Steerpike

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 Matthew Doyle. Not content with shaking up his own team, the former Director of Public Prosecutions has opted to put opponents in the dock, with the National Executive Commitee voting last Tuesday to expel four left-wing groups 'not compatible' with the party's values.

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 around the Georgian building, which Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall toured last month. But while the stage itself was stunning, all is not well behind the scenes. The theatre industry is in crisis at the moment, with Andrew Lloyd Webber – Drury Lane's owner – forced to cancel the opening of his long-awaited musical Cinderella this week due to a Covid case.

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 write to a particular MP about a particular issue.But while most MPs were happy to raise issues about pet causes or their constituency, Labour MP Dawn Butler was determined to grab one last headline. The Brent Central MP seized her chance to accuse the Prime Minister Boris Johnson of lying in Parliament – an offence for which the acting deputy speaker Judith Cummins was forced to suspend the leftwing firebrand. You can watch the moment below: https://www.youtube.

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 of government policy on the welfare of animals. A similar bill was pulled by the then Environment Secretary Michael Gove three years ago after MPs noted it would open every government policy to judicial review.

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 saving the Queen from meeting a Covid riddled Prime Minister. But here are four more 'Dom bombs' revealed in tonight's interview: 1. Plotting to get rid of the PM days after the election Cummings revealed how his issues with Johnson started even before the pandemic began and that less than a month after the victorious 2019 election triumph he was on manoeuvres against the PM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

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.  https://twitter.com/JasonGroves1/status/1417158734825074689?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Proof of a jab will not be needed to enter pubs and restaurants but individual landlords do have the power to insist on them. Today's decision follows a review by Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove earlier this month into the possible use of Covid certification.

Following yesterday's news that health secretary Sajid Javid had tested positive for Covid, it seemed only a matter of time before other cabinet ministers were similarly forced to self-isolate. Javid had a 'lengthy' meeting with Boris Johnson on Friday afternoon, just hours before his symptoms developed. So, surely the Prime Minister will be expected to self-isolate? Think again...This morning, No. 10 has released the following statement: The Prime Minister and Chancellor have been contacted by NHS Test and Trace as contacts of someone who has tested positive for Covid. They will be participating in the daily contact testing pilot to allow them to continue to work from Downing Street. They will be conducting only essential government business during this period.

As the government prepares to lift nearly all legal Covid restrictions on Monday, ministers are at pains to emphasise that the pandemic is not over. A helpful reminder can be found in the news that Sajid Javid has today tested positive. In a video posted on Twitter, the Health Secretary — who is double jabbed — said he took a lateral flow test after feeling a ‘bit groggy’ on Friday evening, but his symptoms are ‘very mild’. https://twitter.com/sajidjavid/status/1416375392374513668?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Given around a million Brits were told to self-isolate in the first week of July alone, perhaps it’s a taste of things to come. But as Javid now faces a period of self-isolation, who will be getting pinged and told to join him?