Steerpike

There is no love lost between John Bercow and Boris Johnson but the Prime Minister managed to bite his tongue as he bid farewell to the Speaker in the Commons just now. Boris paid tribute to Bercow's 'Tony Montana scowl' and called Bercow an 'uncontrollable tennis ball machine' for peppering parliament with his numerous interventions during debates. Boris went on to say that Bercow had 'done more than anyone since Stephen Hawking to stretch time in this session' and that he had had 'the longest retirement since Frank Sinatra'.

At long last, it looks like there's going to be a general election to break the Brexit deadlock. The House of Commons has voted to hold an election on 12 December, after MPs on both sides of the political aisle backed a one-line government bill, which now moves on to the House of Lords. But rather unfortunately, one MP did not exactly react to the news that Parliament would be dissolved for a Christmas contest with good grace. Shortly after the vote, the former Conservative MP Anna Soubry used a point of order to put her bizarre spin on the Commons' decision. The 'Change UK – The Independent Group' MP began by saying that, despite just voting by 438 to 20 for a general election, the House did not actually want one: 'I know it is uncomfortable sometimes to speak truth to power.

It's all out chaos at the People's Vote campaign today, after the outgoing chairman of Open Britain (one of the campaign's five organisations) Roland Rudd attempted to fire the group's head of communications, Tom Baldwin, and its director, James McGrory. In their place, Rudd wished to appoint Patrick Heneghan, the former head of campaigns for the Labour party. Unfortunately, the wheels quickly came off Rudd's attempted coup. Baldwin took to the airwaves this morning to insist that Rudd couldn't fire him, and said he would travel in to work this morning. While former New Labour spinner and Remain activist Alastair Campbell launched his own attack on Rudd's move, which he said was a 'deliberate act of sabotage'.

When Rory Stewart declared his candidacy for the London mayor, there was some concern in CCHQ that the former Conservative MP could eat into Tory candidate Shaun Bailey's vote share. Stewart has been keen to pitch himself as an outward looking politician in touch with modern Britain. While there's still some way to go to polling night, the initial signs suggest that Stewart's own efforts will be no walk in the park. Stewart has found himself under criticism after he described three East London men he met back when he was campaigning to be the next leader of the Conservatives as 'minor gangsters'. https://twitter.com/RoryStewartUK/status/1137811697027170309?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Stewart attempted to speak to the group as part of his trademark campaigning walks.

Boris Johnson has announced that MPs in the House of Commons will vote next week on holding an election on 12 December, in an attempt to break the Brexit impasse. And as expected, plenty of Labour MPs are already lining up to think of reasons to avoid being accountable to the electorate. Mr S wonders though if Labour HQ will be less than pleased with one MP's excuse for avoiding an election this Christmas. Speaking to Sky News in the Palace of Westminster, the veteran MP Barry Sheerman was asked whether his party should back an election next week, and what Jeremy Corbyn will recommend to his party. But in his reply the MP rather underplayed his own party's chances of winning, when he noted that: 'I think Jim Callaghan used to say, "Turkeys don't vote Christmas".

'A general election will solve nothing,' Anna Soubry has just told the Commons. But it seems not all of her parliamentary colleagues agree. Labour MP John Mann responded to Soubry by repeatedly yelling out: 'It will get rid of you' It's safe to say Soubry was not impressed: 'Can I just say actually, I don't mind losing my job but I do care about the jobs of my constituents...and that's why this matter must now go back for that people's vote now we have the clarity on Brexit and we see what a disaster it is.

Boris Johnson can be forgiven for feeling worried when Theresa May took to her feet in the Commons just now. The former prime minister started with the words: 'I intend to rebel...'. Fortunately for her successor, she then added: '...against all of those who don't want to deliver Brexit.' https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1185532961183227905?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw May said she intended to back the deal because it came down to a simple question: 'when we voted to trigger Article 50, did we really mean it? When the two main parties...stood on manifestos to deliver Brexit, did we really mean it? I think there can only be one answer to that: yes, we did mean it...because if this parliament did not mean it it is guilty of the most egregious con trick on the British people.

It's been a hard couple of days for the Extinction Rebellion protestors. First, the group's disastrous attempt to block the underground yesterday spectacularly backfired, turning the public against them. And today, the ongoing drama in Westminster over Boris's Brexit deal has overshadowed their protests. Which may explain why one intrepid protestor resorted to more extreme measures this afternoon in a bid to grab the headlines. The activist, who appeared to be dressed as Boris Johnson, scaled the scaffolding of the Elizabeth Tower, which holds Big Ben, before unfurling a banner on climate change and a citizens' assembly. Watch here: https://youtu.be/pCmB0T3RdGw     https://twitter.

We're still waiting to hear what Mark Francois – and the rest of the ERG – make of Boris Johnson's Brexit deal. But while Westminster waits with bated breath, Francois has delivered a withering verdict on SW1's noisiest inhabitant: the 'stop Brexit' protester. Francois was about to give his answer during an interview on the BBC only to be loudly interrupted with yells of 'stop Brexit' and 'revoke Article 50'. The Tory MP's response? 'If we leave it will be delightful that this idiot will shut up'. Mr S isn't so sure that will happen...

Sadiq Khan's verdict was clear on plans to make voters show ID before casting their ballots: 'This is voter suppression', he said. 'It will hit poorer and minority communities, just as it does in the US'. But Mr S couldn't help but notice one of the requirements for people to attend the Mayor of London's own 'State of London Debate' at the O2 earlier this year: 'Please bring photo ID and arrive early to ensure entry'. #SpeaktoSadiq – but only if you've got photo ID...