Steerpike

Today Chris Bryant has been the cause of much laughter in the Commons thanks to a joke about George Osborne and Coke. Discussing the Chancellor's new sugar tax, Bryant said that he was glad Osborne had come round to the dangers of coke: 'I'm delighted that finally the chancellor has realised the dangers of coke.' Bryant appeared to be referencing claims -- which Osborne denies -- surrounding his alleged friendship in the nineties with Natalie Rowe, the former dominatrix. Happily Rowe seemed amused by the joke: https://twitter.com/RealNatalieRowe/status/710463504717914112 Still, not everyone appears to see the funny side. The Financial Times' Jim Pickard reports that Bryant tried to get Jeremy Corbyn to use the joke yesterday: https://twitter.

Of all the pledges in George Osborne's budget announcement today, the most surprising appeared to be that of the sugar tax. As the tax was unexpected -- given that it has been heavily disputed in the past -- it will likely get top billing in the Budget coverage in tomorrow's papers. So, could there be more than meets the eye to the announcement? Given that there was plenty of bad economic news in the Budget -- with growth down and extra cuts announced -- the sugar tax conveniently distracts from some of the more negative news. While Mr S can't claim to be one of Osborne's closest confidantes, happily one such man appeared on the BBC to offer some insight into the decision.

In 2010, Ross Kemp appeared in a party political broadcast urging the public to vote for Labour in the General Election. In this, the EastEnders actor, who plays Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera, warned the nation against voting for David Cameron: 'It only takes around 60 seconds to cast your vote. 60 seconds to protect the economy, 60 seconds to protect your jobs, 60 seconds to protect the services your family relies on. And a lot is at stake during those 60 seconds, David Cameron and George Osborne would cut child credits and tax funds. They would put police numbers and schools at risk. With George Osborne at the helm, we would risk driving us straight back into recession by taking billions out of the economy at the wrong time.

Today's Mail claims that Michael Gove is 'clinging to office' as a result of accusations that he was the source of the Sun's 'Queen backs Brexit' story. So, in a bid to keep the pressure on the government over the alleged leak, Tom Watson was granted an urgent question today on the growing row. However, little was achieved in the session as Chris Grayling repeatedly refused to answer questions from angry MPs -- claiming that there was no case to answer as Nick Clegg has said that the story is false. Happily there was one noteworthy contribution thanks to the Beast of Bolsover.

With the Budget due next week, George Osborne appeared on the Andrew Marr show to warn of the need for further spending cuts. Keen to put forward an alternative vision for the UK economy, Labour's Treasury team have also taken to the airwaves this morning. John McDonnell told Marr of the need for more long-term investment, arguing that at least 3 per cent of GDP should be used for investment compared to Osborne's 1.4 per cent. Alas it seems that Labour's shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury had failed to catch this. When Seema Malhotra appeared on the Sunday Politics to help explain McDonnell's vision she appeared to lack knowledge of any of the specifics.

Lord Ashcroft is celebrating his 70th birthday at the Grosvenor House Hotel and Mr S is honoured to be one of the guests. William Hague, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Iain Duncan Smith, Penny Mordant and even Tom Watson are amongst the guests at perhaps the most lavish birthday party anyone will host in London this year. His 50th and 60th had people talking about them years afterwards, so no one expects his 70th to disappoint. There are actors hired to be paper boys, brandishing fake newspapers with headlines about the noble lord suing anyone who suggests he has turned 70. Ashcroft doesn't seem to mind self-mockery either. Blofeld, the cat-stroking Bond villain that he is often compared to, has been invited.

Although Alastair Campbell no longer works in politics, he remains a divisive figure in Westminster thanks to the reputation he earned as Tony Blair's spin doctor. During this time, Campbell is said to have been instrumental in using spin to win parliamentary approval for Blair's call to invade Iraq. Still, Campbell appears to think that it's about time people got over any ill-feelings towards him as a result of this. Speaking at Portland's Rising Stars party, Campbell gave a speech to the spin doctors of tomorrow.

Michael Crick's Channel 4 report into Tory election spending has led to an investigation by the Electoral Commission into the hotel bills and advertising bills the Conservatives failed to declare as election expenditure. So it's safe to say that Crick is unlikely to be the flavour of the month over at CCHQ. In fact Lord Feldman has so far ignored interview requests from Channel 4 when it comes to explaining his party's spending. So with Feldman not returning his calls, Crick saw his opportunity after he spied the Conservative Party chairman walking in the Westminster area. The story hungry hack sprinted after him, eventually catching Feldman for an awkward exchange. MC: Why don't you give a full explanation to us?

Although the EU referendum is supposed to be an issue which transcends party politics, the memo is yet to be received by Richard Burgon. Labour's blunder-prone shadow City minister managed to bother those on both sides of the House today thanks to his question on the EU. RB: If the British people vote to leave the European union, will the Prime Minister resign -- yes or no? DC: No https://twitter.com/daily_politics/status/707543898319552513 Given that Labour official backing the Remain camp, it's hard to see what good he hoped to achieve with this question given that he is supposed to share a common cause with Cameron. Perhaps for this reason, his words were met with looks of disdain from some of his fellow Labour MPs including Rachel Reeves: https://vine.

This week Yvette Cooper was taken to task by Nick Ferrari on LBC over her refugee pledge. Although the former Labour MP had declared that she would be happy to house refugees in her own property, it turns out that she hasn't actually done so: NF: Have you taken yours yet Yvette? YC: No that’s what I said, because the government has said... In the interest of fairness, Mr S thought it best to check in with another politician who had pledged to take in refugees. Step forward Nicola Sturgeon. Back in September, the SNP leader said she would be 'more than happy' to take in refugees into her own home. 'Yes, I would be absolutely happy to do that as part of a bigger, wider, organised approach.