Steerpike

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.

When Theresa May was snapped shopping in Waitrose last year, the Prime Minister was praised by the Telegraph for putting the politics of envy to one side by unapologetically shopping in the high-end supermarket. But is the real story that she was in a supermarket to begin with? Mr S only asks after Richard Burgon -- the Corbynista shadow justice secretary -- took to social media on Friday to 'reflect' on a trip to his local supermarket, Seacroft Tesco. One of Burgon's constituents was apparently rather surprised to see him in the shop.

On last night's Question Time, David Dimbleby chaired a panel -- comprised of Ruth Davidson, Lisa Nandy, Paul Nuttall, Len McCluskey and the IEA's Kate Andrews -- from Carlisle. With the Unite election underway, McCluskey -- who is standing for re-election -- tried to use his appearance to defend Labour's bad polling under Jeremy Corbyn, Explaining why his comrade had such bad popularity ratings, Red Len criticised the MSM (aka Mainstream Media) for creating a 'horrible horrible media barrier'. But the bigger problem, according to Len, is the PLP.