Steerpike

As Flatgate rumbles on, it appears the government has adopted a new communications approach to a controversy involving the Prime Minister's spouse: send for Michael Gove's wife. The Daily Mail columnist Sarah Vine popped up on Radio 4's Today programme this morning to firefight the situation – an interesting choice given her love of incendiary quotes in her weekly columns. Presenter Nick Robinson asked Vine what she made of the row over whether £58,000 of Tory party money was spent on renovating part of No. 10 to which the latter responded with gusto: The thing about the whole No 10. refurbishment thing is that the Prime Minister can't be expected to live in a skip.

Michael Gove was deployed to the Commons on Monday afternoon to answers questions on the ministerial code, an hour-long appearance in which he was (inevitably) asked about that day’s Daily Mail splash: ‘Boris: Let the bodies pile high in their thousands'. An awkward question for any minister to handle, you might think, but the oleaginous Gove just about got away with it. Asked directly about the reports, the Cabinet Office minister gave a lengthy reply which contained this key passage to wriggle out of trouble again: Tens of thousands of people were dying. The Prime Minister made a decision in that meeting to trigger a second lockdown. He made a subsequent decision to trigger a third lockdown. This is a Prime Minister who was in hospital himself, in intensive care.

Whether it's in government or outside it, financial management has often been Labour's weak spot. In recent years though the party has struggled to balance its own budgets, let alone those of the country, with fundraising from wealthy donors being (understandably) more difficult during Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.  Electoral Commission figures published last week show that in 2019 the Lib Dems managed to outspend Labour by more than £2.3 million during that year's general and European elections even with the might of the trade unions backing Jezza. Despite a change of leader, problems still remain with reports last summer that the party risked facing bankruptcy over the legal bill for antisemitism cases and the leaked internal dossier on the handling of this issue.

In the wake of recent scandals, Parliament last year began a series of 'Valuing Everyone' training sessions to 'combat bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct.' In November they were made compulsory but last week it emerged that the Lords standards commissioner has launched investigations into around 60 members who are yet to take the training including none other than the much loved nonagenarian Betty Boothroyd, the former Commons speaker. The news has sparked an outcry as Boothroyd is recovering from recent open heart surgery and at the grand age of 91 is an unlikely candidate for the next 'Pestminster' scandal. Broadcaster Timandra Harkness tweeted wryly that: 'Surely, as an ex-Tiller Girl and veteran politician, she should be TEACHING that course?

You might have thought that Europe's leaders would be wary of handing Brussels greater powers, given the various mishaps of the EU's vaccine procurement and roll out scheme since January. But for German Chancellor Angela Merkel the sorry episode has served less a chastening warning about the dangers of Euro integration than a justification for a more centralised state. Speaking earlier this week in a video conversation with European People's party group leader Manfred Weber, Merkel aligned herself with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen whose handling of the pandemic has been widely criticised.

Labour has been making much of the issue of lobbying since the Greensill scandal broke last month, with Rachel Reeves calling for a ‘proper’ investigation ‘to rein in the lobbyists and lift standards in this great democracy.’ But attention has now turned to the opposition’s own frontbenchers– particularly in the House of Lords where both Charlie Falconer and Sue Hayman have been revealed as having ties to lobbying firms. Falconer is a partner at US law company Gibson Dunn which offers ‘political lobbying’ advice in the UK while Hayman is a board member of London outfit Grayling.

Is Nigel Farage about to rebrand as a tech entrepreneur? Since quitting UK politics, the former Ukip leader has had a varied portfolio when it comes to new work. He has tried out broadcast journalism, Cameo (£75 a pop) and climate activism – as a spokesman for the green finance firm the Dutch Business Group (DGB), which invests in forests in a bid to reduce carbon emissions. Now Mr S understands Farage's post-Brexit reinvention is about to step up a gear – by entering the world of crypto. Last week, his company DGB acquired a controlling stake in a software development outfit called Statix Artificial Intelligence, with the aim of using its artificial intelligence, blockchain, big data and drone technology to validate the carbon offsets that they sell.