Steerpike

Critics moan that parliament is full of children – and next week it certainly will be. For Mr S has learned of a new scheme to champion Westminster's outreach efforts across the country. The UK Youth Parliament for 11 to 18 year olds was one thing; now Tory MP Anna Firth is hosting the first in-person 'Children’s Parliament Select Committee' for those even younger. For next Monday London and Southend school pupils between the ages of seven to eleven will descend on Portcullis House to ask the tough questions of various water companies. Anglian Water, Southern Water and other related businesses are expected to be there and can expect a grilling on sewage, sustainability and leakage reduction. Good luck to the Paxmans of primary school...

The verdict is in: European Union diplomats are useless. But this isn't the view of one of the EU's usual detractors. It's the assessment of Josep Borrell, Brussels' very own foreign affairs chief. In a damning briefing to the European External Action Service, Borrell said he was fed up finding out information from newspapers before hearing it from his own officials. 'Quickly for the European standard means a couple of months,' said Borrell 'This is not a moment when we are going to send flowers to all of you saying that you are beautiful, you work very well and we are very happy, we are one big family,' Borrell said, before launching into his furious rebuke to diplomats at an icy meeting this week.

‘Permanent revolution’ is the on dit in Whitehall these days – and what it means is that the Truss administration U-turns so often the whole machinery of government is constantly spinning round on its axis. The latest volte-face is the decision to appoint James Bowler, a 20-year establishment veteran, as Permanent Secretary to the Treasury. The Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, declared himself ‘delighted to welcome James back to the Treasury,’ which is causing a few chuckles in SW1. The joke in Westminster today is apparently that the anti-growth coalition actually runs the Treasury It’s well-known that Kwarteng’s plan was to shake up the Treasury. Bowler represents precisely the sort of orthodox officialdom he has for years wanted to remove.

JK Rowling is a feminist idol for lots of women. After the break-up of her marriage, Rowling became a single mum, whose literary ability eventually earned her fame and fortune. The Harry Potter author has campaigned tirelessly for women’s rights in recent years. For voicing her scepticism about whether men can transition to become women, she has been hounded and abused. Yet even her fiercest critics would find it difficult to deny her feminist credentials. Nicola Sturgeon, however, appeared to do just that in an interview this morning. The Scottish First Minister was asked for her views on Rowling’s decision to wear a T-Shirt that read: ‘Nicola Sturgeon ‘destroyer of women’s rights’’.

What an odd thing Sadiq Khan said following this morning’s stabbings in central London. Shortly before 10 a.m., three people were attacked by a man on a bike in Bishopsgate. The criminal is still at large, according to the Telegraph. This horrifying incident was no surprise to Londoners, so you would think that the Mayor would – from experience – strike the right chord. Instead, Khan had this to say: The good news is, it’s not a terror attack. And another piece of good news is the three victims of the stabbing are not in life-threatening situations, thank God. But it’s just a reminder of the dangers of carrying a knife… Where was the Mayor while the carnage was unfolding?

Liz Truss's Conservative party conference speech has been disrupted by climate protesters. The demonstrators stood up during the Prime Minister's address and unveiled a banner with the words: 'Who voted for this?' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQHILIOWDUA The pair were booed by Tory members in the conference hall before being ejected by security. 'Later on in my speech I'm going to talk about the anti-growth coalition', the PM said. 'I think they arrived a bit too early.

Another day, another backbench rebellion brewing for Liz Truss. Having U-turned over the 45p tax rate cut following a revolt from Tory MPs, the Prime Minister is once again facing trouble. This time it's her plan to raise benefits in line with earnings rather than inflation that is going down badly. Below is The Spectator's running tally of the Tory MPs who have voiced their concerns: 1. Penny Mordaunt: it 'makes sense' that welfare should rise in line with inflation (4 Oct, Times Radio interview) 2. Michael Gove: 'my basic position, my starting position is, yes, Boris was right (that benefits should rise in line with inflation)' (4 Oct, Times Radio) 3.

