Steerpike

Steerpike

Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

Tuesday

Steerpike

Boris Johnson refuses to apologise for his President Erdogan poem

Back in May, Boris Johnson was awarded first prize in the Spectator's 'President Erdogan Offensive Poetry competition', for the following poem: There was a young fellow from Ankara Who was a terrific wankerer Till he sowed his wild oats With the help of a goat But he didn’t even stop to thankera. Fast forward a few months, and Boris - as Foreign Secretary - now finds himself in Turkey, on a diplomatic mission. And given that President Erdogan isn't exactly renowned for his sense of humour - or his love of a free press - Mr S did wonder whether the Foreign Secretary might be coming under diplomatic pressure to renounce his poem. Thankfully, though, it seems that Boris is made of sterner stuff.

Steerpike

John Woodcock has the last laugh on Trident

On Monday, it was the shadow Defence Secretary rather than the shadow Chancellor who made the biggest splash with their speech. Alas it was for the wrong reason -- Clive Lewis had his speech changed at last minute by Seumas Milne to remove a pledge that Labour 'would not seek to change' its support for the renewal of Trident. Since then there has been much confusion over who in the party thinks what. While Corbyn's office changed the speech -- leading Lewis to allegedly punch a wall -- the shadow Defence Secretary has since told the Guardian that he 'won’t be coming back to conference between now and the next election to try to undo the policy we have on Trident as things stand'.

Monday

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Watch: John McDonnell’s disastrous Newsnight interview

It's been a long day for John McDonnell. On top of making his conference speech, the Shadow Chancellor has spoken at fringe events and given several interviews. So, perhaps that's why his appearance on Monday's Newsnight didn't go quite to plan. In the interview with Evan Davis, McDonnell failed to shine as he put forward a rather confused vision for his party. Although he insisted that Labour were ready to govern, he also admitted that the party was not in a position to share its policy on tax -- instead saying it should remain 'roughly the same as it is' -- immigration or Trident.

Steerpike

Falkland Islands’ pitch to Jeremy Corbyn falls on deaf ears

In a crowded field, one of Jeremy Corbyn’s more controversial suggestions during his time as Labour leader has been putting forward the idea of a ‘power sharing deal’ with Argentina over the Falkland Islands. That plan was called a ‘repugnant surrender’ by war hero Simon Weston, while Michael Fallon said Corbyn posed a bigger threat to the Falklands than the Argentine navy. Yet that hasn’t put off the Falkland Islands Government from turning up at Labour’s party conference this year with a stall. Alas, it seems, the Falkland Island Government’s hopes of speaking to Corbyn have so far fallen on deaf ears.

Steerpike

Matt Hancock struggles to play it straight with radio speech

As Labour MPs and members alike turn on one another at their annual conference, the Conservatives get on with their work. So, spare a thought for Matt Hancock who was attempting to do just this at today's Radio Festival when he encountered and unusual -- if eye-catching -- obstacle. While giving a speech at the event, the culture minister faced a screen malfunction. Rather than have his speech appear on the autocue, two words appeared before him: 'cock gobbler' https://twitter.com/patrickfoster2/status/780366802316656640 While Hancock managed to get through the speech, he then cracked and revealed to the audience the view before him. Mr S suspects that one staffer at the event will be laughing very hard.

Sunday

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WATCH: Tristram Hunt lays into Corbyn at Progress rally

Well that didn't last long. After Jeremy Corbyn was re-elected as Labour leader on Saturday, Corbyn sceptic MPs appeared to put their differences to one side as they took to the airwaves to claim that Corbyn could be Prime Minister. At tonight's Progress rally at conference, that facade was lifted. MPs including Liz Kendall and Ian Murray took to the stand to vow that they would not be pushed out of the party as they slammed the threat of deselection. However, it was Tristram Hunt's speech that caught Mr S's attention.

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Reason for cheer at Momentum’s rival conference

While the mood at Labour Conference is notably low this year, across town at Momentum's 'The World Transformed' festival the crowd can be described as buzzing. Although Mr S's taxi driver dropped him off while remarking that after the leadership result 'the Monster Raving Loony party has as much chance of winning power as Labour', the attendees at the Momentum event are in a jubilant mood now their leader has been returned. Well-to-do socialists are spending the day splashing out on 'Tories are vermin' mugs, reading the Morning Star and giving out leaflets explaining that the Jewish Labour Movement has 'used the charge of anti-Semitism to attack the new movement'.

