Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike
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Oh, if only we had listened to Richard Horton sooner. That seemed to be the message that the editor-in-chief of the Lancet was trying to get across on Question Time when he lambasted the government for failing to get to grips with the coronavirus crisis. Yes, if you had tuned in to the popular BBC discussion show last
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As the House of Commons rises for a premature Easter recess, coronavirus continues to dominate all parliamentary business. However, today also marks Jeremy Corbyn’s final day in parliament as Labour leader – he put in his last Prime Minister’s Questions opposition performance this lunchtime. While many in Corbyn’s own party won’t be sad to see him
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In the clearest sign yet that the coronavirus does not care about status, wealth or class, Prince Charles announced today that he has tested positive for the disease. According to a statement released by Clarence House, the heir apparent felt ‘mild symptoms’ on Sunday night, but ‘otherwise remains in good health’. Charles was tested on
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It seems the Observer’s favourite intrepid investigative journalist has been at it again. Yes, Carole Cadwalladr has been tweeting. On Sunday evening, Cadwalladr decided to deviate from telling her half a million Twitter followers that the UK is in the palm of the Russians by explaining that we are now living through an unprecedented era of press control
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With Westminster seemingly awash with coronavirus, the number of MPs and government aides in self-isolation increases by the day. This has led to chatter within government over who ought to step in should Boris Johnson find himself out of action for two weeks with a case of Covid-19. As first secretary of state, Dominic Raab is
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For those wondering how coronavirus will affect the Brexit negotiations, one immediate issue has arisen today: Michel Barnier has contracted the disease. The EU’s chief negotiator revealed the diagnosis on social media this morning, and said that ‘I am doing well and in good spirits. I am following all the necessary instructions, as is my team.’
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Oh dear. It seems the Prime Minister needs to have a quiet word with his father. Stanley Johnson, 79, has decided to wade into yet another national debate, this time telling ITV’s Phillip Schofield: ‘Of course I’ll go to a pub if I need to go to a pub.’ Given that his son has warned against all
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A slanging match has broken out between Nadine Dorries and the wife of a Tory MP. Dorries, who was diagnosed with coronavirus earlier this week, was criticised by Nevena Bridgen, the opera singer wife of Andrew Bridgen, who is currently in self isolation. Nevena Bridgen accused the health minister of putting her family at risk: ‘He can’t get the test
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Rory Stewart announced at a meeting today that he won’t be holding any more meetings as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. He is also cancelling all of his door-knocking and canvassing, putting a swift end to his sofa-surfing escapade. Mr S. thinks that this meeting really should have been an email.
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Oh dear. Michael Gove, the minister entrusted to head up the British civil service, seems to have developed a problem with multitasking. The key government minister was giving evidence this morning to the Committee on the Future Relationship with the EU when he made an unfortunate mistake. So engrossed was Gove in the point that
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It seems fresh infighting has broken out in Whitehall on what is supposed to be the most important Budget day of a generation. Yes, a briefing war has spilt out into the open, with the PM’s fiancée Carrie Symonds taking to Twitter to defend… Dilyn the dog. Some fed-up official appears to have been whispering that the
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How far the Tories have come. Once, the former chancellor was unassailable, bestowing his patronage on those who knew the true value of loyalty. Now, MPs from northern working-class constituencies openly mock George Osborne on the floor of the House of Commons. Jacob Young, the new Conservative MP for Redcar, used his maiden speech to poke
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Wolf-whistling isn’t a crime, but one Labour MP seems to think it should be. Stella Creasy clashed with Nick Ferrari on LBC this morning on the issue. Ferrari asked Creasy whether a builder should be criminalised for wolf-whistling at a woman. Here is her response: ‘I’d really hope in the same way if someone uses a
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Who was the victim when Jolyon Maugham killed a fox on Boxing Day? Not only the hapless animal, it would seem. The Remain-supporting lawyer – who was recently told by the RSPCA that it would not take any action over the incident – was not too impressed by Mishal Husain’s line of questioning on the Today programme. Husain rightly
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On Boxing day last year the lawyer and Remain-supporting campaigner, Jolyon Maugham, made probably the most unwise decision of his life. He decided, after having an altercation with an animal in his garden that morning, to recount his experience on social media. At 8am, the campaigner and QC revealed that: ‘Already this morning I have killed a
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After a prolonged spell of avoiding media interviews, Boris Johnson finally came out of hiding today and appeared on breakfast television. The Prime Minister was interviewed by Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on ITV’s This Morning. And while Boris handled questions on the coronavirus, flooding and the Priti Patel bullying scandal with relative ease, in the end it was a
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Nothing brings people together quite like a late night kebab. That was certainly the lesson that Mr Steerpike learnt on Tuesday evening when the Westminster Village descended on the British Kebab Awards. The annual meat-based bash saw politicians, hacks and restauranteurs rub shoulders at the Park Plaza hotel in Waterloo. But Mr S wasn’t the only one
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What does Britain stand for post-Brexit? What is our role in the world? Mr Steerpike often wonders: it’s not as if Johnson’s administration has always been entirely forthcoming. For all the talk about opening up to the world, being a proud beacon of economic liberalism, the government has been opaque as to what that means.
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There’s much speculation (and conspiracy theory) about why Boris Johnson chose today to announce that he’s becoming a father for the sixth time. Was it to get the resignation of Sir Philip Rutnam off the front pages? But to many in Westminster, the real question is how they have kept it quiet for so long.
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In recent days, the UK government has been criticised for not doing enough to update the public on the potential for a coronavirus outbreak. No. 10’s boycott of the Today programme meant that it was former health secretary Jeremy Hunt who was left to take the slot on Friday rather than a minister. However, Mr S wonders
