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
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Today Simon Danczuk has come under fire for reportedly pulling out of a parliamentary trip to China at the last minute, after discovering he would have to travel in mere economy class. The Labour MP cancelled his attendance after his request to be upgraded to business class was turned down. According to Richard Graham, the Tory
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Although Jeremy Corbyn has faced criticism this week for failing to bow deeply enough at the Remembrance Day service in Whitehall, the left-wing messiah can at least count on the continuing support of his Corbynistas. In fact, one 18-year-old fan by the name of Kierran Horsfield has decided to do his own permanent tribute to
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After Mr S reported earlier this year that the Tory peer Lord McColl was reigniting the fight to bring haggis to an American audience by urging the government to ‘press the US government to change their position on the ban on haggis’, there is fresh hope for Scotland’s great repressed minority. Although haggis has been banned
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Oh dear. David Cameron’s speech to the Confederation of British Industry got off to a shaky start today after he was heckled by Brexit protesters. While the CBI had opted to leave members of the Vote Leave campaign off of the invite list, two protesters managed to sneak in and get their own anti-EU message
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Over the weekend James Cleverly made the news after he admitted to smoking marijuana and watching porn in his youth, during an interview on Radio 5 live. The newly elected Tory MP also gave a surprisingly honest answer when it came to a game of ‘snog, marry, avoid’. Cleverly said he would choose to snog Theresa
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Given that Jeremy Corbyn took time out of his party conference speech to take a swipe at articles published by both the Mail Online and the Mail on Sunday, it’s safe to say that there is no love lost between Corbyn and Lord Rothermere’s media empire. However, Mr S understands that times are now a-changing, with Corbyn about to
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After a year of surprises across the board from the Tory majority to Labour’s new leader, Westminster’s rebels and insurgents descended on the Savoy Hotel to celebrate The Spectator‘s Parliamentarian of the Year awards. With the awards presented by Alex Salmond — last year’s winner of Politician of the Year, the former First Minister of Scotland made
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After Mr S’s colleague Harry Mount wrote in The Spectator that the Labour party has undergone ‘a brain transplant’ under Jeremy Corbyn with a purge of the Oxbridge set, Martin Amis went on to accuse the Labour leader of being undereducated. The best-selling novelist said that he suspected Corbyn — who achieved two Es at A-Level
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George Galloway is currently campaigning to be the next Mayor of London, on behalf of his Respect Party. However, given that bookies are giving 50/1 odds on him succeeding, Mr S suspects it is for the best that he also has a business venture up his sleeve. In an interview with the Evening Standard, Galloway discusses his love
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When it comes to snooping and surveillance, Glenn Greenwald is one of the most vocal advocates of the dangers of such services. In fact up until 2014, the anti-NSA crusader wrote a column for the Guardian on the ‘vital issues of civil rights, freedom of information and justice’. However, today Greenwald has been accused by a former
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When the Iran nuclear deal was debated in Washington, the popular Iranian chant ‘Death to America!’ was a regular point of contention. According to the New Yorker, on one occasion the Texan republican Ted Poe asked John Kerry if the slogan meant that Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wanted to destroy the United States:
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With Russell Brand no longer an active revolutionary, having officially retired from politics after failing to make an impact on the general election, there’s a vacancy for a new celebrity champion of fashionable political causes. Thankfully Benedict Cumberbatch appears to be doing his best to fit the bill. The Sherlock actor made the news last week after he ranted
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After the actress Sienna Miller became subject to vitriol over the weekend for failing to wear a remembrance poppy during an appearance on the Graham Norton Show, politicians and celebrities alike are now doing their best to show off their poppies at any opportunity. Today 10 Downing Street even changed their Facebook profile photo to one of David Cameron
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Oh dear. Thanks to today’s technological advances, it’s never been easier to stay in touch with contacts. However, one member of the British Polling Council discovered today that this is not always a good thing. Vote Leave’s Dominic Cummings complained to the BPC about the Confederation of British Industry’s EU survey, which was conducted by YouGov. After
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With Tristram Hunt reported to be one of the Labour MPs on the list of targets for de-selection, the former shadow education secretary could do worse than to keep his head down. Unfortunately, a talk he recently gave to Cambridge University’s Labour Club — entitled ‘Principles, Politics and Pathway to Power’ — is only likely to heighten
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When the Tory MP Philip Davies called for a Commons debate to mark International Men’s Day last week during a backbench business committee meeting, his suggestion was met with laughter from Labour’s Jess Phillips. Phillips said that despite it being the case that a Commons debate currently marks International Women’s Day, it was ‘laughable’ to suggest
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Oh dear. The SNP are so powerful in Scotland at the moment that some of the party’s elected representatives might be forgiven for thinking it can defy the laws of gravity and time. Take Angela Constance MSP, who today thought it might be possible to re-do a live interview. In an interview with the Sunday Politics, she
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After Harriet Harman stepped down from the frontbench earlier this year after 28 years, she was asked by Andrew Neil on the Daily Politics which Labour leader had been her favourite to work under. While Harman had praise for Neil Kinnock, Tony Blair — who was nice even when he sacked her — and Gordon Brown, she
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Someone at Scottish Labour is having a very bad day. The beleaguered party’s Perth conference has made the news. Alas, it has made the news for the wrong reason after a video posted on the party’s official YouTube channel had an embarrassing typo. The video in question was supposed to help the party win the youth
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As stormclouds gathered over London, the most politically connected pooches in the country assembled by the House of Lords for the most eagerly anticipated event of the year – the Westminster Dog of the Year competition. Among the familiar faces – including Alec Shelbrooke’s Maggie and Boris, and David Burrowes’ Chomeley, Steerpike spotted a number of novice
