Steerpike, Author at The Spectator

Friday

March 19, 2021

Yours for £66, an official Whitehall flagpole

From our UK edition

Flags are suddenly all the rage in British politics, with scarcely a day going by it seems without a fresh row over the Union Jack. First a leaked Labour report last month on how to win back voters was splashed on the front page of the Guardian along with its recommendations that Labour make 'use of the flag, veterans [and] dressing smartly' — an uncontroversial observation that triggered days of handwringing from the usual suspects. Then there was the continued comment about ministers on Zoom with an ever-growing number of flags in the background. And just yesterday BBC stars found themselves in hot water for sniggering at Robert Jenrick's Union Jack in the background of his office and his portrait of the Queen on the wall. https://twitter.

Steerpike

Where’s Nicola Sturgeon?

From our UK edition

After being accused last night of misleading the Scottish parliament, Nicola Sturgeon's daily Covid briefing was high on Mr Steerpike's watch list today. Alas upon tuning in, viewers were greeted with the sight of Jeane Freeman, the country's health secretary (under fire for quite different reasons) rather than her embattled party leader. Asked by Sky about whether Sturgeon should resign, Freeman snapped back that: 'This is a Covid briefing and that is what I am here to answer questions on' before (quelle surprise) saying she still believed her colleague did not mislead parliament and that she should not resign. So where is Sturgeon and why is not doing her much loved daily presser?

Steerpike

Shock as NYT praises Britain

From our UK edition

In recent years Britain has become something of a Bermuda Triangle for the New York Times. Since voting for Brexit in 2016, the UK has become reimagined in the reporting of the Gray Lady's esteemed reporters. It is a strange, desolate place, where locals huddle round bin fires on the streets of London, gnawing on legs of mutton and cavorting in swamps during the summer, ever fearful of the despot Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. But has all that now changed? Mr S was minded to call the Tower to check on London's ravens after seeing an article published today titled: 'Britain's 'One-Jab' Strategy' with the subheading 'Britain’s “one-jab” strategy is working, offering lessons for the world'.

Steerpike

France u-turn jab: AZ you were

From our UK edition

It has been difficult to keep up with all the the twists and turns of Europe's vaccine procurement programme these past nine weeks though Mr S has tried his best. Few countries have vacillated on the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine more than France, where last month nearly 1 in 4 said they would not be getting the vaccine. In a country where vaccine hesitancy is rampant, you might have hoped that political and medical leaders would have offered a strong lead to the public but apparently not. At the beginning of March, French medical authorities finally recommended the jab to over 65s, two months after president Emmanuel Macron called the AstraZeneca jab 'quasi-ineffective' for this age group.

Steerpike

Revealed: Labour readmits councillors suspended over anti-Semitism claims

From our UK edition

Since his election as Labour leader Keir Starmer has pledged to take a 'zero tolerance' stance on anti-Semitism, in a bid to mark a break with Jeremy Corbyn's tenure. So Mr S was disturbed to learn that not one but two Labour councillors suspended for anti-Semitism last September were yesterday readmitted to the Haringey CLP and are now part of the Labour group once again. A leaked email seen by Mr S from Amy Fode, the London Labour regional party, confirms that 'Cllr Preston Tabois and Cllr Noah Tucker suspensions have ended today and any restrictions on attending group meetings or being part of the group are now lifted.

Thursday

March 18, 2021

Steerpike

David Davis fact checks Sturgeon

From our UK edition

Nicola Sturgeon came under fire at First Ministers' Questions today, with Ruth Davidson interrogating the SNP leader over David Davis' bombshell on Tuesday night. Davidson asked if, as Davis claimed, a legal document was suppressed by government officials in the course of Mr Salmond’s judicial review in late 2018. Sturgeon replied that by reading out 'his old pal Alex Salmond’s conspiracy theories about the sexual harassment allegations against him' Davis was representing 'the very epitome of the old boys club.' She added that 'anyone who chooses to cheer that on should not pretend to have the interests of the women concerned at heart.