Steerpike

Derek Hatton makes a return to Labour conference

Earlier this month, Derek Hatton told Mr S of his dismay after the former deputy leader of Liverpool Council’s application to attend this year's Labour conference was denied. Although he had just wanted to attend in the capacity of a journalist, the former Militant member -- who was expelled from Labour 29 years ago -- was told this was not possible: ‘The Liverpool Echo asked me to write a conference diary but I was told two weeks ago the application had been declined. It wasn’t even for a political journal – it was for the Liverpool Echo. It’s not surprising though with the way the party are excluding people at the moment.’ Now with Corbyn's mandate increased it seems times are a'changing.

Steerpike

Alan Duncan struggles to preserve his modesty

In the EU referendum campaign, Alan Duncan penned a piece for the Telegraph entitled ‘why this lifelong Eurosceptic is now voting to stay in’. In this, the Conservative MP explained the heartfelt reasons he backed Remain. Alas, these were later placed in doubt when Vote Leave's Matthew Elliott claimed that Duncan had met with him prior to as for a position on their board and then plumped for the In camp after his request was refused. Now it turns out that Duncan's interactions with the Remain camp weren't all plain-sailing either. In an extract in the Mail on Sunday from Craig Oliver's new book on the EU referendum Unleashing Demons, David Cameron's former director of communications reveals the statement Duncan drafted -- and suggested No.

Friday

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Cameron’s old chum appointed UK Ambassador to France

Although David Cameron's political career took a nose dive after the EU referendum result, he has been doing his best to ensure that his old chums don't too badly out of the situation. Take for example, Ed Llewellyn -- Cameron's former Chief of Staff. As well as being given a peerage in Cameron's resignation honours, Llewellyn has been appointed her Majesty’s Ambassador to France. While it had been previously reported that Cameron was lining up his mate for the plum job, the news has been confirmed today with a statement from Boris Johnson: 'Ed Llewellyn is hugely well qualified for this post and I look forward to working with him. He has served his country in Bosnia and Hong Kong and has extensive experience of Europe.

Steerpike

George Osborne warns that he won’t ‘fumble’ his next leadership bid

Well, that didn’t take long. George Osborne has had dinner with the FT and the write-up shows him as ambitious as ever. Having never held down a job outside of politics, the former Chancellor isn’t looking for one now. 'I am not going anywhere,' he said, 'I want to see what happens next.' It seems he is angling for Christine Lagarde’s job at the IMF, but the most striking quote is about his leadership ambitions: 'Asked about a possible return to the front line, Mr Osborne adopted — with a twist — a phrase used by Mr Johnson in 2013 to deflect questions about his prime ministerial intentions: 'If the ball came loose at the back of the scrum, I wouldn’t fumble it,' Mr Osborne, 45, said.' Mr S wonders if Osborne has realised what has just happened.

Thursday

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Oxford’s Rhodes Must Fall co-founder in hot water again – ‘I should have whipped that white student’

Earlier this year, Oxford’s Rhodes Must Fall co-founder Ntokozo Qwabe made the news after he revelled in making a waitress shed ‘white tears' at a restaurant in Cape Town. The incident occurred after his friend wrote a note to the waitress explaining they would only tip her when she ‘returned the land’. Since then, the Oxford law student has completed his studies in Britain and returned to South Africa. However, time has not been a healer. Qwabe has hit the headlines in South Africa after he and his fellow activists disrupted a law lecture at the University of Cape Town. Qwabe hit a smartphone out of the hand of a 'white student' after the student in question started filming: https://twitter.

Wednesday

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Green Party struggles to get to grips with its minimum wage

It's difficult being a Lefty. You come up with principled positions and stances and then people expect you to stand by them. So, spare a thought for Caroline Lucas. Although the Green Party has campaigned for a £10 per hour minimum wage, today the Green MP's team placed a job advert looking for a press assistant for the not-so-princely sum of £9.23 per hour. https://twitter.com/MitchellAT/status/778192445792194560 When brains at Green HQ clocked the error of their ways -- apparently down to an admin error -- they came up with a simple work over.

Steerpike

Why is Nate Silver on his high horse over Trump – again?

