Steerpike

Oh dear. With Theresa May in Brussels today for the EU Council summit, Remain campaigners have been keen to do what they can to undermine her latest Brexit efforts. In that vein, Vince Cable held a meeting with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) on Brexit today. The Liberal Democrats subsequently issued a press release announcing that 'liberal prime ministers from eight EU countries' had publicly backed Cable's call for a vote on any Brexit deal: Only that appeared to come as a surprise to those listed. The ALDE were quick to rebuff the claims – stating that while they regret the Brexit vote, they respect the result and the Article 50 process. Cable's side have since suggested it was a 'verbal agreement' between the leaders.

This week the main political news in Labour has revolved around a hat. Rather than the Brexit transition period or Russian aggression, the issue that has kept the Corbynistas busy is whether or not Jeremy Corbyn's hat was photoshopped on Newsnight. This was the claim made by Owen Jones on the show – when he accused the BBC of photoshopping a hat to make him look like a 'Soviet stooge'. Since then the claim has gone viral – with Guido reporting a social media reach of over 2 million – despite repeated denials by the BBC. It's also handily worked as a dead hat strategy – successfully distracting from Corbyn's misjudged comments on Russia. However, it seems that Owen Jones’ claim really was fake news. Channel 4's Fact Check has looked into the story.

Oh dear. How best to stop a row over the terms for fishermen in the Brexit transition period escalating into a rebellion? Well, don't send in Julian Smith for one. After the Scottish Conservatives saw red over the decision to keep the United Kingdom in the Commons Fisheries Policy during the Brexit implementation period, the Chief Whip summoned Tory MPs to see him. However, rather than soothe concerns, it appears he made a bad situation worse. PoliticsHome reports that Smith told them to accept Theresa May's Brexit transition deal because 'it's not like the fishermen are going to vote Labour'. Someone had best introduce Smith to the SNP...

Martin Selmayr's brilliantly engineered coup earned him a lofty promotion in Brussels, but ahead of his rise to Secretary-General of the European Commission it seems Selmayr was busy boosting his credentials for the top job. Between Christmas and New Year, when most people were taking time out to enjoy the festivities, Selmayr dabbled in a spot of late-night editing on Wikipedia. The German news magazine, Der Spiegel, unearthed some particularly interesting edits to Martin Selmayr's page: So what changes were made? The person responsible for the edits... ...added that Selmayr has 'consistently denied' leaking details about the Brexit negotiations.   ...

Jeremy Corbyn's reaction this week to the poisoning of a former Russian double agent on British soil has re-opened old wounds within the Labour party. The Labour leader's apparent refusal to condemn Moscow involvement was made worse when his spokesman Seumas Milne appeared to cast doubt on the analysis by British intelligence agencies – suggesting that 'there’s a history in relation to WMD and intelligence which is problematic to put it mildly’. Since then, key Corbyn ally Chris Williamson has branded Labour MPs who back Theresa May's stance on Russia – rather than Corbyn's – as ‘political enemies'. So who’s saying what and which MPs are considering a break with Corbyn?

Although Theresa May has earned a reputation for being robotic and predictable, today she did something that took almost everyone by surprise. On a visit to Salisbury in the wake of the poisoning of a Russian double agent, May met with locals. When one put out their fist to greet her, May went in for a fist bump: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsUHDIoklWg Perhaps there's hope for the Maybot yet...

During the EU referendum, there was a fierce rivalry not just between Leave and Remain but between the two groups campaigning for Brexit. It's safe to say there was little love lost between Vote Leave – fronted by Boris Johnson and Michael Gove – and Leave.EU which relied heavily on Nigel Farage. So, which side swung the vote? According to Steve Bannon – President Trump's former adviser – it was all down to Farage. In an interview with Spectator USA, Bannon says that Brexit was down to two things: the website Breitbart London and... Nigel Farage. ‘Brexit would not have happened if Breitbart London had not started,’ he claims, referring to the UK edition of his website which was launched in 2014.

Oh dear. Although the Labour party has tried to put on a united front since the snap election, the party remains divided when it comes to Jeremy Corbyn. So, Mr S was intrigued to hear Kerry McCarthy – the Labour MP and former shadow cabinet member – speak frankly about her preference on Labour leaders. Asked on Pienaar's Politics which Labour leader – out of Tony Blair and Jeremy Corbyn – she would like to be stuck an island with, McCarthy said... Blair: JP: Kerry McCarthy, who would you choose to be marooned with – Tony Blair or Jeremy Corbyn? KM: Oh God... hmm... I would probably actually go for Tony Blair... neither would be my ideal choice. To add insult to injury, she then said Gordon Brown would be better than Blair.

It's safe to say that Jeremy Corbyn's response to Theresa May's statement on Russia has divided opinion this afternoon. The Prime Minister confirmed to the House that a military-grade nerve agent of a type developed by Russia was used to poison Sergei Skirpal, the former Russian double agent. She concluded that this meant it was either a direct act by the Russian State or the Russian government had lost control of this potentially catastrophically damaging nerve agent. So, what did Corbyn have to say on the matter? Well, the Labour leader was keen to use the opportunity to criticise the Tories for being too close to Russia.