Steerpike

Oh dear. This week Jeremy Corbyn claimed that Yanis Varoufakis would advise Labour in 'some capacity'. However, whatever capacity that will be, the message doesn't appear to have got through to Varoufakis. After a week in which the former Syriza MP and Greek finance minister has been made fun of by senior Tories over the arrangement, Varoufakis seems to be at pains to play down any such role. In an interview with CNBC, Varoufakis states that he is not advising Corbyn -- 'I'm a full time active politician. As such, I could not be advising another politician'. Instead he says he is just talking to 'anyone who wants to talk to me'.

This week Jeremy Corbyn provided the Tories with much comedy fodder after he announced that Syriza's Yanis Varoufakis would be advising Labour. It was then revealed that Varoufakis's old chum Paul Mason -- who is stepping down from his role as Channel 4's economics editor -- will also be helping the party -- contributing a lecture to Labour’s New Economics series. Osborne couldn't resist ridiculing John McDonnell over the appointments during Treasury questions.

Punch and Judy politics is clearly the mood of the moment in the House of Commons. Last week, David Cameron offered Corbyn some motherly advice on his dress sense, while a Tory MP heckled Jeremy Corbyn by yelling 'who are you?' during an EU debate. This morning, it was Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell's turn to be on the receiving end of some Chamber abuse. After trying to get the Government to withdraw its proposals over regulatory regimes for senior bankers, he sat back down but didn't quite get the answer he expected. Before Chief Secretary to the Treasury Greg Hands stepped up to reply, a Tory MP on the other side yelled out: 'Shut up your face'. Just what has got into MPs at Westminster over the last fortnight? The standard of insult seems to be going downhill quite rapidly.

Although the Tories currently find their party divided over Europe, they can at least take heart that the opposition face greater internal conflict. In fact, rather than attack Matthew Hancock in the Commons today over the Cabinet's Brexit issues, Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson opted to make a joke about his own party's misery: 'Mr Speaker sadly I am not in the strongest of positions to lecture the poor minister on handling splits in his own party.' Watson did at least manage to find time to take a small jab at the Conservatives.

This week Sarah Vine used her Daily Mail column to reveal the details of the roast lamb supper her husband Michael Gove used to plot a move to back Brexit with Boris Johnson. Now the Mayor of London's sister Rachel Johnson has gone one better and lifted the lid on her brother's subsequent Brexit deliberations. Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Rachel says that it was not at the dinner, but on the Saturday after that Boris finally made up his mind to support the Leave camp. She says that last weekend she found her brother in turmoil in an Oxfordshire farmhouse -- frying sausages and hammering at his laptop: 'Last Saturday I drove through the sleet to an Oxfordshire farmhouse at the end of a lane to try to change the course of history.

The week the Prime Minister and the Mayor of London have been at loggerheads over the EU. After Boris Johnson declared his support for Brexit, David Cameron launched a thinly veiled attack on him in the Commons. So, can expect to see a 'posh bloke' fight before the referendum takes place? https://twitter.com/Swannyg66/status/702179034994704385 Swann, the former international cricketer, asks if Johnson and Cameron will recreate the fight between the two posh public school boys in Bridget Jones's Diary when Daniel Cleaver -- played by Hugh Grant -- and Colin Firth's Mark Darcy take things outside. In case they don't, Mr S has visualised how it might look, as above.

Despite the In campaign's best efforts to reach the youth vote with the help of Britain Stronger in Europe board member June Sarpong, some youngsters still find themselves leaning towards Brexit. Both Liz Truss and Diane Abbott learnt this the hard way on last night's Question Time when a young audience member offered up her argument for leaving the EU. Responding to the Environment Secretary's claim that the Prime Minister's EU negotiation deal will reduce the 'pull factors' attracting migrants to Britain, Lexie Hill -- a 16-year-old schoolgirl -- explained why she disagreed: Audience member: I'm sorry but I can't accept Liz's arguments. What is increasing the living wage to £9-per-hour in 2020 going to do?

After Tory MPs took part in some 'Punch and Judy' style heckling on Monday, David Cameron was in no mood to tone things down during PMQs. The Prime Minister was asked by Jeremy Corbyn about health cuts in Cameron's constituency. At which point a heckler shouted 'ask your mother?' in reference to Mary Cameron signing an anti-cuts petition to Save Oxfordshire's Children's Centres. Cameron then responded by offering Corbyn the advice he expected his mother would give: 'I'll ask my mother. Oh I think I know what my mother would say, I think she'd look across the dispatch box and she'd say put on a proper suit, do up your tie and sing the national anthem.' https://vine.co/v/i6atuXAEjWW Corbyn didn't take well to the jibe.