Steerpike

As the Brexit vote looms closer, the whips are on a hunt for MPs. Not so much to discover how they'll be voting, though, but to find the owner of a lost ring. A message went out to MPs from their whips this morning saying that 'a silver ring with the inscription "forever best friends" has been found in the toilet in the voting lobby'. Mr S wonders what sort of an MP has a 'forever best friend' - and whether the ring was in fact discarded after the forever friendship was shattered by Brexit tensions. There are more than enough candidates for that...

It's no secret in Westminster that Philip Hammond’s idea of the best Brexit possible is one that keeps Britain close to the EU. The Chancellor spent the last year issuing dire prophecies about the impact of a hard Brexit and his Treasury forecasts have become infamous for spelling out the doom and gloom of no deal. But are Hammond’s Project Fear warnings catching on? Mr Steerpike can reveal, after the Treasury released documents under the Freedom of Information Act, that Hammond met with several business bigwigs last year, only for them to issue similarly dire Brexit assessments shortly afterwards.

At the end of last year Labour MP Fiona Onasanya was convicted of perverting the course of justice, after lying to police about a speeding charge. She has since been suspended from the Labour party but will remain the MP for Peterborough unless she is recalled or sentenced to longer than one year in jail. In response to the verdict, Onasanya had what we might call an unusual reaction. In messages to colleagues the MP compared her plight to that of Jesus and Moses and in a newspaper column, vowed to carry on fighting as an independent MP, promising to fight this 'botched Brexit deal': 'This is why I have continued to scrutinise this botched Brexit deal: a deal that does not take back control, nor provide industry, business, and left behind communities with confidence.

John Bercow ditched Parliamentary precedent when he allowed a vote to take place on Dominic Grieve's Brexit amendment yesterday. His decision caused uproar among Tory MPs, but Bercow defended the decision by saying that precedent didn't count for everything when it comes to setting the rules in the Commons. He told MPs: ‘I am not in the business of invoking precedent, nor am I under any obligation to do so. I think the hon. Gentleman will know that it is the long-established practice of this House that the Speaker in the Chair makes judgments upon the selection of amendments and that those judgments are not questioned by Members of the House. I am clear in my mind that I have taken the right course of action.

Britain’s foreign aid department was on the defensive this week, following a Mail on Sunday article casting scorn on the decision to spend £200 million in aid on Bangladesh, after the violent and possibly rigged spectacle of the country's election at the end of last year. In a blistering response, the Department for International Development (DfID), called out the Mail’s headline, which it said was ‘factually inaccurate’ and said that ‘No UK aid was given to the Government of Bangladesh, the Bangladeshi Election Commission or any Bangladeshi political parties for this election.’ But while it may be true that the department has not given money directly to the Bangladeshi government, has the department been disingenuous in its denial?

Will Straw hasn’t had much joy when it comes to politics. In 2015, Straw tried – and failed – to follow in his father’s footsteps by becoming a Labour MP, losing out to his Tory rival Jake Berry in Rossendale and Darwen. A year later, Straw’s luck hadn’t improved: in his role as executive director of Britain Stronger in Europe, he led the official Remain campaign to defeat in the EU referendum. But now, it seems, Straw may have finally found the recipe for winning. In an article in the Guardian under the headline ‘I was part of the remain campaign. Here’s how to win a people’s vote’, Straw offer some tips on how a People’s Vote can triumph if there is a second referendum. Mr S.

After months of controversy, James Graham’s new Brexit drama finally aired tonight, portraying the bitterly fought campaign to win the Brexit referendum. Defying the expectations of many, the show has been praised for its reasonably accurate portrayal of events, and for striking a balanced tone between Leavers and Remainers. But as is normal when a drama is based on real-life, as the closing credits rolled viewers could easily be left wondering: how much of what took place was real, and how much was wrong, exaggerated or distorted?

