Steerpike

Labour has found itself on the verge of a civil war today as a number of MPs have turned on their dear leader over his Shadow Cabinet reshuffle. After weeks of conflicting briefings in the media, it was Corbyn's decision to axe Pat McFadden which proved to be a particular sore point amongst Labour MPs as two shadow ministers resigned in protest. This was in large because McFadden claims he was sacked over his comments after the Paris terrorist attacks when he asked David Cameron to confirm that the actions of terrorists could not be dismissed as a reaction to the actions of those in the West. At the time, it was clear McFadden was referring to controversial comments from Stop the War which were later deleted.

In December, Julie Burchill had lunch with Jess Phillips MP, and decided in an article for Spectator Life that the gobby Brummie had the balls to drag the Labour party back from Korbyn’s Keystone Kommunism. It now seems that Phillips agrees. Speaking on Newsnight last night, she admitted - over a pint - that she was indeed interested in the role: 'Yes, absolutely I would consider doing it, a long time in the future. It’s not something I’m planning on doing any time soon but it’s absolutely something I would do in the future, yes.' https://www.youtube.com/watch?

When Jeremy Corbyn formed his Shadow Cabinet after he was voted in as Labour leader, he soon became the subject of much mockery in the media. This wasn't so much because of his appointments, but because his late night discussions about who to appoint were overheard by loitering hacks who then published the private discussions. This even included the conclusion from Team Corbyn that they were 'taking a fair amount of s--- out there' regarding the lack of women in senior positions. With Corbyn's much-hyped -- and much-briefed -- 'revenge reshuffle' seemingly now on, Mr S is pleased to hear that he has learnt from his past mistakes. The Labour leader has just ushered a number of loitering lobby hacks from outside of his office, politely asking them to move somewhere else.

Back in August -- after much anticipation -- Jeremy Corbyn finally revealed some of his economic policies to the world. His policies -- also known as 'Corbynomics' -- took inspiration from the tax expert Richard Murphy's blog. While several of the ideas -- which included reclaiming the £120bn 'tax gap' and quantitative easing -- were described as 'starry-eyed, hard left' policies by Labour's Chris Leslie, Corbyn was not put off. The Labour leader invited Murphy -- who is not a party member -- to Labour conference. In fact, Murphy even thought at one point that he was in line for a role in the Labour Treasury team. Alas the dream appears to have come to an abrupt end.

This week the Today show is being edited by a selection of guests including Sir Bradley Wiggins, Lord Browne and the architect David Adjaye. The Welsh actor Michael Sheen kicked proceedings off on Monday when he managed to upset a number of flood victims as he dismissed calls to cut foreign aid in order to spend more on flood defences at home as a'false dichotomy'. Today it was the turn of Miriam González Durántez -- the high-flying lawyer who is married to Nick Clegg -- to take the helm. Durántez -- who had presenters in a spin last week over whether it was okay to refer to her as Nick Clegg's wife -- gave her edit a distinctly feminist focus as she looked at topics that touch on the Inspiring Women campaign she runs.

In recent months both Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell have defended the Momentum group from criticism. Created as a result of Corbyn's leadership campaign, the grassroots movement aims to organise activists in towns and cities in order to create a mass movement for the Labour leader. Despite this, the far-left group has repeatedly been accused of being linked to deselection threats against centre-left Labour MPs. However, it seems that Momentum's biggest problem may actually be learning to control its supporters.

It's nearly Christmas. That means it's the time for carols, goodwill to all men and... leaving the EU -- that's according to the Bow Group anyway. The conservative think tank have released their traditional 'Bow Group Christmas Fairytale' read by John Redwood, the MP for Wokingham. This year it has a Brexit theme: 'Red Riding Hood -- a very modern fairytale of life in the European woods.' And who takes on the role of the big bad wolf? Well, Mr EU of course.

During the general election campaign, David Cameron's close relationship with Rupert Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks was regularly used as a whacking stick against him by his opponents. However, with a Tory majority now won, the Prime Minister appears to have few qualms about socialising with the media mogul once again. On Monday night the Prime Minister attended an intimate Christmas drinks bash at his old pal Murdoch's St James's flat. With the phone hacking scandal -- and consequent Leveson inquiry -- now far behind Murdoch, Cameron joined other Cabinet Ministers including John Whittingdale and George Osborne to raise a toast. At the event, the Guardian reports that Cameron was also joined by his old friend Rebekah Brooks.

The loudest cheers to emerge from a PLP meeting since Jeremy Corbyn rose to power came after the Labour MP Jess Phillips called for George Galloway to never be allowed to re-join Labour. The sentiment was later reinforced in an editorial by Dawn Butler -- who helped Corbyn get on the ballot slip -- where she wrote that Corbyn had told her he was not in favour of letting his old comrade Galloway back in. So Mr S can't help but wonder whether both Butler and Phillips will be disappointed to read comments made by Corbyn in an interview with the Huffington Post. When asked whether he would like to have Galloway -- who was expelled in 2003 following his outspoken comments on the Iraq war -- back in the Labour party, Corbyn refrains from siding with his female colleagues.

As MPs and staff depart Westminster to begin their Christmas break, spare a thought for those at Ukip HQ who have found their party on the brink of civil war today after Douglas Carswell called for Nigel Farage to be replaced with a new leader. What's more, if that wasn't enough to dampen the festive spirit for Kippers, Steerpike understands that they have further reason for woe. After a testing year for the party which saw disappointing election results and financial difficulties, they have been dealt the ultimate blow: no Christmas staff party.