Steerpike

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...

As tradition dictates, at every Queen's Speech and State Opening of Parliament, Black Rod (the House of Lords official) will knock three times on the House of Commons door before entering, and leading MPs to listen to the Queen's speech in the other Chamber. And every year, like clockwork, the Labour MP Dennis Skinner will heckle the official when she enters the Commons. As expected, this year was no exception. Although, it seems to Mr S as though the quality of Skinner's 'jokes' are deteriorating quickly. As Black Rod finished her speech in the Chamber this time, and invited MPs to follow her to the Lords, the Beast of Bolsover could be heard shouting something similar to: 'I'm not coming'. Watch here:   https://twitter.

When Michael Gove was welcomed back into government this year and appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, some wondered if Boris Johnson was really wise to trust his old nemesis with the serious business of government. After all, Gove both ran against the PM in the recent leadership contest and, infamously, stabbed him in the back after the Brexit vote in 2016. But if Boris is looking for inspiration about how to handle his colleague, it appears that there are other prime ministers who might be able to help. David Cameron for one apparently distrusted Gove so much he developed his own protocol for managing his Chief Whip.

Elections are a busy period for most politicians – the time when they hit the streets of their constituencies, knock on doors and hand out thousands of leaflets – all in an attempt to keep their seats in the House of Commons. And while some undoubtably do work hard for every ballot slip, some MPs are inclined to exaggerate their own heroic efforts when it comes to winning a tightly-fought vote. It appeared that the Labour MP Jess Phillips may have fallen into that trap this afternoon, when she appeared on the BBC's Politics Live.

To the launch of the final volume of Charles Moore's biography of Margaret Thatcher at Banqueting House. A mix of cabinet ministers, government aides and hacks descended on the Policy Exchange bash to hear both Moore and Boris Johnson speak. With the climate change Extinction Rebellion protests shutting down Whitehall, a number of ministers arrived via an underground tunnel to minimise disruption. Taking to the stage to pay credit to his former boss Charles Moore for his work on the biography, the Prime Minister said that he had been advised against attending by his own team: 'I am afraid that the security people didn’t want me to come along tonight because they said the road was full of uncooperative crusties and protesters of all kinds littering the road.