Steerpike

'History-making' is an all too often overused term when it comes to the Premier League. But yesterday was indeed something of a red letter day in English football. For Liverpool's away game at Chelsea marked the first time fans could watch from standing areas for nearly 30 years, since the Taylor Report in the aftermath of the Hillsborough tragedy. For football-lovers now have the option to sit or stand in certain grounds, with a seat as well as a barrier running between rows. Each attendee in the section is given a designated space. But despite months of planning, years of lobbying and widespread demand from fans and football bosses alike, not all are happy at the return of safe standing.

Oh dear. There seems to be something of an ongoing campaign against JK Rowling at the moment. The Harry Potter writer has dared to continue speaking out about her views on sex and gender in recent months, earning the ire of the Twitter mob in the process. Despite incidents – like her credit being downsized to being barely visible in the trailer for the forthcoming Fantastic Beasts sequel – the writer retains her popularity with fans, something the Guardian discovered when it asked its readers 'Tell us: who is your 2021 Person of the Year?' An online social media campaign swiftly ensured to put Rowling's name forward, with supporters writing on the submission form their reasons for why she ought to be 'Person of the Year.

It may be a new year but it’s the same old story in Westminster. As the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill winds its way through the legislative process, two opportunistic backbenchers have seized their chance to further their anti-hunting campaign. Professional Boris-basher Sir Roger Gale has today teamed up with Chagossian champion Henry Smith to put down an amendment which would ban animal based scents for hunting activities. The pair are two of the loudest advocates for animal welfare in the Commons, with both men being staunch critics of fox hunting. So far, so laudable. But, much like the government’s controversial Animal Sentience Bill, could this be another classic case of good intentions leading to bad policy?

It's that time of year again. As sure as ‘Auld Lang Syne’ and Sadiq's fireworks farce, poring over the names of the newly-published Honours List is a time-honoured custom on New Year’s Day. Mr S got his embargoed copy and is delighted to regale his readers with news of the big-hitters collecting gongs in 2022. Tennis champ Emma Raducanu does indeed become the youngest MBE recipient ever, following her US Open triumph, with Olympian power couple Laura and Jason Kenny getting a damehood and knighthood apiece. Adam Peaty and Tom Daley receive OBEs for raising awareness of mental health and LGBT issues respectively as well as their gold medal winning achievements at Tokyo 2020.

British universities have received twice as much funding from Huawei as previous estimates suggest, according to new figures obtained by The Spectator. Freedom of Information requests sent by Steerpike show that a further £28.7 million has been received from the Chinese tech giant by nine leading UK universities, on top of the sums identified in a landmark report by the China Research Group in June. By far the biggest recipient of donations and research grants is Cambridge University which has taken £25.7 million from Huawei alone since 2016. Huawei has been banned from participating in Britain’s 5G network from 2027 amid security concerns.

In 2021 we bid many things farewell: Philip Green's retail empire, England's Euro chances and Donald Trump's presidency. And now, joining them on the ash heap of history, appears to be David Cameron's short-lived career as a lobbyist, after months of damning revelations about his multi-million pound efforts for Greensill Capital. After the conclusion of the Brexit wars, the onetime Prime Minister might have harboured some hopes of a retrospective rehabilitation but the collapse of Greensill and the release of the Old Etonian's accompanying cringe-worthy texts has put paid to that. It's not just Greensill that suffered in 2021 of course: since leaving office Cameron has acquired something of the reverse Midas touch.

Farewell then 2021 – what a year it's been. Twelve months of Covid craziness brought with it ample opportunities to lampoon the great and the not-so-good in British public life, from narcissistic royals to inept Europhiles.  Below is a round-up of Steerpike's most read articles from 2021, covering some of the year's biggest moments such as the vaccine procurement wars and the death of Prince Philip to lighter episodes like Prince Harry's thoughts on freedom of speech.  But while the dilettante Duke and Duchess of Sussex took both bronze and silver medals, gold could only go to the Guardian for its attempted self-immolation over how to cover transgender issues.

With Christmas over, the turkey consumed and Maughamtide been and gone, the eyes of an anxious nation have turned once more to No.10. Boris Johnson deferred the re-introduction of restrictions last week but met with Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance today to discuss the latest Covid data. Fortunately, current indications are that no such measures will be announced in England at the current time. But while most will celebrate the absence of yet more interminable mask-wearing, social distancing and indoor mixing bans, there are some who crave a Covid curb comeback. Among them include the zealots of the ‘Zero Covid Coalition’, whose activities are partly run out of the taxpayer-funded office of Diane Abbott.

Christmas is a time for tradition and nowhere embraces it quite like Westminster. If you work in a building that looks like Hogwarts, it's no surprise that MPs and ministers are keen to celebrate the festive customs, be that spending quality time with your (ever-growing) family like Boris or hanging out the £8 Big Ben decorations on the tree like Liz Truss. https://twitter.com/trussliz/status/1474417298291179523?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw But in recent years a new-tradition has developed in SW1. Whereas once the Tory great and good would spend Boxing Day on the traditional hunt, these days another fox-related ritual has been established: the annual mockery of Jolyon Maugham QC.

Merseyside – the home of Roger McGough, Willy Russell and the Beatles. But it seems that despite the area's reputation as a hotbed of the arts, not all Liverpool's institutions of higher learning are too keen on resisting the tide of iconoclasm sweeping through Britain's universities.  For in the aftermath of the protests which followed George Floyd's murder last year, institutes across the UK faced demands to remove busts, paintings and statues accused of glorifying imperialism or slavery. Works withdrawn include a monument to Sir John Cass at the University of East London while at Oxford there have been renewed efforts to remove the statue of Cecil Rhodes at Oriel College.

During their four years running the Labour party, most of the protagonists in the Corbyn project became well-known faces to the British public. There was the hapless Richard Burgon and the sinister John McDonnell; the flailing Diane Abbott and the unctuous Barry Gardiner. Even backroom boys like the gum-chewing spin doctor Seumas Milne briefly became minor celebrities, thanks to celebrated cameos in appearances like the 2016 Vice documentary. But one figure who remained largely unknown to the world outside Westminster was Corbyn's spokesman James Schneider, the co-founder of Momentum. Schneider spent three and a half thankless years at the Corbynista coalface, being sent out to face the media firing squad at daily lobby briefings.