Steerpike

Does Prime Minister Keir Starmer understand the difference between fact and fiction? Mr S isn't so sure – after the Labour leader referred to the new Netflix series Adolescence as a documentary for the, er, second time. Either Sir Keir is ignorant about what exactly the show is – which, given he has referred to it multiple times before, would be rather baffling – or the PM has missed the point that the series is not actually real. It's hardly a good look… Speaking about toxic behaviour in young men, the Prime Minister spoke primly to a roundtable on Monday about the lessons that can be learned from Adolescence. 'What can we do as a society to stop and prevent young boys being dragged into this whirlpool of hatred and misogyny?

How do you achieve anything in British politics? It's simple: turn your cause into a TV drama. First, it was ITV's Mr Bates vs the Post Office. Now, it is Netflix and Adolescence. The release of the crime drama mini-series has sparked a veritable hue-and-cry about the urgent 'crisis' facing young British males. Keir Starmer proudly told the House last week that he has been watching it with his children; now the Prime Minister is encouraging schools across the country to show it to their pupils too. Netflix bosses must be delighted with all this free advertising... Given the litany of crises facing the country, Steerpike wondered if the streaming giant could now be compelled to turn its attention to other matters. Maybe a wistful paean to the joys of having a virgin steel industry?

Zut alors. The trial of the decade is concluding in France today, with major ramifications for the next presidential election in 2027. This morning Marine Le Pen and eight MEPs were found guilty of misappropriation of public funds. The case revolved around the alleged embezzlement of EU funds to pay RN staff for party work. Talk about being good Europeans!The RN leader was found to have misappropriated €474,000, in particular for the contracts of her bodyguard, Thierry Légier, and her former parliamentary attaché, Catherine Griset. Sentencing at the court in Paris will occur later today, with Le Pen potentially barred from holding public office for the next five years.

It’s the new rule of British politics: if you’re going to quit, do it on a Friday. Labour has had something of a bumpy first nine months in office. Sue Gray was out within 94 days – and now others are following her out the door too. This morning, Matthew Doyle, the No. 10 director of communications, announced he was standing down from the role. While there had been much talk of a ‘just stop Doyle’ movement within some Labour circles, the ex Blair aide had earned credit among many senior staff for his four years of service at Keir Starmer’s side.  Doyle’s role is to be split between former Sunday Times hack James Lyons, who will be responsible for communications strategy, and longtime Labour apparatchik Steph Driver, who will run delivery.

Talk about a belated Ides of March. It was less than 100 days before Keir Starmer sacked his first No. 10 Chief of Staff Sue Gray. To console the lifelong civil servant, Sir Keir rewarded her with a peerage, enabling her to spend the rest of her days making laws on the benches of the Upper House. And it seems that the noble Baroness of Tottenham has wasted no time in making the most of her new-found privileges, judging by her maiden speech in the Lords today. Gray offered an unashamed defence of ‘the Blob’ in her remarks before the House today, telling fellow peers that ‘When we hear the phrases of blobs, pen pushers, axes, chainsaws and other implements, they hear it too… we need them and other public servants to succeed.

Oh dear. It seems that some Labour ministers are in desperate need of some media training. First, there was Seema Malhotra mixing up the inflation rate with interest rates. Now, Darren Jones – Rachel Reeves' No. 2 – has managed to put his foot in it on her proposed benefit cuts. Appearing on Politics Live this lunchtime, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury was asked about the government's newly-published impact assessment. It says that there will be an additional quarter of a million people – including 50,000 children – in relative poverty in 2029/30 as a result of its welfare changes. Host Jo Coburn asked Jones for the justification for someone on Personal Independence Payments (PIP) losing £4,500 a year.

Ding ding ding! To the latest round of political infighting, involving Reform UK and its former MP Rupert Lowe. The independent report commissioned by Nigel Farage's party into the suspended politician has been released today – and, for Lowe, its conclusions won't make for comfortable reading… The 13-page report describe the complaints of bullying and misconduct alleged to have taken place in Lowe's office. After interviewing two female staff who lodged complaints against the office of the now-Independent MP, Jacqueline Perry KC concluded that Lowe 'seems to have failed or been unwilling to address' the concerns of the complainants and the 'alleged toxic culture' of his staff.

Tick tock. There are less than 48 hours to go until Rachel Reeves's big Spring Statement on Wednesday and as the Treasury finalises its preparations for the big reveal, YouGov has been running some tax-related tests of its own. In a blow for the reds, the polling company has found that it is becoming more difficult for the Labour lot to blame the Tories for its tax and spend decisions – with an increasing number of people seeing Sir Keir Starmer's government as responsible for tough tax calls. In a survey conducted between the 18-19 March, YouGov found that 80 per cent of Brits say UK finances are in a bad state.

To Buckingham, for a blast of soundness at the annual Margaret Thatcher conference. Star of the show was David Frost, the guest speaker at last night's dinner. And the Tory peer has certainly been brushing up on his political bon mots, judging by his lines to the 200 attendees. Frost compared the ‘amateurish farrago’ of Labour’s early days in office to his own attempts at ‘assembling Ikea furniture. I sort of get everything out of the box, chuck away the instructions, try and put it all together, and then when it's all a bit of a mess, turn to my wife and say, “Well, where's the plan?”’ Keir Starmer, he joked, is the ‘human equivalent of one of those terms and conditions… irritating, verbose, boring, and with something rather unpleasant hidden down in the verbiage.

For years now, Mr S has been covering the long-running farce that is China's proposed new 'super-embassy'. Back in 2018, Beijing bought the site of the old Royal Mint, declaring their intention to turn the Tower Hamlets location into the country’s largest diplomatic mission in Europe. But for the past seven years, various planning concerns have held up the development. For one thing, there's the fact that that Tower Hamlets is almost 40 per cent Muslim: Beijing does not exactly have a good record on Uighur Muslims, given its appalling crackdown in Xinjiang.