Steerpike

As MPs begin to drift back to their constituencies this afternoon, there's one MP who’s definitely not finished the year on a high. Labour MP Fiona Onasanya was found guilty yesterday of perverting the course of justice, after a court found that she had lied to police about speeding and using her mobile phone to avoid getting points on her driving license. Obviously being found guilty of a serious offence while being an elected representative would prompt some soul searching, but Onasanya has come up with a rather novel interpretation of what the judgment means for her.

The House of Commons has descended into farce after PMQs this afternoon, following allegations that Jeremy Corbyn muttered under his breath that Theresa May was a stupid woman. The Speaker, John Bercow, responding to a point of order made after PMQs, said that as he did not see Corbyn's utterance take place, he would take no action against him. But, confirmed that 'individuals that are found to have made unwelcome remarks should apologise.' In response, Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons then skewered Bercow by asking him why: 'When an opposition member found that you [Bercow] had called me a 'stupid woman' you did not apologise in this chamber?' Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

As we get closer to Brexit day in March and the campaigners for a second referendum begin to gain momentum, tensions are starting to run seriously high in the Westminster village. But the most recent spat between two MPs might just be the most remarkable sign yet of how fraught relations have become between Remainers and Leavers. On Sky News, Labour MP and second referendum supporter Anna Turley locked horns with Conservative MP David TC Davies about the impact no deal Brexit would have on the country's economy. As the two sparred over which economic forecasts by the Treasury should be taken more seriously, Davies - unable to get a word in - took the unusual step of declaring that he would look at his phone while he waited for Turley to finish.

Oh dear. Theresa May has had a wretched time at the EU Council summit – not helped by the face Jean-Claude Juncker appeared to take a personal swipe at the Prime Minister by calling her nebulous. The pair clashed this morning over the apparent comments. Now the European Commission President has attempted to smooth things over. Only Mr S suspects he may have done the opposite. Asked in his press conference, what the pair said to one another when May confronted him, Juncker said they 'were not dancing' in reference to Theresa May's 'Dancing Queen' days. He insisted he did not mean that May was 'nebulous' – the comment was directed at UK Parliament in general. As for now? 'She was kissing me,' Juncker added, bizarrely. https://twitter.

As the Conservative Party continued to battle this evening over the survival of Theresa May, Her Majesty's Opposition had the easiest job in the world. All they had to do was watch the carnage unfold without slipping up themselves. But that might have been too much to ask for some this evening. Reacting to the news that Theresa May had lost the confidence of 117 of her MPs, was Labour's shadow chancellor John McDonnell. He expressed deep shock that Theresa May had lost the support of over a third of her parliamentary party: https://twitter.com/johnmcdonnellMP/status/1072961182221377536 Mr S certainly thinks he has a point. But the red-book wielding shadow chancellor should perhaps apply the lesson to his own side.