Uk politics

Jacob Rees-Mogg won support from across the political spectrum on Wednesday when the MP and his children were ambushed outside of their home. Class War activist Ian Bone took it upon himself to inform the Conservative politician’s young children that their ‘daddy is a totally horrible person’: ‘Lots of people don’t like your daddy, you know that? He’s probably not told you that. Lots of people hate him.’ The incident led to mass condemnation from the Left as well as Tories. So, why would people come up with the idea of harassing an elected Member of Parliament in this way? Mr S wonders whether the answer can be found in a statement

Following last night’s reports of open plotting against Theresa May, her critics in the Conservative party seem rather keen to row back on any suggestion that they really are planning a coup. Iain Duncan Smith, for instance, told BBC Radio 5 Live that he ‘would stamp on’ any attempted challenge, and that the talk of a plot was ‘totally overblown’. Others have pointed out that there were notable senior absences from the European Research Group’s meeting last night, including Bernard Jenkin, David Davis, Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg. Of course, even if those big names had been present and plotting merrily away, their plans would have been seriously undermined by

This week was supposed to be the week that the European Research Group of backbench Brexiteers finally revealed their hand and published a Brexit plan to rival Theresa May’s. With the Prime Minister currently without the numbers to get her Chequers proposal through Parliament (even if there were no further concessions), there were concerns from May supporters that a viable alternative Brexit plan could be the final nail in the coffin. Only that rival plan hasn’t come to fruition after so-called creative differences among the Brexiteers over the mooted 140-page draft proposals. Matters weren’t helped when ‘mad’ plans to build a ‘Star Wars’-style missile shield to protect Britain from nuclear

It’s been over a year since the last general election, but it looks like there are still some Labour MPs who are confused about their presence on the opposition benches. One such appears to be the shadow minister for women and equalities and Corbyn devotee, Dawn Butler. In an interview on TalkRadio this afternoon, it was put to the MP,  that Labour’s manifesto can’t have been that brilliant if they went on to lose the general election. Butler responded: ‘Well actually, we didn’t lose. We didn’t win, but we didn’t lose the election’ Dawn Butler: "We didn’t lose the election. We didn’t win." Watch ▼@Matthew_Wright | @DawnButlerBrent | @TVKev https://t.co/sv3MZUm41c

It’s been a busy weekend for Boris Johnson. After the former foreign secretary came under fire over his private life, Johnson appeared to make life more difficult for himself by penning an article for the Mail on Sunday in which he suggested that Theresa May’s Brexit strategy was akin to wearing a suicide vest. Various Tory MPs were quick to see red and vow to bring BoJo down. But Mr S can’t help but ask: did Johnson’s strategy go to plan after all? Back in 2013, he used a Telegraph article to reveal a great trick he had learned from an Australian friend (AKA Lynton Crosby): the dead cat strategy.

In August, this author teased Dalibor Rohac, who wrote in the Washington Post: ‘Theresa May is the world’s most underrated leader.’ Since, Mr S has given it some thought, and sends his apologies. Why? Because Rohac was right – Mrs May is a ‘genius’. In just two months, she has brought unity to Western politics. Everyone hates the Chequers agreement. Since the plan was agreed in July, reams of political figures have spoken out against it. This is Steerpike’s encyclopedia of enmity; a record of those who have denounced May’s proposed negotiating strategy. Michel Barnier The EU’s chief negotiator doesn’t simply hate Mrs May’s plan; he thinks parts of it

After the long summer recess, it was back to school for Dominic Raab and Olly Robbins as they appeared together before the European Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday. The meeting couldn’t be described as ideal timing for either thanks to an unfortunate set of circumstances. With the government’s Brexit plan slammed by Brexiteers and Remainers alike, Raab and Robbins – the Government’s two most senior negotiators – had to defend a plan which has been heralded as less popular than the poll tax. The second underlying tension of yesterday’s meeting was the tricky relationship between the Brexit Secretary and the PM’s Europe advisor. Only two weeks after Raab was appointed in