that vein, last night the Centre for Policy Studies’ ‘New Blue: Ideas for a New Generation’ launch, with Ben
Brexit Britain is a more racist country than before the referendum, according to the United Nations, whose inspector told us on Friday that anti-foreigner rhetoric has now become ‘normalised’. But how did Tendayi Achiume, the UN’s special rapporteur on racism, manage to make such a stark finding having spent just 11 days in Britain? After
Watch out, people. Jordan Peterson is back in Britain – this time on his 12 Rules for Life speaking tour. Given the controversy he stirred up last time, it’s almost a marvel the Home Office let him back into the country. His first stop was a packed Hammersmith Apollo last night, where security was high
Not so long ago, Rachel Sylvester penned a column in the Times in which she revealed that friends of Miliband say he is still ‘attracted’ to Britain. Now it seems the UK is in luck! Labour’s prince across the water has made a brief return to British politics in a bid to stop a hard
Here we go. With David Miliband dipping his toe back into UK politics as part of the ‘stop Hard (any) Brexit’ campaign, there appears to be a new momentum to Remain efforts. In this vein, Mr S read the Observer‘s splash this weekend with particular interest. The paper reports ‘one million students join calls for
Awkward scenes in the Commons just now where Conservative MP James Duddridge has called for a debate on John Bercow’s replacement as speaker. After being picked by Bercow, the Tory MP told Parliament: ‘Given your manifesto commitment to go by the 22nd June, can we have a debate…about what we want from a speaker, what
Tory Brexiteers and Remainers might share the same benches in parliament but they don’t always see eye to eye these days. Which makes Mr S pleased to see the likes of Crispin Blunt and Ken Clarke find common cause this afternoon. So what did they finally manage to agree on? Blunt and Clarke – as
Will John Cleese now leave England? Mr S. only asks because yesterday the former funnyman tweeted this: Unfortunately for Cleese, things in the Commons haven’t gone his way, with MPs voting not to go ahead with Leveson 2. So, is he a man of his word?
Poor old Theresa May. Last week, a portrait of the Prime Minister was unveiled at Oxford University as part of their ‘wall of geography women’. But the PM’s time on the wall at her former university has been short-lived. A group calling themselves ‘Not all Geographers’ is claiming success after May’s portrait was taken down
