Steerpike

The Liberal Democrats' track record with female party activists has suffered in recent years after Lord Rennard was accused of sexual harassment. While the party have done their best since then to deal with the claims against the Lib Dem peer, they now face accusations of 'gendered abuse'. Steerpike understands that one of the party's rising stars has stepped down from her role on the Federal Executive -- the governing board of the Liberal Democrats -- claiming that the party is not currently a safe place for women of colour. Kavya Kaushik has written a post on her personal blog explaining her reasons for quitting the party.

David Cameron has been accused of adopting a 'Project Fear' approach as he tries to convince members of the public to remain in the EU. While this tactic has attracted criticism, take heart that the Prime Minister has at least refrained from adopting the Emma Thompson approach of being plain rude. During a press conference for her new film Alone in Berlin, Thompson was asked about the upcoming referendum. At which point the Nanny McPhee actress took a swipe at old Blighty for being a 'cake-filled misery-laden grey old island': 'A tiny little cloud-bolted, rainy corner of sort-of Europe, a cake-filled misery-laden grey old island.' As for the right approach to remaining in the EU?

With Parliament in recess, David Cameron is able to use this week to focus on the upcoming EU referendum. To do this, the Prime Minister was scheduled to visit Brussels tomorrow morning where he would appear at the EU Conference of Presidents. Alas it appears that Cameron has now had a change of heart about the event which would have seen him come face to face with his old foe Nigel Farage. The Ukip leader says that although he received official documentation confirming he would meet Cameron at tomorrow's event, he has now heard that Cameron may not attend: https://twitter.com/Nigel_Farage/status/699212961068535808 https://twitter.

This month saw the release of Rosa Prince's biography of Jeremy Corbyn. While Corbyn refused to assist the former Daily Telegraph hack with the unauthorised tome, Prince spoke to a number of his close friends and family for Comrade Corbyn. While the book depicts Corbyn as a kind hard-working man, it also includes a number of previously unpublished stories including the claim that Corbyn 'showed off' a naked Diane Abbott to his Labour friends back in his youth. However, Corbyn has not taken kindly to Prince's work. In an interview with the Islington Tribune, Corbyn has hit out at the author, accusing her of a lack of courtesy: 'I’m pleased she notes my politeness. I wish she had shown the same politeness to me. She might care to adopt that characteristic herself.

When Seumas Milne -- the Guardian associate editor and columnist -- was hired as Jeremy Corbyn's director of communications, Labour released a statement in which they made it clear that Milne would remain on 'indefinite leave' from the paper while he worked for the party. The arrangement raised eyebrows at the paper and proved to be a point of contention as Milne has made it clear that he takes issue with the Guardian's political coverage. Now it appears that things are coming to a head. The Times reports that senior executives at the Guardian are to urge Milne to step down from his role. They want him to take voluntary redundancy, as they seek to make 100 journalists redundant in a savings strategy.

Ruth Davidson has been previously tipped as a front-runner in the Tory leadership race. The Scottish Conservative leader has proved popular with both the public and her own party, with the Tory MP Heidi Allen even naming Davidson as her preferred choice for leader in an interview last year. Alas, those hoping that Davidson has what it takes to stop George Osborne's leadership ambitions becoming a reality, will need to have a strong word with the woman of the moment. Speaking on Daily Politics, Davidson ruled herself out of the race. She said that she has 'no interest in the job' -- pointing to the fact that she isn't even an MP: https://twitter.com/daily_politics/status/697035070427652097 Happily her colleague Jacob Rees-Mogg is already trying to change her mind.

Last night politicians and celebrities dined with the super-rich at the annual Tory Black and White ball. While press are banned from the event, Mr S managed to infiltrate the lavish do and bring readers a live-blog of the event. Alas the evening saw a downturn in David Cameron's fortunes as his donors failed to dig as deep at the auction as in previous years. Despite this the guests appeared to have a good time.

When Samantha Cameron appeared on the BBC's Sport Relief bake-off last month, she managed to charm the nation -- with even the Daily Mail's Jan Moir singing her praises: 'Yes, she bakes like a dream and went on to beat the three other celebrity contestants to win her heat — but what was really important was that we saw a glimpse at last of what she’s really like: sweet, self-deprecating and warm.' Alas not everyone is so convinced that the David Cameron's wife is 'sweet, self-deprecating and warm'. In fact one woman -- by the name of Lynne Rees -- has written a letter to the Mail claiming that the reality is actually quite the opposite.