Steerpike

Steerpike

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

What Westminster eats for lunch

From our UK edition

Dominic Raab has found himself the subject of much mockery today after one of his aides allegedly told an undercover reporter about his rather repetitious lunch habits: ‘He has the chicken Caesar and bacon baguette, superfruit pot and the vitamin volcano smoothie, every day. He is so weird. It’s the Dom Raab Special.’ Happily, Mr S's mole reports that he has not been put off – he was spotted back in Pret this lunchtime. Still, just so he is not alone – Mr S has reached out to MPs, ministers, SpAds and staffers to discover the eating habits of Westminster's big beasts: Sadiq Khan: The Mayor of London varies his lunches – in part because he is so often our about – but he always tries to have a fruit salad.

Has Diane Abbott forgotten her history of blunders?

From our UK edition

Diane Abbott is calling for Amber Rudd’s head over the Windrush scandal – but Mr Steerpike was somewhat taken aback by her line of attack against the Home Secretary. On BBC News, Abbott asked: ‘Who can have confidence in Amber Rudd to make far-reaching changes in the Home Office, if she doesn’t seem able to get basic facts right?’ But is she forgetting her own history of blunders? Take the time in the run-up to last year’s snap election when Abbott told LBC’s Nick Ferrari it would cost £300,000 to recruit ten thousand police officers: Or when she recounted listening to Enoch Powell’s speech in primary school; a speech given in 1968, when she was 14.

Gavin Williamson’s PR blitz

From our UK edition

Today's Sun reports that Cabinet ‘big beasts’ – Michael Gove, Amber Rudd and Gavin Williamson – are amassing 'huge war chests' as they line up leadership bids. Williamson is on £10,000 – behind both Rudd and Gove. Still, the ambitious Defence Secretary is making sure he is not outdone on other fronts. Williamson is down to give a 'wide-ranging' speech at next week's Institute of Economic Affairs bash – and then the following week will be a star guest at the Conservative Progress conference – an event stuffed with Tory activists. Well, with Gove lined up to advise not one, but three new Tory think tanks, Williamson still has work to do...

Dominic Raab’s lunch scandal

From our UK edition

Dominic Raab has awoken to a scandal relating to his team. The Daily Mirror reports that one of the Housing Minister's staff has been 'selling sex to sugar daddies'. While the paper refrains from identifying the staffer in question, it does publish their account of life working under Raab – and this is where the real scandal emerges. The woman in question has revealed Raab's lunch order: 'He has the chicken Caesar and bacon baguette, superfruit pot and the vitamin volcano smoothie, every day. He is so weird. It’s the Dom Raab Special.' Well, at least it's a more down to earth option than daily visits to Roux...

Jeremy Corbyn’s ‘positive and constructive’ anti-Semitism meeting

From our UK edition

Oh dear. On Tuesday evening, Jeremy Corbyn met with Jewish leaders to discuss his party's anti-Semitism problem. The meeting didn't sound as though it would be the most harmonious affair what with the Labour leader accused of not taking the concerns of the Jewish community seriously – and his decision to meet with the 'radical' fringe group Jewdas first. So, there was much relief when Corbyn issued a post-meeting statement heralding a 'positive and constructive' meeting: 'We will continue to engage and work with Jewish community organisations to deal with this issue. Our party will not fail our Jewish brothers and sisters.' Only, it seems the Jewish representatives at the meeting don't agree.

Watch: Donald Trump’s Macron power play

From our UK edition

Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron have a history of trying to upstage each other on the world stage. When the pair met in Paris last year, they subjected each other to a half-a-minute long handshake, with both determined not to be the first to let go of each other's hand. At the Nato summit, Macron famously swerved as he was walking towards Trump in an apparent snub. But with Trump now on home turf thanks to Macron visiting the President in the Oval Office just now, Trump appears to have finally got his revenge. First, Trump 'helped' his French counterpart – by apparently brushing some dandruff off Macron's shoulder. Trump brushes dandruff off Macron, calls him "perfect." 😳 pic.twitter.

