Steerpike

It has been a ruff time in No. 10 for poor old Dilyn the dog. Adopted in September 2019, the Jack Russell-cross has been the subject of interminable briefing wars about his constant yapping, destructive tendencies and attempts to fornicate with his next door neighbour. But while not everyone in Downing Street is smitten with the sex-crazed mutt, Dilyn is fortunate in having an ardent champion in owner Carrie Symonds who clearly takes his welfare very seriously. Just yesterday Mr S noted how a March 2020 story in the Times that suggested Dilyn might be rehomed had been unceremoniously purged from the newspaper's website.

In one of the more surreal moments of Dominic Cummings’s testimony to MPs yesterday, the former No. 10 advisor suggested that Carrie Symonds and Dilyn the dog might be to blame for the UK’s sluggish coronavirus response. Cummings told MPs that on a key day in mid-March, as the government began to consider locking down, No. 10 were first of all derailed by a Donald Trump plan to carpet-bomb the Middle East, and were then sent into a tailspin by a story in the Times about Dilyn the dog – Boris and Carrie’s resident pooch. According to Cummings: ‘It sounds so surreal it couldn’t possibly be true – that day the Times had run a huge story about the Prime Minister and his girlfriend and their dog.

After a mammoth seven hour session, Dominic Cummings' appearance at the joint science and health committee meeting has finally ended. The former chief special adviser took aim at Cabinet ministers, Boris Johnson's fiancée, senior Whitehall officials and Jeremy Corbyn in three different segments focusing on the national lockdowns and Britain's test and trace system. Below are Mr Steerpike's guide to the highlights of the day... Cummings' relationship broke down with Boris Cummings opened up for the first time to reveal in depth why he fell out with Boris Johnson. He says his decision to quit No. 10 was linked to Carrie Symonds, Johnson's partner, trying to change various Downing Street appointments.

Amid rumours that parliamentary bosses are mulling the closure of MPs' favourite bar, Mr S is pleased to report that some traditions remain intact. An advert appeared last week on the government contracts website for the 'provision of frozen desserts and afternoon tea sweet selection.' The body demanding this service? None other than the mother of all parliaments, the Palace of Westminster. According to the advert, the corporate officers of the House of Lords and the House of Commons are seeking to contract a sole supplier for the 'provision of a selection of frozen desserts and afternoon tea products' which are to be used in 'its restaurants, banqueting and catering outlets.

It has been a bruising afternoon for the BBC in the House of Commons. An urgent question was granted on the findings of the Dyson report into the Martin Bashir affair and the subsequent cover up of how Panorama obtained its Princess Diana interview in 1995. Tory MP after Tory MP has queued up to lambast the Beeb for its failings. Memorable moments included John Redwood asking, 'How can someone who supports Brexit, believes in the Union and loves England be persuaded that the BBC’s views of public service broadcasting in future be fair to their views?' and Iain Duncan Smith calling for BBC bosses and Bashir to be referred to the police for a fraud investigation.

It has not been a happy week for the BBC. The corporation has spent the last four days grappling with the fall out from Lord Dyson's damning report into the Martin Bashir affair and Prince William's angry response. Now a fresh controversy has blown up in the BBC Monitoring unit. Digital journalist Tala Halawa has been closely involved in the Beeb's recent coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict, providing additional reporting in a piece on children who have died and fronting a video about the model Bella Hadid's views on the issue. Halawa is the Palestine Specialist in BBC Monitoring, specialising in Palestinian affairs and reporting for BBC services such as the Arabic website and the BBC World Service.

There have been few constants in British politics this past decade but Sir Graham Brady has been one of them. Elected chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs in 2010, Brady has served continually ever since – barring a brief moment of madness to consider a leadership bid back in the crazy days of 2019. Tough, independently-minded, experienced – he is to many what a 1922 chair should be. But now Brady faces a challenge in the form of onetime immigration minister Robert Goodwill. The latter is seen as a more congenial figure to some, in contrast to Brady’s very public past interventions on Europe, HS2, the badger cull and now Covid lockdowns.

It has not been a happy day for those in Broadcasting House. An inquiry into Martin Bashir's 1995 Panorama interview with Princess Diana has concluded the BBC 'fell short of its high standards of integrity and transparency' and that Bashir acted in a 'deceitful' way by faking documents to obtain the sit down chat.  Judge Lord Dyson found the Beeb's subsequent probe into the incident to be 'woefully ineffective' with current Director-General Tim Davie forced to issue a grovelling apology. Bashir's account of events is described as 'incredible, unreliable, and in some cases dishonest' with some describing it as 'the BBC's phone hacking moment.