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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It’s parliamentary recess at present but the work doesn’t stop for MPs. Post bags and inboxes remain piled high, with our long-suffering legislators forced to slog through a backlog of Covid-related constituent issues. Still, the stresses of the job are even greater for those five Tory MPs who have been sanctioned by the Chinese state. Tom
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A lot was said and written about the UK’s decision to press ahead with July 19, the so-called ‘Freedom Day’ when restrictions on social contact were lifted. Some greeted this date with a mix of horror, outrage and fury with 1,200 scientists signing a letter which effectively declared the unlocking as ‘a threat to the world.’ Much of the
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They say politics is show business for ugly people. And now Dominic Cummings has taken that axiom to new heights after throwing himself behind the campaign to ‘release’ American pop princess Britney Spears. Spears, the noughties sensation behind a string of successful songs, is currently battling to end her 13 year-long conservatorship – a controversial legal process whereby a guardian is
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Another day, another student fiasco. This time the scene of the crime is the London School of Economics and a new campaign called LSE Class War, launched earlier this month with its own radical manifesto. Among the (fairly standard) demands for this groups are call for a ‘private school free’ LSE – a policy which
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It’s been a busy few months for Keir Starmer. Following the Hartlepool by-election disaster, the Labour leader opted to reshuffle his team and bring in a string of new signing. Out went old faces like Ben Nunn and in came, err, even older faces from the Blair years such as Sam White, Deborah Mattinson and
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Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford is widely regarded as having had a good pandemic. Re-elected in May with an increased Labour representation in the Senedd, the member for Cardiff West has earned plaudits for his un-showy style of leadership. Still, Mr S can’t help but wonder how Drakeford would fare if his gaffes were treated in the
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The SW1 party season is currently in full swing. Ahead of The Spectator’s own shindig last night, Mr S hopped in a cab over to the sumptuous surroundings of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, opening up for the first time after a two-year £60 million renovation. Laughter, music and the popping of champagne corks echoed
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With recess in session and MPs packing bags, Steerpike was delighted to receive a list of what MPs are recommending for their summer hols. The guide – put together by the Publishers Association – contained some fairly predictable suggestions: vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi chose Matt Ridley’s How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in Freedom while Nick Thomas
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It’s final term day in the Commons as MPs prepare to break for summer recess. Traditionally the last day before recess sees a debate held in which MPs can speak on any subject they choose. A hapless minister has to field a huge range of subjects, and usually ends up promising that a ministerial colleague will
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Handbags last night at the Kensington and Chelsea council meeting. A motion on sexual assault and harassment prompted an extraordinary moment when Tory councillor Janet Evans took to the stand to criticise her Labour opponents for a lack of initiative in tackling such issues. Evans, who was born in America but has lived in the
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Boris Johnson’s announcement on Monday that Covid passports could be introduced for mass events from September did not got down well with Tory MPs. At least 42 of them have signed a cross-party Big Brother Watch declaration against ‘Covid status certification to deny individuals access to general services, businesses or jobs’ in recent months, with Labour’s decision
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The wine was flowing at last night’s Policy Exchange summer soirée as attendees unburdened themselves of the stresses of the past eighteen months. Party season is at full swing at present but the great and the (not so) good of SW1 were all present to pay tribute at the court of the ‘most powerful Dean in
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The government’s flagship Animal Sentience Bill is (slowly) making its way through parliament, with Monday afternoon seeing the Defra select committee take evidence from a range of experts. Steerpike has covered the proposed legislation extensively in recent months, detailing the concerns of peers about its plans to create a powerful Animal Sentience Committee which would judge the effect
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The public’s willingness to back more authoritarian measures has been a constant feature throughout the pandemic. Poll after poll for the past 17 months has suggested strong support for tough restrictions, sanctions, deterrents and lockdowns – perhaps not a surprise in a country where a third of voters backed the use of live ammunition against the 2011
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In a fresh bid to secure privacy for himself and his family, Prince Harry has announced this week that he is publishing his ‘intimate and heartfelt’ memoirs at the age of 36. The book – ghost-written by JR Moehringer, another of those dastardly journalists – will be published by Penguin Random House late next year
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After eight months of confining his thoughts to Substack and Twitter, tonight Dom Cummings went mainstream. His first television interview with Laura Kuenssberg laid bare the tensions that exited throughout Boris Johnson’s first year in government and his growing discontent with how the Prime Minister runs his government. Steerpike has already covered Dom’s role in
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Two Corbyns descended on Downing Street today as Westminster was treated to a family reunion. The first, the better-known Jeremy, was there to hand in a petition with nurses and MPs calling for a 15 per cent pay rise for health workers. The second was older sibling Piers, the ever-eccentric disseminator of anti-vaccine materials, who earlier in
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A spectre is haunting Britain: the spectre of the ‘pingdemic.’ With Covid cases on the uptick, it is no surprise that more than 500,000 people in England and Wales were ‘pinged’ by the NHS test and trace app in the week to 7 July, up 46 per cent on the previous week. Iceland and Greene King are among the
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For a man who professes to despise the media, Dominic Cummings is certainly adept at courting it. The former No 10 chief special adviser has given his first, long-awaited interview since storming out of Downing Street some eight months ago. In an hour long grilling with Laura Kuenssberg which will air tonight, Cummings will set
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And so after months of debate and disagreement, at last the government has today revealed vaccine passports will be introduced in nightclubs and large events from the end of September. This afternoon vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi told the House of Commons that a negative Covid test will not be sufficient; instead, only two vaccinations will do.
