Steerpike

Today Amber Rudd is doing her bit for the In campaign with a speech in which she will warn the nation that UK energy costs could 'rocket' by £500 million a year if Britain were to vote to leave the European Union. The Energy and Climate Change Secretary will also claim that leaving the EU would mean that President Putin could raise the price of Russian gas and in turn cause energy chaos for Britain. To discuss the claims, Rudd -- whose brother Roland is the treasurer of the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign -- appeared on the Today show with Justin Webb. Unfortunately for Rudd, Webb had done his research when it came to her claims. He proceeded to take her to task over  the speech which he pointed out had a 'bit of a plague of frogs feeling to it'.

With the PLP more divided than ever today thanks to the discovery of Team Corbyn's 'hostile list' -- which ranks MPs in terms of the their loyalty to the leader -- tensions are high among Labour politicians. Now it appears that Team Hostile have decided to have some fun. 'Hostile' MP Jamie Reed claims to have 'uncovered' a new list which contains 'in-depth profiling' of the most anti-Corbyn Labour MPs. https://twitter.com/jreedmp/status/712694286639374336 While this list is clearly a spoof, it's alarming to see that MPs are now using their time to fuel in-fighting with playground-style pranks.

With the Conservatives currently experiencing inner party turmoil following Iain Duncan Smith's resignation over the Chancellor's Budget, there are concerns that in-fighting may soon overshadow the party's work. However, despite several backbenchers speaking out about their doubts in George Osborne's ability,  not every Tory is so fussed about the growing row. In an interview with Conservative Home, Nicholas Soames has offered his take on the situation. The Tory grandee says that Duncan Smith's resignation is simply an 'inconvenience' even though the media reaction suggests that there has 'been a coup by a black African dictator'.

With George Osborne's disastrous Budget the main topic of conversation today in the Chamber, Jeremy Corbyn surprised his colleagues by opting not to mention the Tories' current inner-party turmoil -- let alone Iain Duncan Smith's resignation -- in his speech. Instead it fell on his estranged comrades Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall to land some blows. Happily Dennis Skinner also joined in -- offering up one of his trademark one-liners. He asked David Cameron whether he would pledge to make this Budget Osborne's last: 'Will the Prime Minister give us an assurance that in the view of the financial mess that's been created with this Budget that this will be the Chancellor of Exchequer's last Budget? He's had eight already, only cats have nine lives.

Oh dear. Gareth Bennett may soon regret his decision to appear on today's Daily Politics. Bennett, who leads Ukip's regional list in South Wales Central, agreed to be interviewed on the show after he came under fire this week for blaming increased litter in Cardiff on East European migrants. During his appearance on the BBC show, Bennett was grilled by Andrew Neil on whether he had any evidence to back up his claims. Despite a lack of proof, Bennett showed no sign of backing down: AN: You said you think there's a hygiene problem, what is that hygiene problem?

Zac Goldsmith's campaign for mayor is nothing if not ambitious. Despite lagging behind Sadiq Khan in the polls, the Conservative candidate remains hopeful that he can beat the Labour candidate in the mayoral race. In fact, Goldsmith's team appear to be so confident that they are even going after individuals who are unlikely to be convinced to vote blue. Step forward Ken Livingstone. The former Labour mayor -- and hard-left socialist -- has been on the receiving end of campaign literature from the Goldsmith campaign: https://twitter.com/mikejoslin/status/710227415012921344 Mr S suspects Goldsmith will need a back-up plan, if he is counting on Livingstone's support.