Steerpike, Author at The Spectator

Thursday

15 April 2021

Labour’s union trouble

It’s arguably been a good week for Labour, as the Tory party becomes more and more implicated in the Greensill lobbying scandal, which saw the former PM David Cameron ringing around ministers last year to secure emergency cash for the flailing financial firm. Labour leader Keir Starmer certainly seemed to enjoy the ongoing revelations about Greensill at PMQs this week, when he said Boris Johnson was overseeing the ‘return of Tory sleaze’. Wiser heads wondered though if the Labour Party should be championing a crackdown on outside organisations influencing politics, considering its own close links to the unions… Lo and behold, that appeared to play out last night when Labour’s Rachel Reeves appeared on ITV’s Peston.

Steerpike

Covid advisor’s Cheltenham amnesia

Steerpike finally got his hands this week on a copy of Failures of State by the Sunday Times Insight duo Jonathan Calvert and George Arbuthnott about Britain's experience of Covid. While not exactly a barrel of laughs, Mr S did enjoy one contribution from SAGE member Susan Michie, professor of health psychology at University College London and a Communist party member of 40 years. Reflecting on the decision to allow Cheltenham racing festival to go ahead in March 2020, Michie told the authors: I thought Cheltenham should definitely not have been allowed to go ahead. I remember looking at the television images of what was happening there and feeling slightly nauseous about it, just feeling: 'God, this is awful.

Steerpike

Boris Johnson’s Finsbury flight of fancy

Boris Johnson's 'fixer' Eddie Lister is once again in the headlines, making the splash of today's Daily Mail for being 'on the case' of the attempted Saudi takeover of Newcastle United. It comes two days after a piece in The Times reported that former Lister was considering combining his current role as the prime minister’s special envoy to the Gulf with a six-figure advisory gig for lobbying firm Finsbury Glover Hering – an approach he only rejected after being approached by the newspaper. Finsbury of course is chaired by Roland Rudd, the smooth talking, uber networker best known for heading up the unsuccessful People's Vote campaign and for being one of Tony Blair's 'Four Wise Men' who advised him after leaving office.

Wednesday

14 April 2021

Steerpike

Trudeau claims Britain faces ‘very serious third wave’

Steerpike was surprised to learn this morning that the UK is facing a 'very serious third wave' – not from the newspapers or an ashen faced epidemiologist but rather the unlikely form of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Amid calls in Canada to loosen lockdown restrictions, the embattled leader referenced Britain in his parliament yesterday as an example as to why there should not be faster liberalisation. Sporting a hideous beard, the premier best known for ethics scandals and blackface pictures told members of the Canadian House of Commons: I think it's really important that we work from facts and understanding of the science around things.

Steerpike

The remorseless rise of Jeffrey Archer’s mafia

Much ink was spilled during the Cameron years about CCHQ's A-list efforts to get more top talent from a range of diverse backgrounds into the Tory parliamentary party. But now it belatedly transpires one man foresaw the future and was nursing his own crop of rising stars before it was fashionable – onetime MP turned novelist Jeffrey Archer. The octogenarian author popped up on Times Radio on Sunday to offer his thoughts on the issues of the day. Mr S was interested to hear Archer telling host Gloria De Piero that no less than six of the members of the organising committee of his 2000 London mayoral bid – which ended somewhat ignominiously after he was accused and then convicted of perjury – are now leading Tory MPs.

Steerpike

Claudia Webbe calls for her own abolition

Pity the poor people of Leicester East. Having only got just rid of the scandal plagued Keith Vaz at the last election, long suffering constituents there have now found themselves lumped with his replacement Claudia Webbe. The latter was suspended as a Labour MP after just nine months following allegations of harassment, with her trial beginning last month. A former Ken Livingstone apparatchik, Webbe has a penchant for demonstrably untrue tweets such as her claim a fortnight ago that the colonisation of Africa had been ‘hidden from you all your life’ when it has in fact been a staple of the national curriculum for key stage 3 for years.