EU commissioner: at least it’s not Jacob Rees-Mogg at the negotiating table

From our UK edition

Oh dear. As anxiety grows about the Theresa May's customs union stance, Jacob Rees-Mogg has this afternoon told hacks that the government's mooted customs partnership is 'completely cretinous'. The Moggster's tough talk will play out well among Brexiteers who fear May's own resolve has weakened in recent months. What will play out less well with the Brexit camp, however, is a comment made by a European commissioner appearing to make this very point.

Amber Rudd’s shopping misstep

From our UK edition

Amber Rudd is not having a good few weeks thanks to her department's shaky handling of the Windrush scandal. Now she's under fire on another front: shoes. The Financial Times reports that the Home Secretary told guests at a private business dinner this month that the post-Brexit registration scheme for EU nationals will be 'as easy to use as setting up an online account at LK Bennett'. Alas, L K Bennett does not pass the 'know the price of a pint of milk and you are in touch with the people' test – given that the pricy fashion chain sells shoes for over £200. But then again, what else would one expect from the 'aristocracy coordinator' of Four Weddings and a Funeral?

Ex-grammar school boy’s Julia Hartley-Brewer jibe

From our UK edition

Owen Jones triggered the MSM over the weekend when he took to social media to complain that too many journalists went to private school and were not representative of society at large. While Mr S directs the Guardian columnist to this article on representation at Jones's paper of choice, a number of hacks have risen to the bait. However, Steerpike is more interested in some of the curious responses. Julia Hartley-Brewer – the commentator – took to social media to say she had attended a comprehensive and got into Oxford university on merit. Surely a great achievement and one which the meritocracy-loving Left could get behind? https://twitter.com/JuliaHB1/status/987319155778088961 Apparently not.

Watch: Emily Thornberry booed on Question Time over Russia

From our UK edition

This week Question Time moved to Chesterfield with a panel comprised of Liz Truss, Emily Thornberry, Vince Cable, Nesrine Malik and LBC presenter Iain Dale. However, the talk that proved the most newsworthy related to international affairs. Discussing the government's strikes on Syria over an alleged chemical attack by the Assad regime, Thornberry suggested that the delay in inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) testing the site of the suspected chemical attack was the result of the United Nations and its 'red tape' – rather the Russian and Syrian governments not permitting their presence.

Boris and Gove find a common enemy

From our UK edition

After the EU referendum, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove were such a dream team that the pair looked destined to take the top two jobs in government. However, some political back-stabbing on Gove's part soon put an end to that friendship and, as history shows, paved the way for Theresa May to become Prime Minister. This week, the Windrush row has reminded the Conservatives the hard way of the problems with her appointment. As Fraser details in his Spectator cover piece, there's growing concern among Conservative Brexiteers that the problem with having a Remainer in No. 10 is that they ‘misread’ the referendum result and see it as a 'battle of ‘open’ vs ‘closed’ — seeking to control immigration is not the same thing as being anti-immigrant.

Michael Gove on manoeuvres

From our UK edition

When Liz Truss gave the keynote speech at the launch of new Conservative think tank Freer, one attendee mused to Mr S that they 'couldn’t help but wonder whether I was actually attending Truss’s leadership launch'. But if Truss is seen to be on manoeuvres as a result, then Michael Gove must be the on steroids version. The Environment Secretary is down to launch not one but two new Conservative think tanks. After taking on a role with Freer, Gove is now scheduled to give addresses at the launch next month of both the Centre for Policy Studies' New Generation project and former No 10-er Will Tanner's Onward.

