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
Granted, it’s not another 40 horrors list but Mr Steerpike was struck by Paragraph 79 of the EU/UK Political Declaration: ‘The future relationship must ensure open and fair competition. Provisions to ensure this should cover state aid, competition, social and employment standards, environmental standards, climate change, and relevant tax matters, building on the level playing
Theresa May is in the Commons attempting to convince MPs to back her Brexit plan. But it isn’t going well. Iain Duncan Smith was particularly critical of the PM’s backstop blueprint, telling May that while he appreciated her efforts it wasn’t good enough. Here’s what he said: ‘For all of the effort and work, the
This week, Theresa May’s government teetered on the point of collapse over her proposed Brexit deal. The withdrawal agreement between the UK and Brussels led to Dominic Raab and Esther McVey resigning in protest. However, May’s remaining ministers have since attempted to rally around her at least in the short term. Speaking on Friday, Liam
One of the least popular MPs in the Conservative Party at the moment has to be Michael Gove. As the attempt to oust the PM gained pace late last week, Gove disappeared for the day, annoying those who wished him to remain loyal to May, and then refused to resign, annoying those who wished to
Clive Lewis is no stranger to controversy. The Labour MP was forced to apologise last year after he was caught on camera telling someone to ‘get on your knees b****’. Now, Lewis has surpassed himself, by appearing to pretend to shoot himself while sitting on the Labour frontbench in the House of Commons. The Corbynista
Brexiteers are trying to put on a brave face over the lack of 48 letters needed to trigger a confidence vote in the Prime Minister. Having begun the week certain that they would trigger a vote, they now claim they are giving May time to reconsider and they may move in December. So, what’s the
It’s been a rough start to the week for Brexiteers in the ERG, as they failed to reach 48 no confidence letters over the weekend, and are now being forced to explain why their coup (sorry, ‘democratic process within the Conservative party’) against Theresa May has been such a disaster. It was Nadine Dorries’ turn
The Brexit bunch’s bid to oust Theresa May has fallen rather flat, at least for the time being. Having failed to muster enough letters to force a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister, the European Research Group now appears to be desperately backtracking. Jacob Rees-Mogg, who enjoyed the limelight at an impromptu press
Oh dear. Theresa May’s confidence and supply agreement with the DUP is on very thin ice – if not already dead – after the party’s MPs abstained on a range of amendments to the finance bill and even voted en masse for a Labour amendment. This is in breach of the party’s deal with the
Speaking on the Today programme this morning, Simon Clarke – the Tory Brexiteer who has filed a letter of ‘no confidence’ in the Prime Minister – declared that ‘this is the day we stand at the bar of history’. Clarke and his fellow Brexiteer plotters said that the full 48 letters required to trigger a
Is a deal better than no deal? After Mr S attempted to answer that question over the weekend by publishing 40 horrors lurking in the small print of Theresa May’s Brexit deal, No. 10 got in touch with 40 rebuttals to Steerpike’s 40 horrors. Still with us? Well, episode three of this series is finally
It’s the question that’s on everyone’s lips in Westminster this week: how many letters of no confidence have been sent to the chairman of the 1922 committee, Graham Brady? Only Brady knows how many letters there are, and he’s committed to not revealing to anybody (including his wife) what the running total is. This morning
Since he became leader in 2015, Jeremy Corbyn has not exactly cultivated a sense that he’s top of any political situation. But he reached new heights of incompetence when he was interviewed on Sky this morning. The Labour leader was asked by Sophy Ridge if he’d actually read the Prime Minister’s draft Withdrawal Agreement which was
Brexit is one of the most divisive issues in the UK – splitting friends, family and all the main political parties along Leave and Remain lines. But if you think you’ve had some bruising arguments about Brexit these past two years, spare a thought for one particularly political household. Chief Brexiteer Andrea Jenkyns has been
This week, Theresa May’s government teetered on the point of collapse over her proposed Brexit deal. The withdrawal agreement between the UK and Brussels led to Dominic Raab and Esther McVey resigning in protest. However, May’s remaining ministers have since attempted to rally around her at least in the short term. Speaking on Friday, Liam
Theresa May has just been doing her best to sell her Brexit plan to voters. But the Prime Minister’s pitch didn’t go down well with those calling into LBC. The PM’s first call came from a Tory councillor who urged her to stand down and let someone else negotiate with the European Union. And she
Nigel Farage was back on the airwaves today, and somewhat unsurprisingly, he was not a fan of Theresa May’s Brexit proposal. So much does he hate it in fact, that he told viewers: ‘There’s only one thing to do, when this, the worst deal in history, and that is to put it in the bin.
Rory Stewart has already been caught out claiming wrongly that 80 per cent of the public back Theresa May’s Brexit plan. Now another of the Prime Minister’s defenders has come unstuck while trying to support May’s withdrawal deal. Alan Duncan was asked whether the government had a problem if the majority of the public don’t
Theresa May’s supporters are resorting to some desperate measures to try and salvage the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal. Step forward, Rory Stewart. The prisons minister claimed just now on BBC 5 Live that 80 per cent of the British public support the deal. The only problem? He was making that number up. Stewart was quickly
My my. Tensions are flaring across this Conservative Party this morning, as the Tories tears themselves apart over Theresa May’s Brexit deal with the European Union. Scottish secretary David Mundell, who has come out in support of Theresa May’s deal, was being interviewed on ITV news this afternoon, and didn’t exactly pull his punches when