Steerpike

Watch: BBC presenters mock minister’s Union Jack

From our UK edition

The BBC is attempting today to break out of its London-centric mindset. The new Director General Tim Davie told BBC staff in a call this morning that the corporation will move 400 jobs out of the capital, and promised to make programmes that are more relevant to people who live outside the M25. Mr S wonders though if simply sending BBC staff up north will be enough, if BBC Breakfast (which broadcasts from Salford) was anything to go by this morning. On the show, housing secretary Robert Jenrick was interviewed by BBC presenters, who ended the segment by sniggering at the minister’s Union Jack in the background of his office and his portrait of the Queen on the wall: https://twitter.com/wallaceme/status/1372521185792167937?

Steerpike

Whatever happened to young Keir Starmer?

From our UK edition

This week’s Spectator looks at the role Sir Keir Starmer has played in granting the government extraordinary emergency powers to deal with the rise of Covid. The Labour leader appears happy to maintain such restrictions on the right to protest and even tried to bolster his credentials on law and order by backing under fire Met Commissioner Cressida Dick. But Mr S has done some digging in the archives and it shows Sir Keir was not always such a fan of the police. His works from the 1980s and 1990s prior to taking silk as a QC show a strong libertarian-left streak and a disdain for authoritarian justice and a strong executive. Tony Blair might now be advising his successor but Starmer was not always so receptive to New Labour’s views on law and order.

Steerpike

Public Health England’s obesity obsession

From our UK edition

Few government agencies have had a worse pandemic than Public Health England (PHE) whose mission is ‘to protect and improve the nation’s health and to address inequalities.’ Criticisms levelled at PHE over the past 12 months include failing to expand diagnostic testing and contact tracing, discouraging the use of face masks, failing to share infection data with local authorities and overcounting the number of Covid deaths in England. It has also been slated for focusing too much on lifestyle choices at the expense of properly preparing for a pandemic. In 2018/19, some £220 million of the public health budget was spent on anti-obesity schemes – more than twice the budget for infectious diseases.

Wednesday

March 17, 2021

Steerpike

Is Biden turning on Brussels?

From our UK edition

The Joe Biden administration, headed up by a proud son of Ireland, has spent St Patrick's Day briefing reporters in Washington that it will not be taking a side in the latest Irish border dispute. The new President spoke with the Irish Taoiseach on Wednesday in celebration of the two countries' history — just as the EU prepares to take the UK to court over the border row. Perhaps Micheál Martin was planning on lightly nudging Biden to remind him of the more recent past. Six months ago, the Democratic challenger to Trump blasted Boris Johnson for putting the Good Friday Agreement at risk, saying that he couldn't allow it to become a 'casualty of Brexit'. https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1306334039557586944?

Steerpike

Watch: Nicola Sturgeon’s hostile Covid briefing

From our UK edition

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon appeared to be in a poor mood today, after David Davis used parliamentary privilege in the Commons last night to make a series of allegations against the Scottish government over its handling of the Salmond investigation. After the ITV journalist Peter Smith asked Sturgeon about the new allegations at the Scottish government’s Covid briefing, the First Minister at first refused to answer the question at all, saying ‘I’m not having this briefing side-tracked into the latest instalment of the conspiracy theories we’ve all be hearing about for a long time’. Sturgeon then took a rather more hostile approach, saying she would only answer questions from the journalist about Covid.

Steerpike

Brussels embraces vaccine nationalism

From our UK edition

Just what on earth is happening in Brussels? The latest saga in the European Commission's botched vaccine roll out is president Ursula von der Leyen's threat today to block vaccine shipments to the UK from Europe. Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, the under-fire Eurocrat singled out Britain and suggested she could block imports of Pfizer unless UK-manufactured AstraZeneca jabs are shipped to the Continent. https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1372169441690185728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw She said: 'All options are on the table.

Steerpike

Labour frontbencher in fake news row (again)

From our UK edition

Oh dear. At the beginning of Covid, Dr Rosena Allin-Khan won plaudits across parliament for returning to do shifts on the NHS frontline. But in recent months the former deputy leader contender has earned herself the wanted reputation of being one of Parliament's worst offenders for disseminating 'fake news' – no mean feat considering some of the contenders she is up against. In January the self-styled shadow 'cabinet' minister for mental health sent a bizarre tweet late one Saturday night that claimed the vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi had managed to fast track the vaccine queue. After first asking people not to pile on the minister over the unsubstantiated rumour that she herself had started, Allin-Khan finally deleted it and apologised.

