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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Back to the Covid inquiry, where chair Baroness Heather Hallett has presented the findings of its report. The conclusions don’t particularly paint anyone in a good light and the report even claims that acting ‘too little , too late’ cost the country as many as 23,000 lives in England – although this figure is already
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Zack Polanski’s Green party has experienced a membership boom in recent months, after the new leader was elected at the end of summer. Under the eco-populist’s rule, the party has seen its membership figures soar and its accounts are looking healthier than ever with recent reports suggesting that party has, er, too much money to
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Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has dominated the headlines this week after she announced her plans to crackdown on asylum seekers in the UK. Mahmood’s tough talk has earned her criticism from some of her own colleagues about the Labour party’s stance on immigration, while some of her opponents in the Conservative and Reform parties have
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Well, well, well. Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham is back in the spotlight. Earlier this week, Norwich South MP Clive Lewis offered up his seat to allow Burnham to make a leadership challenge. Left-winger Lewis announced on the Beeb’s Politics Live that he would be happy to let Burnham take his seat to allow the
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Oh dear. As if there hadn’t been enough hiccups in the launch of new left wing group Your Party, it appears there has been another bump in the road. It transpires that Jeremy Corbyn has, er, not been invited to a rally on the eve of the conference hosted by the party’s co-founder Zarah Sultana.
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Well, well, well. Baroness Chapman of Darlington – the international development minister – turned up to the House of Lords to address the UK government’s Chagos deal. Last October, Sir Keir Starmer’s government decided to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, a move that has sparked outrage in several quarters – not least
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It was all guns blazing from Kemi Badenoch today. The Tory leader has clashed before with the Guardian – most notably during last year’s contest when she lambasted the paper’s claims of ‘bullying and traumatising behaviour’ when serving in government. And the wokest outlet in all the West was firmly in her sights today when
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Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will this afternoon announce big reforms to the UK’s asylum policy – including fast-tracking illegal migrant deportations, changes to human rights law and plans to stop granting visas from certain African countries if their governments don’t co-operate on immigration. While Mahmoud’s tough talk will go down well with voters concerned about
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Another day, another bad poll for Labour. YouGov research has revealed that a whopping 75 per cent of Scots disapprove of the UK government, with just half of those who backed Labour in 2024 saying they would consider voting for the reds again. But this doesn’t necessarily spell good news for the nationalists: while 37
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To Bangladesh, where the country’s ousted former prime minister – and aunt of Labour MP Tulip Siddiq – has been found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death. A special tribunal judged Sheikh Hasina responsible for ordering a violent crackdown on student-led protests in 2023 – during which up to 1,400 people died,
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It has been another bad week for the government. Growth down to 0.1 per cent, a briefing war engulfing No. 10 and now the Budget plans in crisis too. So amid all the various dramas, one story has gone somewhat under the radar. Nine four-star generals signed an open letter to the Times – timed
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‘Ohhhhh Jeremy Corbyn!’ Where would Mr S be without him eh? The grift that keeps on giving has been in full flow this month, with the organisers of ‘Your Party’ determined to get their operation up and running prove. At a meeting last week, poor old Jezza’s wife had to step in and wrestle the
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Well that was jolly fun. Kemi Badenoch gave Keir Starmer an almighty pasting at PMQs, predictably lacerating him over the anonymous briefings about Wes Streeting. But – in fairness to Labour’s forces of darkness – the Health Secretary has not exactly been shy about his future intentions. As he told the Guardian in June 2023,
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It is a funny old time for the Tories right now. The government has rather sportingly decided to commit seppuku a fortnight before the Budget. So how are they to get any headlines? Mr S has done some digging and it turns out that the brains of Matthew Parker Street have been hard at work
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Pity the Liberal Democrats. You win 72 seats at an election – and all anyone wants to talk about is Nigel Farage. You then schedule a big morning pre-Budget press conference – and the government decides to tear itself apart. Like most of HM Lobby, Steerpike was unable to make it to this morning’s event
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It’s nice, isn’t it. The quiet. Just sixteen months after their landslide triumph, the Labour party is now in full-on meltdown. The decision by Downing Street sources last night to launch a pre-emptive missile at Wes Streeting appears to have backfired spectacularly, as the popular Health Secretary handled today’s morning media round with aplomb. Gee,
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So. Farewell then Tim Davie. The BBC Director General undertook the first leg of his long goodbye tour today, speaking to some of his 23,000 staff in true Corporation style: on a call with the Director of Internal Communications. Talk about the personal touch. Over 35-minutes, Davie answered questions from the Corporation’s (many) hacks about
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Timing is not always the Bank of England’s strong suit. Britain’s central bank has increasingly faced accusations of being found wanting in recent years. Under Governor Andrew Bailey, the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street has managed to infuriate the crypto bros, failed to spot the Liability-Driven Investments crisis and consistently botched inflation calls too. Both
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There are just two weeks to go until Rachel Reeves’ second Budget. Twelve months after telling the CBI that she was ‘not coming back with more borrowing or more taxes’, she is now planning to do, er, exactly that. All sorts of various measures are being tipped and touted in the newspapers. But the most
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There are just sixteen days to go until the Budget – and the pitch is being well and truly rolled. Having conducted her ‘I can’t talk about that’ press conference last week, the Chancellor has now done an interview with 5Live to drop a few more hints about the truly Awful Statement she is planning