Steerpike

David Davis has caused a stir this afternoon after he sent a letter to Tory MPs claiming the Conservatives 'will lose the next election' if Theresa May continues with Chequers. The former Brexit Secretary claims the consequences will be 'dire'. Although Mr S suspects this is not what No 10 would have had in mind for the first day back after the recess, Downing Street can take heart that Davis's rhetoric appears to have actually softened slightly. Back in June, Davis warned the Brexit inner Cabinet that if Britain is under the backstop at the time of the next election not only would the Tories suffer defeat – it would be a landslide 1997-style defeat. Next thing you know, Theresa May's Brexit plans will mean a hung Parliament...

Just last week Donald Tusk took to social media to claim that the EU's offer to the UK a 'Canada+++' deal was a mark of respect. Only the EU council leader failed to find space in his tweet to make clear that this offer only applied to Great Britain – not Northern Ireland. Now it's Jean-Claude Juncker's turn to show how he pays the UK respect. In a speech to the Committee of the Regions, the European Commission president appeared to do his best impression of Theresa May's Dancing Queen turn at conference: https://twitter.com/JamesCrisp6/status/1049283494004903936 Stay classy Brussels.

Is Jeremy Wright the new David Cameron? By that, Mr S does not mean to suggest that Wright is the man to go on to win a majority for the Tories at the next general election. Instead, Steerpike's concern relates to football. During Cameron's time in No 10, there was a running joke that despite his claims to the contrary, Dave wasn't much of a football fan. Despite claiming he was an Aston Villa fan, Cameron later said he supported West Ham United. The new Culture Secretary is showing signs of suffering from a similar condition. In an interview with Sophy Ridge this morning, Wright said that he was particularly enjoying the sports element of his new brief. He went on to say that Liverpool was his football team.

When it emerged over the summer that Jeremy Corbyn had attended a ceremony which commemorated the deaths of several terrorists linked to the 1972 Munich massacre, Labour were very annoyed at how newspapers covered the event. The media has seriously misrepresented what went on, they complained, while they dithered over whether Jeremy (pictured) had ever held a wreath. In an unusual step, the party showed how seriously they took the allegations by complaining to the press regulator, Ipso, about the coverage. But it appears that, despite their protests (and despite promising at Labour conference to hold the media to account) the issue has since slipped off their agenda. The Guardian reports today that the hapless officials missed the deadline to respond to Ipso about the complaint.

Anyone lusting after a McChicken sandwich will be left disappointed today, as McDonald's employees go on strike to protest against low pay. As they man the McBarricades, they will be heartened to see veteran filmmaker and Corbyn devotee Ken Loach’s film team, Sixteen Films, come out strongly in favour of the strike. They urged Loach’s followers on social media to watch a video about the protest and retweeted several messages of solidarity and support. Mr S wonders though if they know about their own boss’s chequered past when it comes to McDonald's. After all, the director has been happy to take money from the fast food giant when it suits.

Choosing a warm-up act to introduce a big speech is a delicate balancing act. Pick someone too woeful and the crowd is deflated before you’ve even begun. But pick someone too impressive, and your own efforts begin to pale in comparison. Theresa May came perilously close to the latter this afternoon, when she asked her Attorney General Geoffrey Cox QC to introduce her conference speech. Conservative members, the cabinet and watching hacks were left agape as Cox’s booming baritone voice echoed across the hall in a robust defence of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union. Cox was quickly dubbed ‘Mufasa’ and ‘Gandalf’ by those watching. Mr S thinks the video speaks for itself though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

Boris Johnson’s speech attracted the largest crowd of any conference fringe event. But does Boris have the backing of party members? Mr Steerpike spoke to some activists to see what they made of the speech: Phoebe McCullough, 21, from Twickenham, a student at Sterling university, had this to say: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGmUZHsbnV0 John Bennet, 23, from Sterling, said he thought Boris's speech was the highlight of Tory party conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmVY7BifwgM Adrian Hutson, from Belfast, said he thought Boris had fluffed some of his lines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmp4sxFxOG8 But while many were supportive of Boris, not everyone was convinced by his calls to unite behind the Prime Minister.