Steerpike

Oh dear. The first rule of political plotting: tell no-one, or at least tell very few. So it was a curious move of the Hackney branch of Momentum to write-up and publish online everything they discussed at Wednesday night's meeting about the upcoming election. Activists for Momentum -- the pro-Corbyn grassroots campaign group -- have come up with an interesting plan to boost Corbyn's polling. They suggest Corbynistas to 'bet a tenner' on 'Labour to get the most seats or Corbyn to be the next PM' as this will mean the 'odds will shorten and the narrative will begin to change'. Just don't expect to get your money back...

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?

They say a picture can paint a thousand words. So, it was a curious decision by Guardian columnist Owen Jones to wear a £1,080 jacket while discussing the 'crisis of capitalism' in an interview with GQ. Discussing the path to true socialism in a wide-ranging interview with Alastair Campbell, Jones rallies against inequality and Tory cuts: 'With the crash, the problem is a lot of social democratic parties accepted or implemented cuts. Spain, Greece - you saw a collapse in support.' Jones -- a former Corbyn cheerleader -- goes on to say that he always harboured doubts about Jeremy Corbyn's suitability as a leader: AC: Did you ever think he [Corbyn] could win a general election and be prime minister?

Oh dear. Last week the Times reported that brains at the Grauniad are pondering moving the paper’s offices back to Manchester in an attempt to save money. Although Mr S heralded the move the paper's best idea in decades, not everyone agrees. While Steerpike was sure the paper’s leading columnists would jump at the chance to up sticks and experience the Brexit divide first hand (and discover what led many to vote Leave in Greater Manchester), it seems the staff take a different view. Writing in the Guardian over the weekend, Peter Preston has poured cold water on the idea -- suggesting a return to Manchester would achieve very little: 'Industry wisdom would hold that all of Britain isn’t a big enough market in a digital world.

Diane Abbott suggested last year that some voters backed Brexit because they wanted to see 'less foreign-looking people on their streets'. On Question Time yesterday, she finally got her comeuppance. A furious Leave supporter took her to task on the show by asking her whether she had any remorse for her remarks. The audience member told her: ‘You say you respect the will of the people, but do you have any remorse or any apologies to make for the disgusting lie you made against me and millions of innocent people that voted Leave - that because they voted Leave, they don't like the look of foreign people and must be racist or a xenophobe.

This week Nick Robinson set the cat among the pigeons when he claimed that the BBC no longer has a duty to ‘broadly balance’ the views of Remain and Leave in its Brexit reports now that the EU referendum is over. However, many have questioned Robinson's so-called  'due impartiality' -- with 70 Eurosceptic MPs previously signing a letter accusing the BBC of a biased and ‘pessimistic’ view. But could the gloomy tone really be down to a sense of Brexit guilt? Mr S only asks after coming across Simon Jenkins' column in the Guardian on the monoculture at the BBC.