Steerpike

After Isabel Oakeshott co-authored Call Me Dave with Lord Ashcroft, the former Sunday Times political editor became the scourge of the Cameroons thanks to a story involving the former prime minister and a pig. However, despite this, she made a return to Fleet Street as the Daily Mail's political editor-at-large. A year on (and after months of speculation) Oakeshott is on manoeuvres. The paper's political editor-at-large -- from Westminster to Ascot -- is departing the Mail to focus on her book writing: https://twitter.com/IsabelOakeshott/status/824564786444824578 While the new project is expected to cast a light on defence spending, the fact Oakeshott and Ashcroft are back in action will no doubt have Westminster politicos on red alert.

Oh dear. To describe today's Prime Minister's Questions as bad for Labour would be an understatement. After Jeremy Corbyn was put on the backfoot by Theresa May over the government's Brexit white paper, he was left lost for words as he stumbled around for questions. To make matters worse, he also managed to mess up an attempt to offer his condolences to the police officer 'who lost his life' in Northern Ireland. The snag? The police office in question is not dead. In truth, the police officer is alive after being shot in the arm. https://twitter.com/BBCNews/status/824232821531164672 It then fell on Nigel Dodds to correct Corbyn on his error. No doubt Corbyn was pleased to learn of his mistake.

Thanks to the Home Office's crackdown on hate crime, the Home Secretary recently found her conference speech officially recorded as a ‘hate incident’, after an Oxford University physics professor complained to the police that she was ‘picking on foreigners’. However, Mr S can't help but wonder if Amber Rudd will soon be joined by her former colleague David Cameron on the 'hate incident' list. In a speech at Davos, Cameron told the global elite how he tends to spend his days now he is no longer prime minister. The Mail on Sunday reports that Cameron said he had taken up shooting again -- with a specific focus on taking down 'Borises and Michaels': 'I have used the extra time to take up shooting again.

Is there something in the water at BBC broadcasting house? First Theresa May appears on Marr where she refuses to answer a question on Trident four times, then Diane Abbott comes up blank four times on Sunday Politics when asked about Labour's Brexit position. The shadow home secretary struggled as Andrew Neil asked her a series of questions regarding her party's position on exiting the European Union. Although Jeremy Corbyn previously suggested there would be a three-line whip on MPs to vote for Article 50, Abbott refused four times to say how the party will whip the vote.

When Seumas Milne first announced that he was joining Labour as Jeremy Corbyn's director of communications in 2015, it was made clear that he would not be exiting the Guardian for good. Instead -- in an arrangement that raised eyebrows in Westminster -- Milne would merely work for Corbyn while taking leave from his role as the paper's associate editor. Since then, there has been much talk about Milne's wish to return to the Grauniad. However, subsequent discussions on the topic failed to come to fruition over concerns from officials that a return as associate editor could cause issues with regards to the paper's editorial line. Now Milne has decided to quit the paper for good. Milne is leaving the Guardian to work permanently for the Labour leader.

Although Theresa May used her Brexit speech on Tuesday to emphasise to European leaders that she hoped for a close and mutually beneficial relationship between the UK and the EU, not everyone appears to have got the memo. Today Boris Johnson found himself in hot water after he warned Francois Hollande against trying to 'administer punishment beatings' in the manner of some 'world war two movie'. While Downing Street insist that the Foreign Secretary wasn't comparing the French President to a Nazi, several EU officials have since let their outrage over the WW2 jibe be known. While Labour's Wes Streeting has accused the Foreign Secretary of being crass, Johnson is also facing criticism from his own party. Step forward Sajid Javid.

Today Theresa May revealed her plan for 'a global Britain' in a speech at Lancaster House. While her words were well-received by her party and the media, not everyone is so convinced. Step forward Lily Allen. Yes, the pop singer -- who last year apologised 'on behalf of my country' on a visit to the Calais 'jungle' camp -- has taken to Twitter to offer her two cents' worth on May's proposals. Alas it's not good news. Allen says although a global Britain 'could b good' it might not happen as the 'world still hates us' because of... slavery. While many Europhiles and EU officials no doubt have plenty of reservations as to why Britain ought not to be a global player, Mr S suspects slavery is not on the list...

As Michael Gove does his bit for US-UK relations in The Times today with a Donald Trump interview on the positives of a quick trade deal, his former staff, too, are on manoeuvres to boost post-Brexit business. Mr S understands that Gove's former SpAd -- and Vote Leave adviser -- Henry Cook has joined Portland Communications as the PR firm's new Associate Director. Cook joins Victoria Dean's Brexit unit to offer advice to businesses on the opportunities the Leave vote presents. Given that Portland was once the home of New Labour -- and remains the scourge of the Corbynistas -- his arrival shows just how much the political landscape has changed.

With the deadline for the government's public consultation on press regulation now passed, Karen Bradley must decide whether or not to trigger Leveson 2. Should section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act be activated, any publication not signed up to Impress — the press regulator largely funded by Max Mosley — would have to pay all the costs in a libel case even if it successfully defends the claim. So, with that in mind, Mosley appeared on the Sunday Politics this morning to put forward the case for Impress. Alas things didn't get off to the best start when Andrew Neil began by asking where Impress's funding comes from.