Tuesday

13 April 2021

Steerpike

Nicola Sturgeon defends her Covid border

For some time now, Scots living in England have been placed in an unfortunate position by Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP. Since November last year, the Scottish government has barred people from moving between Scotland and England for non-essential reasons, effectively creating a cross-border travel ban. The move has been particularly painful for those with family or friends stuck on the wrong side of the border. You might have thought then that today would have brought them some welcome reprieve, as Nicola Sturgeon used a press conference to announce that travel restrictions will be lifted across Scotland from Friday, to allow people to socialise outdoors. Unfortunately though, the Scottish First Minister declined to extend her munificence to those in England.

Steerpike

Now even Nick Clegg turns on Brussels

The last four months have not been a happy time for those in power in Brussels. The unedifying squabbles over vaccine procurement and the sluggish delays to its subsequent roll out have prompted criticism across the continent, with the World Health Organisation calling it 'unacceptably slow.' Unsurprisingly, a Bloomberg poll out yesterday found that almost two-thirds of adults believe that being outside the EU helped the UK’s vaccination program to succeed. Now it appears Ursula von der Leyen and her colleagues have even lost their core support.

Monday

12 April 2021

Steerpike

Watch: Boris and Starmer tributes to Philip

This afternoon the House of Commons will sit for up to seven and a half hours of tributes to Prince Philip. After a minute's silence and Speaker Lindsay Hoyle describing him as the 'father of the nation' Boris Johnson led the way for the party leaders. During his ten minute's speech Johnson told the Commons that the Duke was a 'model of selflessness' who 'made this country a better place.' Sporting a new post lockdown haircut Johnson riffed on the funeral arrangements the late Duke planned himself: It is fitting that on Saturday his Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh will be conveyed to his final resting place in a Land Rover which Prince Philip designed himself, with a long wheel base and capacious rear cabin.

Steerpike

Watch: Scottish Green leader’s attack on Prince Philip

The Scottish Parliament today met on a motion of condolence for the late Duke of Edinburgh. But while the main party leaders including First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and the Tories' Ruth Davidson paid eloquent tribute to Prince Philip's seven decades of public service, the co-leader of the Scottish Greens felt no such compunction. Patrick Harvie told Holyrood that his party had considered boycotting the Holyrood tribute and criticised Prince Philip’s 'extreme wealth, privilege and status' by pleading that it would have been 'wrong to give a performance of feelings not sincerely felt.' https://www.youtube.com/watch?

Steerpike

Eight awkward David Cameron quotes on lobbying

David Cameron broke his silence last night on the Greensill affair after more than a month without comment. The statement of the Tory prime minister has failed to quell questions as to whether he acted improperly in his approaches to various ministers, with Number 10 today announcing an independent investigation – something Boris Johnson no doubt enjoyed. It seems fair to say that Cameron has been a less successful ex-PM than he was as premier, having seen his UK-China fund run into the sands, his memoirs fail to match his predecessors and his National Citizen Scheme facing calls to be defunded.

Steerpike

Simon McCoy’s warning shot to the Beeb

It was just a fortnight ago that the BBC's grumpiest new presenter Simon McCoy announced he was off to join GB News after 17 years at the Beeb. It has not taken long for the onetime viral iPad star to fire his first salvo at the Corporation's editorial choices, taking aim on Friday to criticise Auntie for running blackout tributes to the late Duke of Edinburgh. McCoy, who is renowned for his apathetic reportage on a generation of royal births, took to Twitter to complain about the saturation coverage, prompting a stand off with current BBC presenter Martine Croxall. https://twitter.com/MartineBBC/status/1380607017065254922?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/SimonMcCoyTV/status/1380609606100119559?

Sunday

11 April 2021

Steerpike

Prince Philip’s best public encounters

Prince Philip's death on Friday has led to an outpouring of tributes over the weekend, often prompted by personal recollections from those who encountered the former consort in person. His prominence in British public life for more than 70 years meant that an incredible 22 per cent of people in the UK are reported as having met the Duke of Edinburgh, or seen Prince Philip in person, according to a YouGov poll. This number is exceeded only by the Queen herself, at 31 per cent. Steerpike has rounded up 15 stories of people meeting His Royal Highness, many of which are only being publicised now for the first time.

