Steerpike

Rab Butler spoke of the art of politics but the politics of art is quite another matter. The summer recess will find many of Britain’s politicians perusing the world’s museums and art galleries. So as a treat to his readers Mr S can now reveal, via a Freedom of Information request, the treasures from the Parliamentary Art Collection that adorn the offices of the two front benches. Sadly, much of the collection is rather predictable. Rishi Sunak, for instance, has depictions of a number of his predecessors. Tory deities William Pitt the Younger, Robert Peel, Benjamin Disraeli, and Winston Churchill all line his walls.

Poor Ron DeSantis. Once, he was the frontrunner to take over the Republican mantle from Trump. But now, following a staff exodus, tanking ratings and a barrage of insults from The Donald, the Florida Governor looks to be yesterday's man. DeSantis is currently a whopping 45 points behind in the polls for the Republican nomination, with Trump refusing to attend Wednesday's debate on the basis that he is 'leading the field by "legendary" numbers.' And the strain now appears to be getting to DeSantis, judging by his appearance in a clip he recorded yesterday. The Florida Governor was asked about a leaked memo from a friendly Super PAC detailing his debate strategies. A perspiring DeSantis was forced to repeatedly deny that he had read the memo, all the while furiously grinding his teeth.

It's a tough time for Scottish nationalists these days. Polling for indyref2 remains static while the SNP's own ratings have tanked. There are still no ferries or any sign of a workable bottle return scheme. And the Dear Leader has left the stage to be replaced by hapless Humza Yousaf: the biggest downgrade since Ian Blackford succeeded Charles Kennedy. So no wonder then that the National – a self-identifying newspaper in breach of the Trade Descriptions Act – is forced to look elsewhere to make its case for independence. In their zest to cast off the British yoke, the hard-of-thinking editorial team have stumbled on a brilliant idea: why not study the 65 countries that left the British Empire and how they became independent?

Oh dear. Hapless Humza Yousaf has tripped up again. The flailing First Minister of Scotland was today asked by Radio Clyde News if he will be watching the Women’s World Cup final on Sunday between England and Spain. Yousaf initially enthusiastically declared that ‘I will be watching the game for sure’. Yet when the reporter asked: ‘But you’ll not necessarily be cheering them on?’ a clearly irritated Yousaf immediately changed his mind and began to backtrack: Cheering them on – if you wish. I don’t know why you’re so obsessed with who I’ll be cheering on. I'm not even sure if I'll be able to watch the game or not be able to watch the game, given that I’m busy on Sunday. If I do get to watch the game I wish both teams the best of luck. Graceless as ever.

When it comes to conservation, it seems that not all at the RSPB are singing from the same hymn sheet. Amir Khan was elected as the charity's president last October, having found fame as the resident doctor on ITV’s Good Morning Britain. Amid media attention around the 'Glorious Twelfth,' Khan took to Twitter this week to slam a study on grouse shooting boosting curlew numbers. Quote-tweeting the research, Khan declared: I’m the proudest of Yorkshiremen – but this kind of crap is exactly what we don’t need in our beautiful county. Grouse shooting brings millions to the tables of a select few and does nothing for wildlife conservation. Mr S would have thought that more of these rare ground nesting birds were a reason to cheer.

Jordan Peterson has never been shy about dispensing advice. But has the court of the Canadian philosopher king now overreached itself? A copy of Peterson's book 'Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life' sparked something of a Twitter storm yesterday, when critic James Marriott noted how a truncated form of his Times review has appeared on the back of Paterson's book. Here’s how publishers Allen Lane quoted Marriott's words on the book of Peterson’s paperback edition: A philosophy of the meaning of life… the most lucid and touching prose Peterson has written. Pretty gushing right?

Cast your minds back to the new millennium: Tony Blair was in power, Robbie Williams top of the chart. It was the year the Dome opened; so too did Portcullis House in Westminster. Back then, the £235 million parliamentary office was predicted to last two centuries when it opened, thanks to its supposed quality workmanship and premium materials. But fast forward 23 years and PCH is ageing about as well as Blair's pledge to be 'purer than pure'. Last month, water poured into the PCH atrium after a 'huge bang', leaving the area fenced off with scaffolding underneath.

There was a time when Boris backers accused Rishi Sunak of being in cahoots with Dominic Cummings, as part of a plot to bring down the former PM. However, the relationship has certainly cooled since such claims. In his latest Substack, Cummings accuses Sunak of having no grip on power, no governing plan, no serious polling operation, and no strategy. This is despite Sunak himself having ‘probably the highest IQ in Parliament and the toughest work ethic’. Cummings compares Sunak to Gordon Brown, and quotes officials that work with him: He’d make a great PS [private secretary] or DG [director general], every meeting with him improves some second-order thing a bit, but he isn’t doing the PM’s job, I don’t think he realises this and I don’t think his spads tell him.

To say the SNP have a disastrous record on transport would be putting it lightly. The ferries don’t run on time (if at all), the mystery of the motorhome remains unsolved and the nationalists still haven’t dualled Scotland’s most dangerous road. Perhaps then it’s no surprise to hear that former first minister Nicola Sturgeon and her husband (and former party chief executive) Peter Murrell have been caught driving an untaxed car around town.  It took an awkward phone call from the Sun newspaper for the couple to rectify the late tax, overdue by eight days. Sturgeon and Murrell may now receive a ‘late licensing penalty’ letter and an £80 fine.

Is Diane Abbott OK? A day after the independent MP hit out at Tory party deputy chairman Lee Anderson for his foul-mouthed comment about migrants, Abbott has again waded into the subject. This time, however, it is Abbott who is guilty of using a rude word: Abbott subsequently deleted the tweet, which was a reference to 41 migrants tragically losing their lives in a shipwreck off the coast of Italy. This isn't the first time that Abbott appears to have failed to think carefully before she wrote something. The MP was suspended by Labour back in April after she suggested Jewish people had never been 'subject to racism'. In a letter to the Observer, Abbott wrote: 'It is true that many types of white people with points of difference, such as redheads, can experience this prejudice...