Steerpike

The general consensus in the media these days over PMQs is that Keir Starmer is a pro and Boris Johnson verging on incompetent. Today's exchange saw Starmer once again turn the heat up on Johnson's government. During a fiery exchange at PMQs, Keir Starmer criticised the government’s track and trace system. However, it was not what could be described as a slick attack line.  Starmer claimed that 'far from the world beating system we were promised the government can’t even get the basics right. The government is lurching from crisis to crisis'. In the conclusion of this verbal attack, Starmer appeared to slip up. He said that recent escapades show Johnson's government 'still lacks even basic incompetence'. Johnson was quick to pounce.

When Dawn Butler sent a message of support to Extinction Rebellion protesters who had blockaded newspaper printworks, it wasn't long before her tweet was deleted. So what happened?  It was widely assumed that the order to delete the message came from the top of the Labour party and showed all too clearly that things are now very different under the leadership of Keir Starmer. Not so, said Butler.  Instead, the Corbynite Labour MP insisted that the controversial tweet disappeared 'by accident'. She told the BBC's Politics Live: 'Erm, well, there is a story behind that...tweet was deleted by accident but I don't want to distract from that question. But the thing is, I've boycotted the Sun and will never buy the Daily Mail. I support Extinction Rebellion...

It feels good, doesn't it? Hearing Labour say something sensible for a change. Last night, eco agitators Extinction Rebellion targeted newspaper printworks hoping to disrupt the distribution of papers like the Daily Mail, the Sun and the Telegraph.  How did the Corbynite backbencher Dawn Butler respond to this attack on free expression, which has so far seen over 60 people arrested? That's right, by applauding.  But it seems that someone in Keir Starmer's office has reminded Dawn that the party is under new management – her ill-judged intervention has now been deleted. In fact, the party has gone one step further and released a statement condemning XR:  A free press is vital for our democracy.

What a scandalous idea, drinking with someone you might disagree with. Rather than grilling the transport secretary over his own views, Sky's Kay Burley instead decided to attack Grant Shapps over whether he would 'have a drink with' Tony Abbott because of his perceived 'homophobia'. Which seems an odd line of questioning given the fact Burley is a well-known Westminster partygoers and has no doubt attended the odd do alongside someone she disagrees with.  https://twitter.com/KayBurley/status/1301771342015062018?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw In fact, Burley was once spotted leaving Piers Morgan's Christmas drinks after what looks to have been a night of unconstrained revelry. All fun and games, and Mr S would never criticise someone for enjoying the odd drink. https://twitter.

Oh dear. It's safe to say that Rishi Sunak is not having the best week. Although the Chancellor's made the news every day, it's more because Tory MPs are complaining about various Treasury tax proposals than because they have anything nice to say. While the jury's out on tax rises, it seems that the Chancellor has at least begun to come up with a plan to calm tensions in the party over his Autumn Budget. Sunak was photographed leaving No. 11 today holding written notes – never a particularly good idea for a frontline politician given all the cameras unless of course they have a message they want to get out.  https://twitter.com/PoliticalPics/status/1301140388493877250?

It’s parliament’s first day back, and the government will be hoping to restore an aura of competence, after recent U-turns from exams to face masks – but they have not had a strong start. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace was spotted shaking hands with a colleague this morning, while on his way to a socially distanced cabinet meeting. Heading to the Foreign Office in order to follow social distancing rules – because there is more space than Downing Street for all of the cabinet to sit 2m apart – the Defence Secretary seems to have forgotten his own government’s guidance. https://twitter.com/KayBurley/status/1300710884516532224?

One of the reasons the Red Wall fell so decisively in favour of the Tories was that Labour failed to understand Brexit voters. That at least is a common theory put forward as to why Boris decisively trounced Corbyn last December. And it certainly seems to tally up with what some current Labour MPs make of Britain's decision to vote to leave the EU – and why, as a result, Brexiteers turned their backs on Corbyn's party. In a now-deleted tweet sent late last night, Labour's Neil Coyle took to Twitter to brand Brexit voters like his parliamentary colleague Jacob Rees-Mogg 'absolute s**tbag racist w***ers'.  Coyle, the MP for Bermondsey, added: 'I have spent years warning local people that these fat old racists won't stop blaming the EU when their s**t hits the fan'.

What happens when a lifelong anti-monarchist meets a pair of vocal young royals? Might one expect a statement of principles from the republican, politely reminding the couple of their illegitimacy as would-be rulers? Or perhaps just a quiet detachment, civil but aversive.  It seems that when Jeremy Corbyn and his wife Laura Alvarez met Harry and Meghan, the foursome actually hit it off. According to the Sunday Times, the two couples met at Westminster Abbey back in March during the annual Commonwealth Day.

A prime minister better known for his charisma than his policy achievements proroguing parliament to ride out a political storm. Sound familiar? No, it is not Boris Johnson, but the quintessential liberal heartthrob Justin Trudeau. Trudeau’s party promised not to use prorogation to ‘avoid difficult political circumstances’ When Johnson suspended parliament a year ago, Nicola Sturgeon immediately branded him a ‘tin-pot dictator’. Mr Steerpike will wait with bated breath for a similar SNP comment on the Canadian PM.

Gavin Williamson has taken a lot of stick for the A-level exams debacle, but Mr Steerpike thinks we should perhaps look to Roger Taylor, the chair of Ofqual, who also happens to be head of the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation. Not many people think that using an algorithm to decide exam results was the best option, but it becomes even more questionable when you realise that Taylor led a study last year, warning of algorithms propensity to ‘make decisions which reinforce pre-existing social inequalities’. The study states: ‘concerns are growing that without proper oversight, algorithms risk entrenching and potentially worsening bias.

Not content with criticism from virtually all sides of the political arena, Gavin Williamson appears to have turned even his own Twitter account against him in an act of online sadomasochism. The most recent like on his account is of a tweet by the children’s author Michael Rosen, in which he argues that under the current government: 'People get promoted to positions of power (and nice pay) to abuse teachers and run a system that judges young people on two or three hours splurge that bears no resemblance to life's tasks.' Unless Williamson is the most self-critical minister in British political history, it would appear the like was an accident...

Was Margaret Thatcher a feminist icon? Given that the Iron Lady was Britain's first female prime minister, you would think so. But not according to Russell Brand.  The comedian and Corbyn fan has released a video in which he explains feminism. Brand then asks whether Thatcher – who defied the odds to rise to the very top of British politics – could in any way be seen as an inspiration to women. 'No', according to Brand. Why? '...because the values she extolled, espoused and conveyed were male values. She was a woman-man. She was a very, very powerful person...but her premiership did not lead to more opportunities for women...conventional female values such as nurture, caringness, equality'.

When Dawn Butler was stopped by police last weekend she was not in a forgiving mood: It later turned out that the vehicle Butler was travelling in was stopped after an officer made a mistake when typing in the car's number plate. 'As a result of an officer making a human error as he inputted the car registration, the Police National Computer returned details of a car from another part of the UK', the Met's deputy commissioner Steve House said. But it seems that Butler herself isn't immune from making a typo. After attending an event to mark VJ Day today, the Labour MP got her J and E muddled up, using the VEDay75 hashtag by mistake: Don't worry, Dawn, it can happen to the best of us...