To inspire one Nadine Dorries tweet may be regarded as a misfortune, to inspire two looks like carelessness. Less than 24 hours after the former Culture Secretary criticised Truss for appearing to blame her Chancellor for the 45p tax debacle, she's back at it again. Frustrated by Truss's decision to junk much of the Johnson agenda from 2019, the high priestess of online harms took to her favourite medium of Twitter to write: Widespread dismay at the fact that 3 years of work has effectively been put on hold. No one asked for this. C4 sale, online safety, BBC licence feee review - all signed off by cabinet all ready to go, all stopped. If Liz wants a whole new mandate, she must take to the country.

To the Think Tent, home of the IEA and Taxpayers' Alliance. Who would the free market thinkers be cheering this year, now that their heroine is running the country? To no one's surprise, Kemi Badenoch was the star speaker, following her impressive leadership bid earlier this summer. Some wags suggest that Kemi's campaign never actually ended, with the Tory rising star keen to boost her credentials as a right-wing tonic to the soggy centrist ails of recent years. And the newly appointed Trade Secretary did little to dispel such talk, with a crowd-pleasing speech that contained a pointed critique on the idea of using increasing immigration numbers to boost GDP.

Well it's that time of year again. Fresh from internecine civil war, the Tory party will drag itself together again this weekend for another Conservative Party Conference, this year held in the great city of Birmingham. Mr S has done some scanning and it appears that Michael Gove takes the gong for most scheduled appearances this year with nine – watch out Liz. Kemi Badenoch and Jacob Rees-Mogg are meanwhile due to make six, with Tom Tugendhat and Suella Braverman making five and four respectively. Below is Steerpike's guide to the best events listed for this week's Tory conference. SUNDAY - 2ND OCTOBER Chopper's politics live Time: 13.00 – 14.

So much for the honeymoon. Liz Truss closes her first 'proper' fortnight of politics this weekend with her backbenchers in open revolt and talk already building of a mounting government U-turn. There have been plenty of damning verdicts on last Friday's 'mini Budget' but none more so than the YouGov poll which put Labour a whopping 33 points ahead of the Truss's Tories. And now Mr S brings news of fresh woe to the under-fire PM as she battles to save her premiership. A poll by Redfield and Wilton of Conservative voters at the 2019 election shows just how few were impressed with the headline measures of her first fiscal event. Nearly three times as many (56 per cent) oppose lifting the bankers’ bonuses cap versus 19 per cent who support the move.

Gosh! Cripes! Gazooks! It seems that those tireless seekers of truth at the Guardian have done it again. They've stumbled on something of a scoop: so toxic is new Prime Minister Liz Truss that even her former colleagues don't want to vote for her. This afternoon the newspaper published a scathing piece by Nick Boles, the MP for Grantham and Stamford between 2010 and 2019. Headlined: 'I was a Tory MP, but Truss and Kwarteng have convinced me to vote Labour' it opens with this gem: 'Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng possess a level of intellectual self-confidence usually found among undergraduates. They always have' before rattling through 30 years of British economic policy-making, ending with this lacerating conclusion: In two years’ time, voters will be given a choice.

As day four of Labour conference begins here in Brighton, Mr S has been touring the conference centre and World Transformed festival to see how Keir Starmer's party is preparing for government. A quick tour reveals that there's far less cranks now attending the official shindig, with far less Hawaiian shirts, Corbyn merchandise and Socialist Worker newspapers than last year's Brighton bash. Still, whether it's Beijing Barry Gardiner on the decks at Dawn Butler's Jamaica night, Wes Streeting on the mike at the Mirror's karaoke night or Mark Drakeford snapping pics on a Massey Ferguson,  all sorts of exotic creatures have been spotted among the clubs, pubs, fringes and forums of Brighton. Below is Steerpike's guide for all those unlucky enough not to have got a ticket...

Oh dear. Things couldn’t have been going better for Labour leader Keir Starmer. The left has been routed, the Tories are divided, the pound is plunging and the markets are panicking. But in true Labour style, his MPs are always on hand to pull defeat from the jaws of victory. Speaking at a British Future event, Labour MP Rupa Huq – who has now had the whip suspended – made a rather unpleasant swipe at new Tory Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng. Huq, one of the hard-of-thinking drones in the Starmer Army, checked whether the Chatham House rule applied before telling attendees that Kwarteng was only ‘superficially’ black: ‘Superficially he is a black man… if you hear him on the Today Programme, you wouldn’t know he is black.