Steerpike

The newly-elected MP for Leicester East and loyal Corbynite Claudia Webbe spoke to BBC Radio 4's Today programme earlier this morning. Webbe was asked why her party failed so badly at the general election but appeared unable to answer Nick Robinson's simple line of questioning. Rather than responding to questions about the popularity of the policies, Ms Webbe instead started arguing about why the policies were needed in the first place. When Robinson attempted to steer her back to the question at hand, the MP began blaming 'newspaper corporations that speak to the electorate'. Mr S thinks it might be a good idea if Webbe is stopped from speaking to the electorate in future... Nick Robinson: 'You went down to your worst defeat in more than eight years.

As the week rolls on, the recriminations just keep coming. One thing is for sure, its still not Jeremy's fault. So, despite the best evidence to the contrary, Mr S has decided to update the list of reasons given by Corbynistas as to why their leader fell so flat. The 'print media' Dawn Butler was asked on Sky News on the night of the election whether voters' dislike of Jeremy Corbyn was responsible. Not so, she said. 'The media contributed to it,' she insisted. Butler also suggested that adverts placed by the Tories didn't help matters. Meanwhile, Corbynistas on Twitter were more specific in who was responsible: the Observer. In a damning leader just before the election, the paper called out what it described as 'Corbyn’s disgraceful anti-Semitism crisis'.

As soon as the exit poll was released on Thursday night, showing that Labour had been decimated in the general election, most people expected that the party would spend the next few months (or longer) tearing itself apart. Even so, few expected that that its representatives would have begun suing each other so soon after the result. Apparently not though. This morning, Emily Thornberry, the party's Shadow Foreign Secretary, announced that she was taking legal action against the former MP for Don Valley, Caroline Flint. Flint claimed that Thornberry had said she was glad her constituents weren't as 'stupid' as another MP's Northern, Brexit supporting voters.

At 10:10pm last night, the shadow chancellor began the inevitable firefight against claims that it was Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour leadership itself that lost the party this election. John McDonnell told Andrew Neil: 'We knew it would be tough because Brexit has dominated this election... As I say, I think this was a Brexit election... I hate to use this expression but I think [the voters] most probably did want to "get it done" and that will be it.' This has set the tone for the fierce debate that has followed. While prominent pro-Corbyn figures have blamed the media, tactical voters and even global political forces, it is Brexit that has received the lion's share of the blame. Even the Labour leader himself has come out and denied that he was the problem.

Tonight's exit poll has predicted that the Conservatives are heading for a bumper majority of 86 – a remarkable result. And while the exit poll is still just a prediction at this stage, that hasn't stopped Labour's various Corbynistas melting down at the result. Here are the best reactions so far: https://twitter.com/OwenJones84/status/1205246679835910145 https://twitter.com/RichardJMurphy/status/1205247150751387648 https://twitter.com/AyoCaesar/status/1205248597975031814 https://twitter.com/paulmasonnews/status/1205247632135872516 https://twitter.com/novaramedia/status/1205246893325987841 https://twitter.com/toadmeister/status/1205250528080539648 https://twitter.com/davidschneider/status/1205246584319086592 https://twitter.

The actor Steve Coogan has started his traditional round of election broadcasts, supposedly in an attempt to whip up support for Labour. Unfortunately for Steve, he had a bit of an Alan Partridge moment earlier today when he told Sky News that Labour is 'encouraging prejudice'. Mr S would sadly have to agree.

Vote Corbyn, says Corbyn. That is the unsurprising message from the Labour leader's brother Piers in a video filmed at Speakers' Corner in London. But while Piers backed his sibling over accusations of anti-Semitism and Labour's position on Brexit, it wasn't an entirely ringing endorsement. Piers Corbyn, who has previously said 'man-made climate change does not exist', was asked about Corbyn's green manifesto pledges. It's safe to say he is not a fan: 'He wants to end carbon dioxide emissions.' Piers Corbyn: 'Yeah, well, that's nonsense. That's impossible.' 'Well, that's what your brother says, why are you supporting him then?' Oh dear. Mr S expects it could be a bit awkward at the Corbyn household this Christmas...

Labour's election strategy has been to go on the attack against Britain's billionaires. Today one of them responded. Phones4U founder John Caudwell quizzed shadow chancellor John McDonnell on Labour's economic policy today and it's safe to say he wasn't impressed. Caudwell warned McDonnell that his party's plans could lead to an exodus of wealthy taxpayers from Britain. Here's what he told McDonnell: Caudwell: '...Some of the Labour rhetoric I accept. But the central ethos, when I hear phrases like nobody deserves to be a billionaire, it frightens the living daylights out of me. You know John, the thing is, if the Labour rhetoric was 'We admire billionaires and we'd like them to pay a bit more tax, be more charitable and admire their success', I would absolutely support that philosophy.