A few years ago, the pollster Nate Silver wrote a best-selling book saying (in effect) that political pundits talk rot and that only data-armed policy analysts like him could be relied on to know what was going on. He'd based his reputation on the 2012 US election, whose results he predicted. YouGov predicted it too, but Silver has a greater gift for self-publicity. His theory was later placed in doubt when he failed to predict the result of the UK General Election in a BBC documentary -- which later mysteriously disappeared. Despite this, he continues to encourage epigones in Britain, who can (and still do) come out with columns attacking folk for their inferior, prejudice-driven analysis. Today, Nate Silver is at it again -- over Trump: https://twitter.

Steerpike

John Bercow on sleeping arrangements in the Speaker’s House

To describe John Bercow and his wife Sally's marriage as colourful, could be seen to be an understatement. The Speaker's wife has regularly made the news, just last year hitting the headlines after she temporarily left her husband to be with his cousin. So, Mr S was intrigued to learn that Bercow offered guests at the launch of Margaret Hodge's latest book It's Impossible a rundown of his sleeping arrangement. Held at the Speaker's House, Bercow used his speech to give a history of the property -- and the beds.

Steerpike

‘I voted for Owen Smith,’ says Jeremy Corbyn’s ex-wife

Last summer as Corbyn-mania swept the country, the MP for Islington North's appeal proved so far-reaching that even his ex-wife had high praise for him. Ahead of the election result, Professor Jane Chapman -- who was married to the Labour leader between 1974 and 1979 -- told the Daily Mail that her former husband had her vote as he had 'really shaken politics in this country' -- pulling in bigger crowds than Tony Blair. Alas, what a difference a year makes. Today Corbyn's first wife has appeared on 5 Live to announce that she voted for Owen Smith rather than Corbyn.

Tuesday

Steerpike

Revealed: Danny Finkelstein was David Cameron’s stenographer

There’s a great scoop in The Times today. A political columnist, former chief leader writer of a national newspaper was, unbeknown to readers, acting as David Cameron’s chief stenographer for six years. In his columns he’d present himself as a former Tory official, retired and out of action. Full of self-deprecating anecdotes about what happened back in the day when he was working for William Hague. What he failed to disclose was that, in between writing opinion pieces for his newspaper and acting as its Executive Editor, he was scurrying off to Downing Street to take dictation for the Prime Minister on a monthly basis. He recorded Cameron’s ramblings, hoping a to use them for a memoir for which the PM is keen to bag a million quid.

Steerpike

Teddy Bears for Corbyn: What is your toy’s mandate?

This week there has been a mix of excitement and dread in Labour circles over the announcement of the Momentum Kids initiative. The grassroots group are launching a children's wing, which will allow protest-minded parents a time out to join the struggle while their children get their revolutionary juices flowing. While Momentum supporters have defended the venture from allegations of brainwashing, Mr S was intrigued to read about one of its first events. Set to take place this Sunday at the World Transformed festival, there will be a 'Teddy Bear Mandate' session: 'Bring your favourite toy to the party where we will imagine the party it might join and lead, and what it stands for.

Monday

Steerpike

Jeremy Corbyn takes the biscuit on Mumsnet

Any Britain politician of note will at some point in their career face the question: what is your favourite biscuit? While David Cameron opted for oatcakes, Gordon Brown had to take a recess to consider his options -- before returning to say that anything with 'a bit of chocolate' would suffice. Today it was Jeremy Corbyn's turn to step up to the plate. Although the question was inevitable, the Labour leader showed little enthusiasm for any type of biscuit. Instead, he launched into a lecture on the danger of sugar: 'I'm totally anti-sugar on health grounds, so eat very few biscuits, but if forced to accept one, it's always a pleasure to have a shortbread.' Alas, Mr S doesn't quite buy this. After all if Corbyn has such an issue with sugar, how does he make all that jam?

Steerpike

Eddie Izzard gives hope to the New European

As Brexiteers begin to worry that Theresa May could be leaning towards a soft Brexit, a number of Remain-ers are keen to make sure that Brexit doesn't occur at all. The latest issue of the New European -- the pro-Remain newspaper -- claims that these die-hard  Europhiles now need a figurehead to lead the charge. So, who could be the person for the job? It turns out that they reckon a candidate who has supported six lost causes and counting might be the man for the job. Step forward Eddie Izzard. The comedian turned campaigner appears on the front of the paper in a striking image that appears to be a cross between Barack Obama's Hope and Che Guevara's revolution.