Steerpike

If there's an upside to spending tens of thousands of pounds – as Boris Johnson did – in doing up his Downing Street flat, it's surely that such a costly renovation will stand the test of time. Unfortunately the £88,000 makeover at No.11, masterminded by A-list interior designer Lulu Lytle, appears to have already seen better days. No pictures have ever emerged of the new look, which reportedly includes Persian rugs, cream walls, chandeliers and even ‘gold’ wallpaper (at £840 a roll).

What a year in politics it has been. 2022 has seen five Education Secretaries, four Chancellors, three Prime Ministers but there is only one Spectator and so it was no surprise to see some of Westminster's most familiar faces descend on London's Rosewood Hotel. Ministers and their opposite numbers tonight enjoyed the chance to break bread and toast each other. Master of Ceremonies for the evening was Robert Buckland, the man who switched from backing Rishi Sunak to Liz Truss in the first leadership race of the year but then ended up being sacked when the former succeeded the latter in October. He quipped: 'Last year I was referred to as "the recently defenestrated Robert Buckland". This year I ask my friends in the press to refer to me as "the recently defenestrated Sir Robert Buckland.

Owen Paterson – there's a name Mr S hasn't heard in a while. It was just over a year ago that the former Environment Secretary became embroiled in the infamous lobbying scandal which led to his resignation, the North Shropshire by-election and the beginning of the end of Boris Johnson. But now, after a year in political obscurity, Paterson is back and with a vengeance. The former Tory MP has now launched a case against, er, Rishi Sunak's government at the European Court of Human Rights, complaining about the House of Commons process which found against him. Paterson argues that his right to privacy under the European Convention of Human Rights was infringed as the public finding that he had breached the Code of Conduct 'damaged his good reputation'.

The Autumn Statement was truly awful: no rabbits, no silver linings and no growth. But amid the many groups suffering this Christmas, spare a thought for high-earners — those much-despised but ever-necessary wealth creators. The 45p top rate of tax now applies to anyone earning over £125,140, with fiscal drag pulling many more in. The energy profits levy will increase total oil and gas tax from 65 per cent to 75 per cent in January (initially 40 per cent) with corporation tax to go up from 19 per cent to 25 per cent. Soaking the rich might be good politics, but Steerpike understands that hiking taxes hasn’t been pain-free so far for Jeremy Hunt.

Oh dear. It seems that the Scarlet Pimpernel of politics is at it again. Chris Bryant likes to portray himself as the sleazebuster-in-chief, fearlessly standing up for standards in public life. But in his haste to hold his fellow politicos to account, it seems that Bryant has blundered in his eagerness for retweets. Steerpike’s colleague Kate Andrews appeared on Question Time last night, prompting Bryant to fire off a post complaining that the BBC hadn't accompanied her appearance with a mention that she 'is part of the Institute for Economic Affairs, which is notoriously secretive about their funding’. But as others were quick to point out, the BBC did refer to Andrews’s former employment at the IEA, even though she left the thinktank almost three years ago.

Justin Trudeau might be the self-anointed king of elite liberal opinion but it appears his methods find little favour with Beijing. Cringeworthy footage has now been released of President Xi Jinping dressing down the Canadian premier on the side-lines of the G20 conference. The two leaders were caught on camera having an, er, lively discussion at the global summit in Bali today, with Xi tearing into the Prime Minister. A visibly irritated Xi confronted Trudeau about how details of an earlier meeting between them, which was held yesterday, had been leaked to the press by Canadian government sources. The media reported that Trudeau had raised 'serious concerns' over suspected domestic interference by China during his first talks with Xi in more than three years.

It used to be said that political parties were Eurosceptic in opposition, but Europhile in government. The same perhaps could now be said of China. Back in July, Rishi Sunak was keen to talk tough on the Beijing behemoth, which he called Britain's 'biggest long-term threat'. He tweeted that 'China and the Chinese Communist party represent the largest threat to Britain and the world's security and prosperity this century'. And Sunak also accused China of 'stealing our technology and infiltrating our universities' in one punchy attack: Abroad, they are propping up Putin’s fascist invasion of Ukraine by buying his oil and attempting to bully their neighbours, including Taiwan.

With just three days to go until the awful Autumn Statement, Westminster is agog to find out just how truly terrible it's going to be. Taxes? Up! Cuts? Aplenty! Growth? Flatlining! So, as we await with morbid fascination to see what the new season of Jeremy Hunt's Fiscal Drag Race has in store for us, what better to drown your sorrows than the latest tin-eared stunt from CCHQ? It seems that the wonder kids over at Tory high command have cooked up a deal with Virgin Wines to give long-suffering party members some liquid respite from their woes. In an email that went out on Friday, activists were invited to claim a free bottle of prosecco worth £12.99 plus '12 delicious wines for JUST £59.88'. Talk about providing for the needy this Christmas.

Dominic Raab likes to refer his six-week spell away from the Ministry of Justice as a 'sabbatical' but for many of his staff it was more of a respite. The Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary (as he likes to be called) was restored to the MoJ last month by Rishi Sunak, after he was unceremoniously booted out of the department by Liz Truss at the beginning of September. But it seems that civil servants aren't too pleased at Raab's return, judging by the smorgasbord of stories that appear in today's newspapers. The Guardian details how senior staff were offered a 'route out' of the ministry when he was reappointed amid concerns about his behaviour.