Steerpike

So far, Labour's by-election defeat in Copeland has been blamed on everything from Tony Blair to a lack of Labour voters owning cars. However, on last night's Question Time, Dawn Butler came up with an excuse even Mr S hadn't heard before. Discussing the by-election which saw Labour lose the one-time safe seat to the Tories, the MP for Brent Central explained to David Dimbleby that she hadn't actually been able to go up to campaign as she... gets car sick: DB: I didn't go to Copeland as I suffer from car sickness and I heard the roads are really bad. But I did a lot of phone... DD: That doesn't sound like a warrior... DB: I didn't think I'd be much good to them getting there all green and sick. DD: Don't you ever go by car any distance?

On your first day as a spin doctor for the opposition there are a few things that you probably shouldn't do. Near the top of that list is going to the pub and asking a Muslim journalist if they are an Al Qaeda supporter. But that's what Steve Howell did on Monday after starting his job as Jeremy Corbyn's new deputy director of communications. Seumas Milne took his new colleague -- and one-time Straight Left comrade -- to the Red Lion for a post-work drink. Alas it proved to be a bit more dramatic than planned when guests from the Fabian Society's 'What now for Syria?' Commons event flocked in.

Last week Mr S revealed that Jeremy Corbyn and Seumas Milne had come up with affectionate nicknames for one another. The Labour leader refers to his director of strategy and communications as TGM, which stands for 'The Great Milne'. Meanwhile, Milne in turn refers to his boss as TSL -- 'The Supreme Leader', natch. So, what of the rest of their colleagues? Well, it turns out that Corbyn has a penchant for acronyms and abbreviations -- referring to Emily Thornberry as 'ET'. Only going to confirm Mr S's suspicions that Team Corbyn really are living on another planet...

Although Keir Starmer refuses to say whether he harbours ambitions to be Labour leader, the shadow Brexit secretary did do his best to dazzle hacks this afternoon as the guest of honour at today's press gallery lunch. Alas while Starmer was full of charm for the hacks, he was less willing to wax lyrical about the current Labour leadership. Referring to the Copeland by-election defeat, he said the loss was 'really serious' and could not just be blames on bad weather and New Labour: 'The timing of this lunch could not be better from my point of view and you're probably thinking that's because it's five days after Copeland and Stoke and I'll get lots of questions about how my 17,000 majority is now reclassified as a long term marginal seat.

Oh dear. Although Paul Mason has taken to the airwaves this morning to suggest that Scottish independence would be a good thing, it had been thought that comrade Jeremy Corbyn was still on the side of the unionists. So, Mr S was curious to hear the Labour lead thank the SNP in his speech at today's Scottish Labour party conference. Referring to plans for a new Scottish Labour policy to increase child benefit, Corbyn confused delegates by thanking 'our SNPs': 'I’m delighted Scottish Labour announced a new policy to use powers of Scottish Parliament to increase child benefit, which will lift thousands of Scottish children out of poverty. Well done Scottish Labour and well done our SNPs... our MSPs for keeping that up.

Labour is doing its share of soul searching this morning following its disastrous defeat in the Copeland by-election. There are many reasons being put forward for why the Tories were able to snatch the seat from Labour. But Emily Thornberry thinks she knows exactly why Labour lost: fake news. Lady Nugee suggested that the ‘big worry’ about the future of the Sellafield nuclear power plant was the decisive factor in voters abandoning Labour.

After John Bercow announced in the House of Commons that he would block any calls for President Trump to speak in Westminster Hall on his forthcoming state visit, there was an outcry from Conservative MPs who accused the Speaker of grandstanding. Given that Bercow failed to consult the Speaker of the Lords and President Trump has never even expressed an interest in speaking before Parliament, they appeared to have a point. So, when James Duddridge, the Tory MP, tabled a motion of no confidence ahead of recess, there was much chatter that the Speaker could be on the way out. Expectations were later reduced somewhat, with Conservative sources predicting that around 150 MPs would come out against Bercow. Alas that too appears to have been an optimistic estimate.

As the House of Lords begins to debate the government's Article 50 bill, Baroness Chakrabarti appears to have used the week before to relax and recharge. Eye Spy MP reports that Shami was spied in the Grosvenor Hotel with a glass of fizz. https://twitter.com/eyespymp/status/833701426203344896 Unkind souls have suggested she was drinking champagne while parliament was sitting. But Mr S would like to defend her honour: champagne is clearly a drink Baroness Chakrabarti reserves for drinking during parliamentary recess. It's good to see Jeremy Corbyn's team are doing what they can to brush off the party's metropolitan elite image.