Steerpike

John Bercow has come under renewed fire this week over allegations he bullied members of staff while working in the Commons. Former Black Rod David Leakey came forward to claim that Bercow – who denies the allegations – 'brutalised Commons staff'. And Lord Lisvane, a former chief clerk of the House of Commons has also submitted bullying allegations about Bercow to the parliamentary standards authority. But happily, Bercow does still have some friends in high places to support his battle to gain entry into the Lords, including Labour's Diane Abbott. The shadow home secretary pledged her support to the ex-speaker this morning.

Keir Starmer has complained to the head of the civil service after a spat between political journalists and Downing Street. The row broke out after No. 10 insisted that only 'senior, specialist members of the lobby' could attend a briefing with Brexit negotiator David Frost. Several journalists decided to walk out of No. 10 as a result. But now Sir Keir has come to their rescue. The Labour leadership hopeful has written to Sir Mark Sedwill criticising Boris Johnson's media operation. In the letter, which carries Starmer's official campaign logo, the former Corbyn loyalist complained that briefing attendees 'should not be determined by political favouritism'.

It's been more than three years since the Brexit referendum, and we're only a day away from actually leaving the EU, but it appears that some of the UK's residents are still struggling to come to terms with the country's exit from the European Union. Today, the pollster YouGov released a survey of Remain voters in the UK, in which it asked which of the five stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance) closest described how they feel about the EU referendum result. The options ranged from the rather sanguine, 'I have come to terms with the fact that the UK will leave the EU', to full-throated denial, asking the survey participants if they didn't believe 'people in the UK really wanted to leave the EU'.

Members of the European Parliament voted this afternoon to pass Boris Johnson’s Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, ensuring that Britain will leave the EU on 31 January, with a Brexit deal in place. The passing of Boris’s deal also heralded the close of Britain’s participation in the European Parliament, ahead of Brexit day on Friday. And, as expected, the vote ended up being an emotional moment for many MEPs, who chose to mark Britain’s departure by singing Robert Burns’ Auld Lang Syne. Watch here: https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1222576142928023552?

There are many characteristics that make a good leader. Honesty, eloquence, and charisma are traditionally high up on the list. But Labour's leadership elections have shown that one attribute is now prized above all else - loyalty to Jeremy Corbyn. Almost all of the candidates have tried to present themselves as Corbyn's natural successor. The latest candidate to put themselves forward as some unswerving Corbyn ally is the deputy leadership hopeful Dawn Butler. Ms Butler told a hustings on Saturday: 'We have some real selfish MPs, let me be honest, that thought it was okay that after Jeremy was elected, democratically elected as a leader, [they thought] "do you know what? Let's join a coup and do it again and try and deselect him." Well no. He was elected as our democratic leader.

Love him or hate him, you can't deny that John Bercow had an outsized political impact in 2019. The former Speaker was instrumental in the battles to block Brexit through legislation and parliamentary procedure, and his decision to delay his departure probably changed the course of British history. So it was perhaps unsurprising that Bercow was The Spectator's insurgent of the year at last night's parliamentarian awards. Unfortunately, he was not able to attend the event in person, but did provide this video message, which put to bed the rumours once and for all, that he was a Speaker who was obsessed with self-promotion and only concerned about flogging his own memoirs. Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

*According to Labour party members. Research carried out by the polling company YouGov reveals the surprising fact that party members rank the absolute boy as the absolute best Labour leader of the last hundred years. When asked whether members had a favourable or unfavourable view of each of the last 13 leaders, JC came out on top. Yes, that's the same Jeremy Corbyn who just last month managed to secure the party's worst defeat since 1935. Corbyn beat the founding father of the modern Labour party Clem Attlee and far outstripped the most successful leader since the party's foundation, Tony Blair. As YouGov points out, the results are partly down to the fact that one in four (!!) Labour party members don't actually seem to know who Attlee is.

Who should be able to celebrate Durham's proud legacy of mining? Maybe those who represent the miners' constituencies in Westminster? Not according to the man who organises the annual miners gala, which takes place every July. Durham Miners president Alan Mardghum told the BBC: 'To paraphrase Johnson, I'd rather be found dead in a ditch than invite them or Johnson to the gala... Why would we invite Tories to the Durham Miners' Gala?' Never mind that many ex-miners voted Conservative at the general election and one former pit man is now a Tory MP. So what is Mardghum's advice to Tories who do decide to ignore his snub and come to celebrate their voters' history?