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
Given that the first rule of spin doctoring is to never become the story, Seumas Milne hasn’t had a great few months. First Corbyn’s director of comms became the story after several Labour MPs blamed him for this month’s reshuffle shambles. Now, Milne is in the firing line over his links with Vladimir Putin. After
This week the Prime Minister warned that migrant spouses who fail language tests could be made to leave the UK. Alas David Cameron distracted from his message with two language gaffes this week which led Mr S to ask whether he should be deported. Now it appears the problem has spread, with members of the
During the Labour leadership election, Guardian readers complained that the paper’s Jeremy Corbyn coverage was worse than its coverage of the Vietnam war. The paper then launched an in-house investigation into the claims, concluding that while they could have taken Corbyn more seriously in the beginning, this had since been remedied. Now word reaches Steerpike that the
There was one infamous invoice missing from the Electoral Commission’s campaign spending data yesterday — that of the EdStone. Labour claimed that the missing invoice was simply down to an ‘administrative error’ rather than a reluctance for the public to know how much money was spent on the disastrous election gaffe. Happily Bloomberg News have
This week David Cameron has warned that migrant spouses who fail language tests could be made to leave the UK. While many have since accused the Prime Minister of stigmatising Muslim women over his call for immigrants to take language lessons, Mr S is more concerned that he is not au fait with the age-old adage that
Yesterday Crispin Blunt outed himself as a popper user as he voiced opposition to the government’s proposals to ban the legal drug as part of the psychoactive substances bill. While the ban went ahead regardless, Blunt did at least appear to inspire Michael Fabricant to give an equally candid confession, as well as leading Keith Vaz
‘I use poppers,’ Crispin Blunt declared this afternoon in the Commons as MPs gathered to voice opposition to the government’s proposals to ban the legal drug as part of the psychoactive substances bill: ‘I out myself as a popper user, and would be directly affected by this legislation and I’m astonished to find that it’s
On Monday MPs gathered in Westminster Hall to debate whether or not Donald Trump should be allowed to visit Britain, after over 500,000 Brits signed a petition calling for Trump to be banned from the UK. Ahead of the debate, the SNP’s Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh argued that Trump ought to be banned as otherwise ‘what we’re saying
Today the Electoral Commission have released the campaign expenditure returns of the six political parties that spent £250,000 or more on campaigning in the General Election. While the Conservative’s £15,587,956 campaign bill could be argued to be money well spent given their majority win, Labour have a bit more explaining to do it when it comes to
With Jeremy Corbyn’s approval rating currently at minus 39 according to yesterday’s YouGov poll, one could argue that there is little reason for cheer within Team Corbyn. However, the Labour leader can at least take heart that he has managed to prove more popular than one Labour heavyweight when it comes to football. While Corbyn is a regular at
Although David Cameron is said to be planning to scare the nation into staying in the EU, others in the in-camp think they can win voters over with the good. Britain Stronger in Europe have today sent out an optimistic press release revealing a key reason Britons ought to choose to remain in the EU: they can now
The Guardian set tongues wagging across Westminster in December when its editor Katharine Viner appointed two women to share the role of political editor. Although the paper’s chief political correspondent Nicholas Watt had been seen as the favourite to succeed Patrick Wintour, Sky News‘s Anushka Asthana and Observer economics editor Heather Stewart were offered the role
Since Sadiq Khan was elected as Labour’s mayoral candidate, he has made an effort to distance himself from Jeremy Corbyn. Although Khan was one of the Labour MPs to help Corbyn get onto the ballot, after Khan won the nomination he turned on the Labour leader — suggesting that Corbyn’s refusal to sing the National Anthem
Jeremy Corbyn’s interview on The Andrew Marr Show yesterday saw the Labour leader wax lyrical on the virtues of Trident submarines without warheads, discuss the prospect of peace talks with ISIS, and ponder a deal with Argentina over the Falklands. While he also discussed housing and the junior doctor strike, his more divisive comments have
When David Cameron was photographed scoffing Pringles on an Easy Jet flight over the summer, he became the subject of much mockery online. However, there was one woman who fiercely leapt to his defence, arguing that he deserved better than a budget snack on a budget airline. ‘David Cameron deserves official jet,’ Fiona Phillips declared in the Mirror.
It’s not been a good week for the Corbynistas of North London. First Lord Watts took aim at them for their taste in pastries during his maiden speech in the upper house. The Labour peer said that the party leadership should take less notice of ‘the London-centric hard left political class who sit around in
A number of Labour MPs have become increasingly riled with Jeremy Corbyn this week over the much-delayed Beckett report on Labour’s General Election loss. Despite calls from Dan Jarvis and Caroline Flint for Margaret Beckett’s investigation into the reasons Labour lost the election to be published, Corbyn has so far refused even though he has
Dawn Butler was one of the Labour MPs who helped to get Jeremy Corbyn onto the ballot paper in the Labour leadership race. While Butler ultimately wanted Andy Burnham to be leader, she has been supportive of Corbyn since his election. Alas Butler now appears to be struggling when it comes to getting to grips
Although Quentin Letts has made it clear that his new novel The Speaker’s Wife is fictional, the satirical tome has set tongues-wagging in Westminster. Chris Bryant wrote in his Guardian review that ‘the person who is most recognisable from today’s Westminster’ is the novel’s clerk of the house — Sir Roger Richards — ‘whose real-life counterpart Sir
Although it may have seemed as though the majority of MPs had enough on their plates over Christmas with floods, revenge reshuffles and the war on terror, it turns out that they also had time to edit a magazine. This week’s edition of the women’s weekly Stylist is ‘made by politicians’. The issue includes a recipe for cinnamon buns