Steerpike

The Lib Dems’ campaigning loophole

Following the sad news on Friday of the Duke of Edinburgh's death, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey tweeted out his condolences writing that 'As a mark of respect to the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen and the Royal Family, the Liberal Democrats are suspending the national election campaign today.' A civil gesture of commemoration, one might think. But while the party's leading MPs like Layla Moran and Alistair Carmichael are following the example of ministers in respecting a media blackout until after the funeral, no such restraints are on local activists out campaigning across the country throughout this weekend.

Steerpike

Lansman’s council bid loses Momentum

In February Mr S reported that onetime Labour power broker Jon Lansman was set to stand for Cornwall County Council in May's local elections. Lansman, the founder of leftwing campaign group Momentum, left his party's national executive committee in December, swearing that 'My legacy isn't complete' with an afterlife in the politics of potholes appearing to be a fitting end to 40 years of leftwing activism. But now the onetime Bennite's bid for power appears to have collapsed after Lansman was left off the list of nominated candidates for the Mousehole, Newlyn and St Buryan electoral district.

Steerpike

EU commissioner says Britain’s vaccine success is down to Brussels

Europe’s vaccine rollout has been a chastening experience for many in Brussels with the World Health Organisation describing it last week as ‘unacceptably slow’. So Mr S was intrigued to read an interview in Der Spiegel today with Thierry Breton, the EU’s Commissioner for Internal Market, in which the top official appeared to take credit for Britain’s vaccination scheme. Both at home and overseas, the UK procurement and rollout of the vaccines been widely seen as a success, with credit mostly going to the taskforce led by Kate Bingham. Not so, according to a bullish Breton, who claimed credit for all the vaccines produced in factories which happened to be based in EU countries.

Friday

9 April 2021

Steerpike

The wit and wisdom of Prince Philip

After 74 years of marriage to the Queen, Prince Philip has today died at the age of 99. During his many decades in the public eye, the Duke of Edinburgh earned the respect and admiration of many for his selfless dedication to duty. Attending quite literally thousands of events besides his wife he developed a reputation for off the cuff gems and blunt speaking. Steerpike has gathered up 74 of the Duke’s best quotes from 74 years by the Queen’s side. On his role and family 'I’d much rather have stayed in the Navy, frankly' he said of his role in 1992. 'If it doesn't fart or doesn't eat hay, she isn't interested' on his daughter Princess Anne.

Steerpike

Prince Philip: a round-up of tributes

After a long life of public service, Prince Philip has died at the age of 99. Below is Steerpike's rolling guide to the tributes paid by leading figures to the Duke of Edinburgh. Faith leaders Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury: 'He consistently put the interests of others ahead of his own and, in so doing, provided an outstanding example of Christian service. During his naval career, in which he served with distinction in the Second World War, he won the respect of his peers as an outstanding officer. On the occasions when I met him, I was always struck by his obvious joy at life, his enquiring mind and his ability to communicate to people from every background and walk of life. He was a master at putting people at their ease and making them feel special.

Steerpike

Metro’s inglorious twelfth

Oh dear. Britain’s most read newspaper Metro caused something of an overnight storm with the first edition of its front page. Splashing on the easing of lockdown restrictions on Monday, its headline read ‘The Glorious Twelfth’ underneath a dramatic shot of projectiles being thrown at the peace wall in Belfast titled 'Bad Old Days are Back' ‘The twelfth’ of course has some powerful resonance in Northern Ireland, to celebrate the triumph of the Glorious Revolution and victory of the Protestants of King William III over the Catholic King James II at the subsequent Battle of the Boyne in 1690. Every 12 July the Orange Order marches its members through streets across the country — something of which Metro has clearly been previously aware.

Steerpike

The Northern Independence Party’s Hartlepool woes

Oh dear, it all seemed to be going so well for the ‘Northern Independence Party’, a Corbynite breakaway outfit standing in the Hartlepool by-election. Despite appearing to think that Norwich is a northern city, and the pretty embarrassing use of a whippet on its logo, the party had managed to field a former Labour MP in Hartlepool and was receiving some favourable coverage in the left-wing and national media. Unfortunately though there seems to be trouble at t’mill. Last night, the party announced that because it had failed to file the correct forms with the Electoral Commission on time, it would not be on the ballot paper in Hartlepool.