Steerpike

A typically robust performance by Suella Braverman on Radio 4 this morning. The Home Secretary defended her plans to clamp down on small boat crossings, telling the Today programme that We are within the boundaries of the law but we are trying new arguments, we are testing novel interpretations of the law. But we do not consider that we have crossed that boundary and we do not consider that we are in unlawful territory — we very strongly view our proposals as lawful.

The remorseless rise of Lee Anderson continues. Having been named Tory deputy chairman last month – and then swiftly started a national conversation on bringing back hanging – the Red Wall Tory has today been named as the latest presenter in the constellation of stars that is GB News. In a statement, the ex-miner declared that: GB News is the true voice of the Great British silent majority. I’m joining the people’s channel to ensure their voice is heard. One of those Anderson will be working alongside is Gloria De Piero, his Labour predecessor (and former boss) as MP for Ashfield. Other colleagues include a hat-trick of fellow Tories in Jacob Rees-Mogg, Philip Davies and Esther McVey. Sounds like the green room will need to start boasting leather green benches.

Social media users were treated to a mysterious post this morning. Just before lunchtime, the Prime Minister tweeted out a stylish QR code featuring the number ‘10’ at its centre. The post – captioned ‘Innovation means growth’, along with a phone emoji – was entirely without context. Keen to figure out what ‘innovation’ and ‘growth’ the PM was referring to, Steerpike thought he’d have a go at cracking this particular code. However, Mr S soon encountered the first stumbling block in Sunak’s bright idea. As many Twitter users were quick to point out, it turns out that to access whatever lies behind the code, you need two devices: one to display the QR code, and another to scan it with. Doh! Undeterred, Mr S fired up his laptop and scanned the code.

Will anyone ever text Matt Hancock again? It’s day five of the lockdown files today and it seems there’s still more revelations to come from the former health secretary’s WhatsApp messages, handed over to Isabel Oakeshott because he wanted a ghostwritten book to commemorate his triumph. Talk about the grift that keeps on giving… One of those unlucky politicians who’ve found their messages splashed across the Telegraph is George Osborne. Mr S rather enjoyed reading the former chancellor’s pithy form of texting style, with gems such as ‘no one thinks testing is going well Matt’. Still, Osborne wasn’t always so acerbic, at one stage promising Hancock that he would guarantee him the front page of the Evening Standard if he gave some exclusive quotes on Covid testing.

Last night it seemed as if the Matt Hancock WhatsApp messages released by the Telegraph couldn’t get any worse, after the paper published texts showing Hancock’s realtime reaction to his rule-breaking affair being exposed.  Yet somehow new depths have been plumbed in Hancock’s correspondence today. For the paper has published texts between Matt Hancock and Michael Gove.  Despite some friction between the pair – with Hancock at one point fearing Gove was gunning for his job – the published messages show that the two had a remarkably (some might say pathologically) close relationship. In one exchange from 2021, Hancock texts Gove before a meeting asking what they were trying to achieve.

Another day, another painful set of WhatsApp messages about Matt Hancock. Yet again the Daily Telegraph have released another batch of texts involving the former health secretary, this time about his burgeoning public profile in the wake of the pandemic.  The paper reports that as Covid arrived on Britain’s shores, Hancock shared with his special advisor a memo written by a ‘wise friend’, that suggested that Hancock’s career could be propelled ‘into the next league’ by the Covid pandemic.  Hancock certainly comes across as image conscious in the texts. The Telegraph suggests that over the course of the pandemic, he exchanged more than 22,000 messages with his staff about social media posts.

It's not been a great day for the Civil Service. First it's announced that Partygate prober Sue Gray has been offered the role of Chief of Staff for the Leader of the Opposition. And now the Telegraph has released WhatsApps that show Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, mocking those affected by the government's lockdown policies. Talk about classy, eh? As Britain began a forced quarantine for returning holidaymakers in February 2021, Case messaged Matt Hancock to ask 'Any idea how many people we locked up in hotels yesterday?' After the Health Secretary replied 'None but 149 chose to enter the country and are now in quarantine hotels due to their own free will!' Case responded 'Hilarious.