With Theresa May promising MPs that she will not lead the party into another election (so long as it's not imminent), the race is on to be her successor. Numerous ministers have been accused of being on manouvres in recent weeks – and playing up to the Tory base. One such politician is Jeremy Hunt. The Foreign Secretary has been burnishing his newfound Brexiteer credentials of late – something that ought to appeal to the eurosceptic Tory membership. On a trip to Singapore, Hunt heaped praise on the country’s economic model, and suggested that Britain could learn lessons from it after 29 March. Hunt's rivals, meanwhile, are quick to snipe that such efforts are insincere given that he used to be Remain.

Jeremy Corbyn has a message for the people of Milton Keynes: I condemn you. The Labour leader delivered his criticism at an event in 2011 after voters in the town booted out pro-Palestinian Labour MP Phyllis Starkey. He told the audience: ‘I condemn the people of Milton Keynes for the mistakes that they made in the May election but they will have a chance for (sic) correct their mistakes hopefully in the very near future.’ https://twitter.com/TheGolem_/status/1080886732701253633?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Unfortunately at the two general elections since Corbyn made his comments, the people of Milton Keynes failed to learn their lesson by twice electing two Tory MPs.

2018 has hardly been a year which has inspired faith in our political class. From the bungled Brexit negotiations to botched resignations, at every turn our elected representatives have managed to outdo themselves in bids to prove how useless they can be. Nowhere has this been more apparent than in the numerous political interviews viewers and listeners have been subjected to. To see off the year, and to remind readers of how bad things were, Mr Steerpike has rounded up the ten worst (or best) interviews of 2018: 1. Alastair Campbell caught out  Following the 'People's Vote' march in October, Remainer-in-chief Alastair Campbell was in a triumphant mood. After all, when so many people had marched in favour of a second Brexit referendum, how could any government ignore them now?

With Theresa May’s Brexit agreement set to return to the Commons in January, rumour had it that the government - increasingly desperate to convince Brexiteer MPs to support the deal - was considering doling out knighthoods and honours to get them to change their mind. Lo and behold, the New Year’s honours list for 2019 was announced yesterday. Just two MPs were nominated for knighthoods at the start of the year, one of which was arch-Eurosceptic and vociferous opponent of May’s deal, John Redwood, for political and public service.

Oh dear. Fiona Onasanya's 2018 didn't go exactly as she would have hoped with the Labour MP found guilty of perverting the course of justice, after a court found that she had lied to police about speeding to avoid putting points on her driving license. Despite the Labour whip being withdrawn, Onasanya has since compared herself to Jesus and hinted that she may continue on as an MP regardless. So, Mr S was curious to read Onasanya's review of the year for her local paper, the Peterborough Telegraph. In the article, Onasanya looks back at the big events of 'an incredibly busy, and sometimes fractious year in the House of Commons' – Brexit, universal credit and 'drastic cuts' to the local area: Curiously Onasanya doesn't find space to mention her own problems.

After chairing his last ever episode of Question Time, David Dimbleby today guest-edited the Today programme. While there were a range of interviews and special guests, it was Dimbleby's own appearance which piqued Mr S's interest. The BBC broadcaster managed to come to verbal blows with regular host John Humphrys after Humphrys suggested Dimbleby was quite posh during a discussion on the monarchy. https://twitter.com/BBCr4today/status/1076422121981661184 Dimbleby's reply? DD: I'm sorry, there was a total sneer in that question – 'you're quite posh'. I'm about as posh as you are. I come from Wales as you do. I'm not posh, I happen to have been a broadcaster for a long time. JH: You had a very distinguished father? DD: Well, that doesn't make me posh! I had a distinguished father.

In a dramatic end to the year, the Labour MP Fiona Onasanya was found guilty on Wednesday of perverting the course of justice, after a court found that she had lied to police about speeding to avoid putting points on her driving license. Bizarrely, the MP has since compared herself to Jesus and Moses, and hinted that she may continue on as an MP even though she has had the Labour whip withdrawn. But even if Onasanya is not the Messiah, she will still need God on her side in the new year, when she returns to court to be sentenced for her crimes. There, a judge will have the difficult task of weighing up whether the honourable Member for Peterborough deserves to go to jail - Onasanya potentially faces a prison term of up to four years.

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.