Steerpike

The news this month that the government will offer nurses a 3 per cent pay rise didn't exactly go to as ministers had hoped. Public sector workers still facing a pay freeze took umbrage at their exclusion while the UK's largest nursing union is planning 'a summer of action' over what they view as a pitiful raise. But while the government is keen to argue that the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic make it impossible for a large raise, there are some workers who appear to be the exception to the rule. Following reports in the Telegraph that Treasury civil servants were given pay rises and £15,000 bonuses, a Spectator analysis of accounts released by top governmental and arm’s length bodies show that senior mandarins are enjoying bumper rewards.

It's the issue facing all MPs this recess: what do you do for your summer hols? It's not just Covid causing confusion this year, with approved travel lists going from green to amber at a moment's notice – there's also the environmental question to consider. Some MPs are reluctant to cast aspersions on their eco-credentials by jet-setting abroad at a time when constituent homes remain flooded, in this, the year of COP26, when Net Zero (and its associate costs) are all the rage.Indeed for Labour MP Luke Pollard, the floods have served as a 'wake up call'.

The morass of flooding politics have claimed a fair few scalps over the years. Those with long memories will recall the struggles of former Culture Secretary Chris Smith, whose lacklustre tenure as chair of the Environment Agency was ended ignominiously back in 2014 after flooding in Devon, Cornwall and the Somerset Levels. Now Labour is having to grapple once more with this issue, with a number of constituencies affected by Sunday's floods being held by the party's leading lights. Stella Creasy has been vocal in Walthamstow while Sam Tarry cited the floods as his reason to (belatedly) drop out of the online launch of the controversial Redbridge Palestinian Solidarity Campaign last night.

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 commentary focused on claims that there would be 100,000 positive Covid tests a day by July 19 and that a mass unlocking would only increase this. The full effect of the unlocking will only be seen in the fortnight after July 19 and the possibility remains that case numbers will go back up again – as they have done all too often before.

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 would necessitate the removal of many of its international students – and calls to 'decolonise LSE' with ethnic minority quotas for the hiring of academics. More unusual is the demand to 'install a David Graeber lecture series to celebrate the life of the revered professor' – a reference to the left-wing academic who died last year.

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.