Steerpike

It was ten days ago that Mr S brought news of the latest controversy to embroil our ancient seats of learning, after a lecturer at a leading London university allegedly suggested Douglas Murray should be 'suppressed'. Tom Tugendhat, the security minister, was subsequently forced to order a review into the Home Office’s use of external courses after it was claimed that the training sessions, put on by the security studies department of King’s College London (KCL), amounted to 'indoctrination'. But now some diligent digging in the House of Lords has revealed just how much these courses have been costing the British taxpayer.

A feisty session of PMQs today. As speculation swirls around the future of the Tory leadership, Sir Keir Starmer sought to go for the jugular by channelling Tony Blair in the dying days of the Major government. 'I’ve changed my party, he’s bullied by his', he told the House to cheers. But Starmer's efforts to present his party as cured from the effects of long Corbyn were somewhat hindered towards the end of the session when one of his own backbenchers rose to ask the Prime Minister a question. Labour MP Tahir Ali directed a verbal barrage at Sunak, accusing the Tory leader of having the blood of innocent people on his hands over Gaza. Sat high up in the press gallery, Mr S couldn't help but notice the looks of pure fury from some on Ali's own side over his intemperate remarks.

What is a woman? It’s a question Sir Keir Starmer has sometimes struggled with in the past. So it was perhaps no surprise then that the Labour leader chose not to pontificate on the subject when he addressed the women’s lobby drinks. Instead, Starmer opted to focus on warm words for his hosts and look ahead to the forthcoming election, full of glamours like endless vox pops, ‘24/7 Conservative strategy relaunches’ and ‘coffee – so much coffee'. But it wasn’t all politics of course. Sir Keir told the attendant hacks that he is keeping abreast of popular culture via the hit TV series The Traitors on BBC One. For those unfamiliar with the series, Starmer said: ‘It is sort of like the 1922 committee, they all sit together in a crumbling historic building.

Just when you thought Putin’s regime couldn’t sink any lower, it somehow manages to. Like something out of George Orwell’s 1984, the Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov declared that, actually, the Kremlin’s bloody war in Ukraine had had a ‘positive impact on life inside [Russia]’. Speaking at a foreign ministry press conference, Lavrov said this was because Putin’s ‘special military operation’ had united the country and ‘enabled it to be cleansed of all those who felt no sense of belonging to Russian history or culture’ after thousands moved abroad in opposition to the war.

You know your brand is struggling when even the boss wants to ditch it. For it seems that hapless Humza Yousaf has 'done a Ratner' today by distancing himself from the increasingly-toxic SNP brand. With his party set to lose half their seats to Labour, the flailing First Minister has decided that now is the right time to freely confess that he has 'never really been comfortable' with the Scottish National Party’s name. In an interview with the BBC's Nick Robinson on his Political Thinking podcast, Yousaf admitted that he did not like the connotations of the word 'nationalist', suggesting that the 'national' in the SNP’s name could be 'misinterpreted'. Gosh, how could that ever happen to such a tolerant, inclusive movement?

Tory MP Lee Anderson's name was a curious omission from the list of rebels who voted against Rishi Sunak's Rwanda Bill. Anderson's absence was surprising given that this week he resigned as deputy chair of the Conservative party over the legislation to 'stop the boats'. 'I don’t think I could carry on in my role when I fundamentally disagree with the bill. I can’t be in a position to vote for something I don’t believe in,' Anderson said on Tuesday. But last night, having walked into the 'No' lobby to vote against the Bill, the Red Wall MP changed his mind – and decided to abstain. Why? Because, he said, 'the Labour lot were all giggling and laughing and taking the mick'.

A feisty edition of PMQs today, following the drama in the House yesterday evening. As predicted, Sir Keir Starmer opted to lead on Tory disunity over the Rwanda plan. He likened the Conservatives to 'hundreds of bald men scrapping over a single broken comb' before turning to reports that Rishi Sunak wanted to scrap the scheme when he was Chancellor. 'Doesn’t he wish he’d had the courage to stick to his guns?' he jibed. But Sunak hit back strongly, raising Sir Keir's legal record and work defending the extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir which was banned by James Cleverly on Monday. Mr Speaker, it is rich to hear from the Honourable Gentleman about belief in something.

When he's not grovelling to the House for his latest error, there's nothing that Chris Bryant likes more than a bit of Tory-bashing. Whether it's popping up in parliament or firing off posts on his ever-active Twitter account, few Members bill themselves as being better at holding ministers' feet to the fire than our Sir Chris. Lately, the chosen choice of weapon for the Rhondda rabble-rouser is the time-honoured favourite of the written question. Bryant marked the new year by firing off one such inquiry to the Cabinet Office, the ministry known as the 'thinking brain' of government. His query concerned the status of one Dominic Cummings, back in the spotlight after his Sunday Times interview in which he disclosed details of private talks with Rishi Sunak.

Immigration minister Michael Tomlinson is a KC so is good at thinking on his feet – or so you might expect. But this morning the Tory MP was caught out when it came to what should have been a straightforward question: what does he watch on TV? 'I watch very little,' Tomlinson told Sky News's Kay Burley, when asked whether he has seen the hit ITV drama Mr Bates vs. the Post Office. 'I'm not sure I can tell you the last box set I watched, but I do enjoy watching sport so if you want to ask me about cricket and sport, then please do.' Absolute CAR CRASH interview with immigration minister Tomlinson (more of it in a bit), ends with this perfect gem: Burley having established he hadn't watched the ITV drama on #PostOfficeScandal asks him what he does watch.