Steerpike

Dominic Cummings returns to parliament – the best bits

From our UK edition

Dominic Cummings today returned to face a select committee for the first time since his fiery clash with Andrew Tyrie five years ago. Cummings — who was found in contempt of parliament for refusing to appear in 2018 — is up this morning before the Science and Technology panel of MPs. It is the first time the former No. 10 adviser has made public comments about his time in Government since leaving Downing Street in November.The subject of discussion is ARIA — the new £800 million Advanced Research and Invention Agency he championed in government which aims to fund 'high-risk, high-reward' inventions. MPs broadly stuck to the issue in hand, allowing Cummings to explain the successes of the US agency DARPA on which ARIA is based.

Steerpike

The return of Lutfur Rahman

From our UK edition

Remember Lutfur Rahman? In 2015 the then mayor of Tower Hamlets earned the dubious distinction of being Britain’s first directly elected mayor to be removed after being found guilty of electoral fraud. Rahman was slapped with a five-year ban on standing for elected office after the Election Court reported him to be ‘personally guilty’ of ‘corrupt or illegal practices or both.’ Judge Richard Mawrey said he'd ‘driven a coach and horses through election law and didn't care’ while his party Tower Hamlets First, was ‘never really a party but the alter ego of Lutfur Rahman’.

Tuesday

March 16, 2021

Steerpike

Coming soon: red wall by-election

From our UK edition

Things are not going well for Labour’s Keir Starmer. After yesterday’s polling showed his first negative satisfaction ratings and a seven point Conservative lead, today brings news that Hartlepool MP Mike Hill has resigned from the Commons to trigger a by election deep in red wall territory. Given the suspension of last May's mayoral and local elections, this will be the first time Boris Johnson's popularity will be tested with the northern voters who gave him his majority in December 2019. https://twitter.com/keiranpedley/status/1371439039358906369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw While the timing of the contest is yet to be set, CCHQ will be licking their lips at Hill’s 3,595 majority.

Steerpike

Caprice the Covid seer

From our UK edition

Today marks a special anniversary for those who have been following the course of the coronavirus since it first reared its ugly head in Wuhan. Exactly one year ago, arguably the UK’s finest scientific mind managed to predict how the UK would end up responding to the disease – weeks and months ahead of the scientists on Sage. This person wasn’t an academic or expert, however, but the businesswoman and model, Caprice. Speaking on the Jeremy Vine show, Caprice argued that we should close the borders and quarantine arrivals, wear masks and have a short, sharp lockdown to stop the disease before the outbreak got any worse. Caprice cited the experience of Taiwan and Singapore, who had used similar methods at the beginning of the pandemic.

Steerpike

The EU-AstraZeneca row: a complete timeline

From our UK edition

Oh dear. This morning Sweden has become the latest European country to suspend use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine. It follows reports that some people have suffered blood clots after being given the jab despite AstraZeneca's data showing there have only been 37 such reports among the 17 million people across Europe who have been given the vaccine. Yet while some European health ministries across the continent are raising concerns about its effectiveness, others are lambasting AstraZeneca for failing to deliver enough jabs. French Europe minister Clement Beaune appeared on Radio Classique this morning and raised the prospect of the EU actually suing the company over breach of contract.

Monday

March 15, 2021

Steerpike

Inside the £2.9 million Downing Street press room

From our UK edition

This afternoon ITV got the scoop they were all after – pictures of the elusive Downing Street press conference room. The room is based in No 9 Downing Street and has enjoyed an eye-watering £2.9 million makeover to host the cream of the nation's press for televised lobby briefings. The £2.9 million spending includes £1.8 million for 'main works' plus spending on other items such as £198,000 for 'long lead items', £33,000 for 'broadband equipment' and £1,400 on a core drill. It is here that Allegra Stratton, the Prime Minister's Press Secretary, will do battle with the parliamentary lobby in the site which formerly hosted the Privy Council Office courtroom.

Steerpike

Fact check: does the AstraZeneca jab cause more blood clots?

From our UK edition

Germany, Italy, and France have this afternoon become the latest European countries to temporarily suspend use of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University. It comes after the Dutch government said on Sunday the jab would not be used until at least 29 March, while Ireland said earlier in the day that it had temporarily suspended the shot as a precautionary step. In total that makes 11 countries including Denmark, Norway and Iceland who have suspended use over fears the vaccine causes blood clots. So should we be worried about the Oxford jab? Given the level of expertise supporting this vaccination, the answer is: no.