Watch: Chris Williamson’s spat with Nicky Morgan

From our UK edition

Jeremy Corbyn has few defenders over his handling of Labour's anti-Semitism problem. But there is one man staying loyal to the Labour leader. Step forward, Chris Williamson. The Corbynite MP has just traded blows with Nicky Morgan over the matter. During the heated Sky News row, Morgan accused Williamson of 'chuntering away' while he watched PMQs. Williamson then responded by saying the Tory MP was trying to play 'party political football' with the issue of anti-Semitism, and suggested that right-wing trolls were responsible for some of the abuse blamed on lefties online.

Watch: Corbyn’s PMQs attack backfires spectacularly

From our UK edition

Theresa May should have been on the backfoot at PMQs today as a result of the Windrush scandal. But, somehow, Jeremy Corbyn still managed to ensure the Prime Minister got the upper hand. The Labour leader started off the session by going on the attack; unfortunately, for Corbyn, it backfired spectacularly: JC: Yesterday, we learned that in 2010, the Home Office destroyed landing cards for a generation of Commonwealth citizens, and so have told people: we can't find you in our system. Did the Prime Minister – the then-home secretary – sign off that decision? TM: No, the decision to destroy the landing cards was taken in 2009, under a Labour government. Oh dear...

Watch: Labour MP calls on party to give Ken the boot

From our UK edition

In ten days’ time, Ken Livingstone will have been suspended by the Labour party for two years for his comments about Hitler. For one Labour MP, enough is enough. During a debate in the Commons on anti-Semitism, Ian Austin called on Labour to finally boot Ken out of the party immediately: 'Let’s be really clear about this. Ken Livingstone claiming that Hitler was a zionist, this is anti-semitism pure and simple. It happened more than two years ago. There has been ample time to deal with it. It is a disgrace it hasn't been dealt with. Kick him out immediately.' Oh dear. Mr S isn't optimistic the Labour party will spring into action any time soon...

Watch: Stop the War protester – ‘Assad is a good man – he’s a doctor for heaven’s sake’

From our UK edition

After Theresa May authorised targeted military strikes in Syria without seeking Parliament's approval, the Prime Minister has received a mixed response. One group particularly angry about recent events are Stop the War. The anti-war campaign group – of which Jeremy Corbyn is a supporter – gathered this evening to demonstrate against the government response. Only Mr S isn't sure the demonstration will win everyone round to their way of thinking. In an interview with Paul Brand for ITV news, one attendee explains why Assad – whose regime is thought to be behind the chemical attack which sparked the recent turn of events – is a good man. After all, he is a doctor: PB: You believe Assad over Theresa May?

BBC’s car-crash television

From our UK edition

They say the term 'car crash TV' is over-used these days. However, Mr S is pretty sure a case of car crash television occurred this afternoon on BBC news. As a BBC correspondent reported from outside the drink-driving trial of Ant McPartlin – of Ant and Dec fame – a vehicle collision occurred. Well, that footage could come in useful...

Caroline Nokes’ bad day

From our UK edition

Oh to be a fly-in-the-wall at the Home Office today. The government department appears to be in a state of meltdown as Amber Rudd and her ministers attempt some damage limitation after it was revealed that a request by Commonwealth leaders to discuss the cases of the Windrush generation experiencing immigration issues with the Prime Minister had been turned down. In an interview with ITV news, Caroline Nokes – the Home Office minister – admitted to 'terrible mistakes' – suggesting that things were so bad that some Windrush immigrants may have even been wrongly deported: https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status/985846900644614145 She's changed her tune from yesterday...

Revealed: the truth about the latest NHS funding poll

From our UK edition

Last week there was an exclusive in the Times – widely followed up – revealing majority support for NHS-linked tax rises. 'For the first time in more than a decade, a majority of Britons say that they are personally willing to pay more to increase spending, according to the respected British Social Attitudes survey'. It followed this up by a leading article to this breakthrough, saying: 'Ministerial hearts may be gladdened, therefore, by a new poll published in The Times today. It suggests that 61 per cent voters back higher taxes to fund the health service, with 25 per cent saying that the government should raise existing taxes and 36 per cent supporting a new tax. A dedicated health tax would be difficult to get right, but it is a good idea.