Steerpike

This week, former Chancellor Philip Hammond delivered a stark warning to Boris Johnson’s government about China. Speaking on Radio 4, the former Tory MP suggested that Britain should avoid weakening trade links with the world’s second largest economy, and instead be ‘frank’ in private about our ‘strong differences of opinion’. It was a strange intervention for him to make, as China implements its National Security Law in Hong Kong which threatens to undermine basic freedoms in the region.

A handful of Huawei executives testified in front of the Commons’ Science and Technology Committee on Thursday morning, to discuss the UK’s network infrastructure and the recent moves to reduce the firm’s role in our 5G network, over security concerns. Presumably the Huawei representatives were hoping to convince the committee and the wider world that their company is no different to any other network supplier, and that the Chinese state has no undue influence over them. That rather came undone though in a sustained grilling by committee chair Greg Clark. After one executive suggested that Huawei was no different to a company like BT, Clark asked if that meant Huawei employees were free to express their views.

The coronavirus pandemic has posed challenges for organisations right across the country – including the BBC. Although the corporation has said it has had to slim down its current affairs output temporarily as a result of social distancing, they have still managed to put out a series of podcasts for the younger generation – including a recent discussion where guests told white women to avoid becoming 'Karens' (American slang for entitled women, natch) and to 'stop being so loud' – which was later taken down from social media following complaints.But with a sense of normality slowly returning to SW1 as MPs debate and Westminster waterholes reopen, surely the BBC political coverage will soon, too, get up to date? Perhaps not.

Update: It has been reported that the former BBC and ITV journalist Allegra Stratton will be Downing Street's new press conference host. This morning, Boris Johnson confirmed on LBC that the government is planning to introduce daily televised press briefings not too dissimilar to White House press conferences. Replacing the off-camera afternoon lobby briefing, the conferences aim to build on the success of the daily coronavirus briefings, which Johnson said showed that ‘people want direct engagement and want stuff from us’.  With an area in No. 9 Downing Street to be converted for the new set-up, No.

It was a tale too good not to share: one man's encounter with a Brexit-voting couple who had just realised their mistake in wanting Britain to leave the EU. 'Just had conversation with a British couple who have a holiday home near us,' wrote RS Archer on Twitter. 'They voted for Brexit and have made no arrangements whatsoever for what happens on Jan 1. They have now discovered the reality of their situation. The blame apparently is with "Brussels".' Archer went on to reveal how the couple were in tears after realising they might have to sell up their holiday home if Brexit meant they lost their right to reside in the EU.

We’ve all been in a situation where our mobile phone starts ringing at the worst possible moment – whether it’s in a meeting, the middle of a play or in the silence of a church. Still, it was rather unfortunate for Labour MP Claudia Webbe that her phone went off right in the middle of a speech she was giving in the House of Commons this afternoon. Even worse, the mobile failed to turn off at the first attempt, leaving Webbe scrambling around in her bag, while attempting to continue. By the time she finally managed to turn the device off, the Labour MP was so aggrieved that she chucked it on the floor. Mr S isn’t sure the insurance will cover that one… Watch here: https://twitter.com/Alain_Tolhurst/status/1277993251220475904?

How did Britons enjoy this recent bout of nice summer weather? Many people certainly headed to a nearby beach. Some opted for a local park, National Trust site or countryside walk. And many people stayed at home in the garden on a sun lounger. Mr Steerpike is fairly confident though that sun-kissed Brits did not crowd into swamps this past week. Someone should probably have a word with the New York Times then, who today claimed that: ‘Britons have coped with a summer heatwave by jamming into beaches, city parks and swamps’ https://twitter.com/hudson_roe/status/1277491126690353152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw According to the paper, who seem to think Brits are some sort of amphibious creatures, we ‘cavorted by the hundreds in swamps and streams’ this week.

Is Israel to blame for the tragic killing of George Floyd by police in Minnesota this year? It’s not a question that has crossed many people’s minds as protests have swept across America in reaction to the unarmed man’s death. For certain sections of the left though, a connection with Israel can always be found. It certainly seems that way for the actress and full-on Corbynista Maxine Peake. Peake gave an interview with the Independent today, in which she claimed that: Systemic racism is a global issue… The tactics used by the police in America, kneeling on George Floyd’s neck, that was learnt from seminars with Israeli secret services.

Today, the UK Independence Party announced that Freddy Vachha will become the newest leader of the party. Vachha has been Ukip’s London Regional Chairman since 2016 and takes the reins from Richard Braine, who resigned just weeks before the general election last year after clashing with the party’s NEC. For those who’ve struggled to keep up, Vachha becomes the sixth leader of the party since Nigel Farage stepped down in 2016. At the leadership announcement this afternoon in front of Churchill’s statue in Parliament square, Vachha read a speech from his phone out loud, and said it was ‘time for Ukip to get back to business'. Mr S was most intrigued though by Vachha’s action-packed CV.

No one seems to think Boris Johnson has handled this crisis particularly well. But who might have done a better job than him? According to the Great British public, the answer is obvious: Mrs Thatcher.  A poll carried out by Redfield & Wilton Strategies suggests that 34 per cent of people think that Maggie would have handled coronavirus better than Boris – beating any other modern PM. Whatsmore, 47 per cent of those in the north east said Thatcher would have done a better job, the highest proportion out of any UK region.  Until the last election, just three of the 29 constituencies in the north east voted in a Tory MP. Boris Johnson managed to achieve the best result for the Conservatives there since 1959, returning 10 Tories to the Commons.