Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike
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September is shaping up to be a big month for Liz Truss and the Department for International Trade. While the minister herself has been tipped for higher things in the long-awaited reshuffle, she and her officials have been busily working away this recess to seal another trade deal. Wine-lovers across the country will be delighted to hear
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It’s silly season in Westminster – the period between different parliamentary terms dominated by frivolous news stories. And while July and August have tragically been enlivened by the collapse of Afghanistan, the acres of coverage devoted to Geronimo the alpaca typified a gloriously ignoble tradition of the British press. In such circumstances, Mr S thought it
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Michel Barnier last night revealed he intends to run in next year’s French presidential election. The former EU chief Brexit negotiator told TF1 television last night that he wanted to replace Emmanuel Macron to ‘change the country,’ citing his long experience in politics as giving him an edge in the race. Barnier’s role in the withdrawal
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It’s been a sobering fortnight for fans of America’s septuagenarian president. Even before he took office, Joe Biden was telling the world ‘America is back’ – a refrain he repeatedly returned to both in official speeches and on his personal Twitter account. But as the scenes of Afghanistan’s rapid collapse have appeared on timelines and
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‘Jaw-jaw is better than war war’ according to Churchill. And with the failure of last night’s G7 summit, diplomacy is the only option left to the West as its leaders come to terms with the Taliban’s triumph. Downing Street has denied reports that sanctions will be imposed on the new regime, with the billions of pounds in frozen Afghan
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The re-opening of 19 July was greeted with joy across the country and nowhere more so than in Westminster. The newly updated register of members’ interests show how MPs have been enjoying the restoration of their liberties as donations of gifts, directorships and various gigs flooded in. A total of £56,000 was recorded in hospitality by 42
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As George Eustice struggles to kill Geronimo the alpaca, his Cabinet colleague Ben Wallace is facing a different fight with the animal rights lobby. Faced with the calamity of Kabul, the end of Afghanistan and the potential disintegration of the Western alliance, you might have thought the Defence Secretary already has enough on his plate. But now
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Glasgow: the second city of the Empire, onetime shipbuilding capital of the world, home of Adam Smith, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and John Logie Baird. But for a great metropolis which gave us television, ultrasound and Alex Ferguson’s football genius, the city’s leadership has all too often failed to live up to its illustrious past. The council’s current leader
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It’s less than a fortnight until MPs return from their hols and already familiar faces are being spotted around SW1. But having publicised their own recommendations for books to read this summer, Mr S thought it only fair to look at what the MPs themselves have been perusing in the House of Commons library. Some
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It’s happened again. Less than a fortnight after anti-vaccine protestors managed to storm the wrong BBC building in White City, a similar demonstration has occupied the lobby of the ITN studios on Gray’s Inn Road, Farringdon. Judging from social media, at least some of those involved appear to believe they have occupied the Daily Mail newspaper offices – actually located
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At the end of last year, Australia was lauded for its success in containing Covid-19. The country’s borders had been quickly closed; interstate travel restricted and resources diverted to tracking down cases. In the deluge of praise that followed, outlets like the Washington Post ran gushing features on the country’s ‘pandemic success story’ ‘putting faith in
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Life seems to be going well for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex after they officially split from the royal family and swanned off to sunny California. The couple have managed to bag an exclusive Netflix contract, reportedly worth millions, a new book deal, and have a snazzy charitable foundation which aims to ‘unleash the
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It’s a hard tasking trying to sell China these days. What with the crackdown on Hong Kong, the subjugation of Uighur Muslims, sabre-rattling on Taiwan and the coronavirus cover-up, even the most adept propagandists would struggle to present Beijing’s rulers in a good light. And sadly for the Chinese Communist Party their current spin-doctors are far
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David Cameron’s links to Greensill have brought the issue of lobbying back into the spotlight. Next month the Committee on Standards will be progressing its wide-ranging inquiry into All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) – the informal cross-party organisations run by and for MPs. Many choose to bring in organisations from outside Parliament to administer their
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Steerpike was delighted to see the return of Cherie Blair to the spotlight this week. The leading barrister and better half of former PM Tony has joined a campaign to force the men-only Garrick club to admit women, signing a petition which calls on the establishment fixture to change its rules. The Garrick boasts cabinet ministers, academics and mandarins
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This week Labour has been making much hay out of the Afghanistan debacle. Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy is all over the news berating Boris Johnson for not taking enough refugees, not being prepared for the collapse of the Afghan army and for not sacking Dominic Raab over his holiday shenanigans. There have, admittedly, been few actual policy suggestions
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If politics is show business for ugly people, then parliament is the stage on which they shine. And since 2014 – when the first major Hollywood film was shot at the Palace of Westminster – Commons bosses have raised desperately needed funds for the site by charging media crews access to shoot here. Despite fears that such plans
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Before the vaccine roll out, it’s easy to forget now how much faith was placed in NHS Test and Trace. Announcing the new system in spring last year, the then Health Secretary Matt Hancock lauded contact tracing, claiming it would enable an NHS clinician and the person with the virus to work together ‘like detectives’ to identify
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After seven and a half hours, the House of Commons debate on Afghanistan has finally concluded. Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab will not have fond memories of the day. Keir Starmer, in front of a packed House of Commons for the first time in his leadership, delivered a respectable performance, replete with jabs at the
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If you’re an Afghan translator sheltering in a Kabul compound, life must seem pretty grim. The Taliban’s triumph has brought with it the restoration of sharia law – a throwback to when the movement ruled Afghanistan 20 years ago. The only difference between then and now seems to be their warriors’ concerted PR push, with journalists on the