Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike
From our UK edition
Tory MPs who have backed a softer Brexit or Remain have had an acrimonious relationship with their local Conservative associations as of late, with one MP already deciding to quit their local party following threats of deselection. Last night, it was the turn of the former attorney general and Remain supporter Dominic Grieve to face
From our UK edition
The Independent Group of pro-Remain MPs announced this morning that they would be officially forming a political party so they are ready to fight in potential upcoming European elections. The group also made the surprising decision, after only being formed for one month, to announce a new leader and adopt a new name: Change UK.
From our UK edition
Last night, before the results of the indicative votes were announced, MPs voted on a Statutory Instrument which aimed to change the date of Brexit in domestic law. As you’d expect for a vote of such importance, a three-line-whip was placed on all Tory MPs to support the secondary legislation, and to prevent a ‘clash’
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After MPs failed to reach a conclusion last night on their preferred Brexit outcome, and Theresa May’s own strategy stalled without an endorsement from the DUP, it’s looking increasingly likely that Britain will end up extending Article 50 and participating in European elections in May Already Brexiteers are gearing up for the fight, as a
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David Lidington found himself briefly trending on Twitter over the weekend after reports began to circulate that May’s de facto deputy was being talked up as a caretaker prime minister. The idea was that Lidington – a former Europe minister who voted Remain – could step in for May and act as a unifying leader
From our UK edition
For the first time in living memory, MPs seized control of the parliamentary timetable today, in order to hold a series of indicative votes to work out parliament’s preferred Brexit outcome. As expected, the constitutional upheaval precipitated by Oliver Letwin has provoked a fair amount of controversy in the House of Commons, with MPs opposing
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Tories beware – Jeremy Corbyn is in ‘training for power’. But the Labour leader isn’t readying himself for Downing Street by ensuring his party finally makes up its mind on Brexit. Instead, he is going on long runs, according to a Corbynista fan site with close links to the Labour leader’s office. Skwawkbox reports that
From our UK edition
After the chaos in the voting lobbies two weeks ago, when ministers claimed to not know they’d rebelled against the government, the Conservative whips were taking no chances ahead of yesterday’s crunch vote. MPs were warned early on which motions they should support, and as soon as Oliver Letwin’s amendment was passed, a quick-fire email
From our UK edition
This evening MPs voted to take back control, as they backed an amendment tabled by Oliver Letwin to seize control of the parliamentary timetable on Wednesday in order to hold a series of indicative Brexit votes. And while some in the Chamber were clearly happy to see parliament flex its muscles against the government, others
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It seems that the editors of the New York Times will print any nonsense about Britain — the British live on mutton and oatmeal! — so long as it confirms their prejudices about Brexit. ‘With nothing meaningful to say about our future, we’ve retreated into the falsehoods of the past, painting over the absence of certainty at our
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Ever since MPs first voted to trigger Article 50 everyone has been told that Britain, by law, will be leaving the EU on 29 March. And if that date was ever to change, then Parliament would have to vote for it to change. That’s the British constitution which can be summed up in eight words: ‘What
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In these divided times the politics of centrist parties is all about building connections and crossing divides, so what better flyer design for a by-election in Newport, Wales than a local bridge? Unfortunately for the anti-Brexit Renew party, the bridge they chose for their election flyer was the Claiborne Pell Bridge in Newport… Rhode Island,
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With Theresa May’s premiership on the ropes, there’s an expectation of a Tory leadership contest later this year. It follows that Conservative heavyweights are currently working their hardest to lay the groundwork for a future campaign. In that vein, the latest register of interests shows that rivals Boris Johnson, Dominic Raab, Amber Rudd and Michael
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Oh dear, it seems as if the pressure placed on John Bercow after he blocked a third meaningful vote on May’s Brexit deal, may have gotten to the Speaker’s head as of late. In the Chamber today, Bercow appeared visibly angry when he apparently spied an MP behaving in a partisan way, and launched into
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It’s not just the government who have been caught by surprise at Bercow’s vote announcement yesterday, it raised eyebrows in Germany too. The German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted this morning ‘I must confess I was not familiar with the rules of order of the British parliament from the 17th century’. Of course, Mr S, a
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As Westminster descended into chaos last night, with the Speaker’s announcement that he would block Theresa May’s meaningful vote, and with only eleven days until Brexit, where else would politicos be except the British Kebab Awards – which celebrate all that is good about the humble kebab shop. There was a serious moment at the
From our UK edition
Today, the Speaker John Bercow dealt a harsh blow to the government’s Brexit strategy after announcing that he would block a third vote on Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement, unless it changed in a substantial way. Not content though with just one attack on the government, the Speaker also found time to launch a dig at
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Where is Fiona Onasanya, and will she fight to remain as an MP? This has been the question on everyone’s lips ever since the courts rejected the former Labour MP’s appeal against conviction for perverting the course of justice. Onasanya has been spotted in the voting lobbies since the decision — possibly becoming the first ever
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Only last night, it was reported that Tory rebels – including a former cabinet minister – were refusing to back May’s Brexit deal unless she promised to resign. Well it seems like they may have moved up their schedule. This morning, a removal van was spotted parked at the back of 10 Downing Street: Mr S
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Leo Varadkar is meeting Donald Trump today but the Irish Taoiseach’s bid to drum up a trade deal between the EU and the United States has just backfired spectacularly. In their televised chat in the Oval Office, Varadkar told Trump: ‘I look forward to talking to you…about trade, and how much I would like to see a
