Steerpike

Today hacks were briefed that Ukip would use a press conference to make a big campaign announcement. This led to some chatter that Paul Nuttall, the Ukip leader, would announce whether he would be seeking a seat in the upcoming election. However, it turned out that this was actually the very last thing Nuttall wished to discuss. So much so that he spent some time locked in a room hiding from hacks: https://twitter.com/MrHarryCole/status/856458420463030272 And then made a quick getaway by car: https://twitter.com/MrHarryCole/status/856461437258133504 Here's a tip for Nuttall that would serve him well in the future: expect to be asked questions at your own press launch.

Although children can't vote, Jeremy Corbyn today found time to visit Brentry and Henbury Children's Centre -- as he promised that a Labour government would put a stop to 'super-sized' school classes. Alas, this message was distracted from slightly thanks to the faces Corbyn pulled as he read Michael Rosen's We're Going on a Bear Hunt to the children. Captions in the comments.

Oh dear. Today Jeremy Corbyn kicked off Labour's general election campaign with a speech on his party's vision for a fairer society -- complaining that the current system was rigged. However, confusion over whether Labour would consider holding a second referendum, if elected, distracted from the message. Now Dawn Butler has dealt the party another blow with a disastrous interview on Radio 4's PM. The Labour MP appeared to be having a bad day as she blustered through the interview with Eddie Mair -- claiming this election was May's attempt at rigging democracy: 'Labour will make this country fairer and that's how they will overturn a rigged system. This election is Theresa May trying to rig democracy.

Yvette Cooper was the surprise star of PMQs today after she made the Prime Minister squirm with a stinging question about Theresa May's election U-turn: ‘The Prime Minister yesterday said she was calling a general election because Parliament was blocking Brexit. But three quarters of MPs and two thirds of the Lords voted for Article 50 – so that’s not true, is it. A month ago she told her official spokesman to rule out an early general election, and that wasn’t true either, was it. She wants us to believe she is a woman of her word. Isn’t the truth that we cannot believe a single word she says?’ While her words appeared to do the trick in the Chamber, Mr S can't help but wonder: is Cooper herself a woman of her word?

With Labour firmly on the back foot over Theresa May's call for a snap election, many MPs tonight used a meeting of the PLP to raise concerns over their prospects in an early election. So, surely the Corbynites are doing everything they can to help their comrades cling on? Well, perhaps not. Tonight Paul Mason -- the journalist-turned-left-wing-revolutionary -- appeared on Newsnight to discuss Labour's prospects in a snap election. Although Mason said he was confident that Labour would win an early election, he came across rather coy when it came to whether his own vote would go towards helping the party achieve victory.

This evening, Andy Burnham has whipped social media into a frenzy after the Labour MP decided to wade into 'barista-gate'. Following reports that the Home Secretary is considering plans for ‘barista visas’ -- which would allow young Europeans to work in the hospitality industry after Brexit -- Burnham has taken to Twitter to let it be known that he is unimpressed. The former shadow home secretary says the 'right-wing' policy is bizarre as 'God forbid the idea of waiting longer in the morning for their posh coffee'. https://twitter.com/andyburnhammp/status/854035829643255808 Alas (as tends to be the case with flip flop Burnham) the Labour candidate for Mayor of Greater Manchester's comments don't appear to be particularly well thought through.

As if Jeremy Corbyn wasn't already getting it from all sides on the home front, the beleaguered Labour leader has come under a fresh line of an attack from a former Bush aide: propping up Donald Trump. Yes, speaking on The Spectator Podcast, David Frum – senior editor at The Atlantic and former Bush administration staffer – accused the 21st century socialist of aiding Trump's influence on the UK government... by failing to provide an adequate opposition. He said that 'if Britain had a functioning opposition party...

With George Osborne set to start his new part-time job as editor of the Evening Standard next month, the former chancellor could be forgiven for taking things easy for now and just focussing on his two other big jobs -- as an advisor for Black Rock and the MP for Tatton. However, given that this is George - 'six jobs' - Osborne, it was never going to be the case. The latest register of interests shows that Osborne has been busying himself of late giving speeches in Britain, Europe and the Middle East. And how much money did he earn in the process? A cool £155,136 for just 11 and a half hours work: Still, these amounts may soon seem like small change when the next register reveals Osborne's Evening Standard salary...

Oh dear. Someone at The New European is about to have a very bad Easter break indeed. Although the pro-EU paper claims it is an advocate for unity and tolerance, it seems they hold no qualms about stirring up division in UK towns. In the press release for this week's issue of the newspaper, it's claimed that the cover story - which suggests Brexit could close down Skegness - presents a good opportunity to 'stir up some controversy locally'. The author goes on to muse that they 'don't suppose' they sell many copies in the seaside town: Sent out in error, brains at the paper have since sent out an amended press release without the commentary. Mr S suspects this blunder won't help boost sales of the paper in Skegness...

Oh dear. Today Jeremy Corbyn launched his new small business policy with a press conference at the Federation of Small Businesses. Alas things took a turn for the worse when the BBC's Mark Lobel attempted to ask the Labour leader about the situation in Syria: https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/851742140115726336 To dramatic effect, Corbyn walked out from behind his podium toward the reporter and snapped: 'I'm really sorry, this is a Federation of Small Business conference' -- before going on to claim his media team had let it be known there would be no questions on the issue during the presser. However, hacks at the event claim Corbyn's team were aware a question would be asked on Syria. So, was this conspiracy or cock-up?