Steerpike

There was one infamous invoice missing from the Electoral Commission's campaign spending data yesterday -- that of the EdStone. Labour claimed that the missing invoice was simply down to an 'administrative error' rather than a reluctance for the public to know how much money was spent on the disastrous election gaffe. Happily Bloomberg News have been on the case. They report that recently unearthed invoices show that the 8ft stone with Labour’s election promises inscribed cost just under £8,000. While that is significantly less than the £30,000 reported by newspapers at the time, it can hardly be called a bargain.

Although David Cameron is said to be planning to scare the nation into staying in the EU, others in the in-camp think they can win voters over with the good. Britain Stronger in Europe have today sent out an optimistic press release revealing a key reason Britons ought to choose to remain in the EU: they can now watch BBC iPlayer abroad! 'Brits are to gain access to UK streaming services while travelling in Europe following a decision by MEPs today,' the email reads.

Since Sadiq Khan was elected as Labour's mayoral candidate, he has made an effort to distance himself from Jeremy Corbyn. Although Khan was one of the Labour MPs to help Corbyn get onto the ballot, after Khan won the nomination he turned on the Labour leader -- suggesting that Corbyn's refusal to sing the National Anthem showed he could be unfit to be Prime Minister. Now it seems that Khan just can't help himself even when he is trying to attack the Tories. His team have released an attack ad on Zac Goldsmith -- the Tory candidate for mayor -- in the form of a mocked-up CV. The 'CV' lists the reasons Goldsmith is not suitable to be the mayor of London, citing the fact his family connections led to his first 'proper job' at The Ecologist magazine.

When David Cameron was photographed scoffing Pringles on an Easy Jet flight over the summer, he became the subject of much mockery online. However, there was one woman who fiercely leapt to his defence, arguing that he deserved better than a budget snack on a budget airline. 'David Cameron deserves official jet,' Fiona Phillips declared in the Mirror. 'He's our Prime Minister for goodness sake.' Alas, Phillips may soon be rethinking her approach when it comes to the Prime Minister. It appears that any fondness the former GMTV presenter holds towards Cameron -- who she has met a number of times -- is not reciprocated.

It's not been a good week for the Corbynistas of North London. First Lord Watts took aim at them for their taste in pastries during his maiden speech in the upper house. The Labour peer said that the party leadership should take less notice of 'the London-centric hard left political class who sit around in their £1 million mansions eating their croissants at breakfast and seeking to lay the foundations for a socialist revolution'. Now John Mann wants them to put their money where their mouth is. The Labour MP has written a blog post on his website today calling for Labour to charge party members with properties worth over £1m a 'Labour wealth tax of £1,000 a year'.

Dawn Butler was one of the Labour MPs who helped to get Jeremy Corbyn onto the ballot paper in the Labour leadership race. While Butler ultimately wanted Andy Burnham to be leader, she has been supportive of Corbyn since his election. Alas Butler now appears to be struggling when it comes to getting to grips with the new kinder, gentler politics. Today the Labour MP tweeted that a friend of hers had compared Cameron's appearance to 'a kid whose just done a poo'. To which Butler replied: 'yes it does feel like he's sh--ting all over the working class doesn't it.' Of course this is the same Butler who lost her seat in the 2010 election following allegations over her expenses.

As junior doctors exercise their right to strike today over government plans to change their contracts, Jeremy Hunt has been keeping a surprisingly low profile. In fact the Health Secretary has declined interview requests, instead sending his senior clinical advisor Norman Williams to field questions from the media. Alas, there are some questions that are not appropriate to ask Williams. One such question is 'where is Jeremy Hunt?'. Sky's Darren McCaffrey found this out the hard way after he asked Williams why Hunt was refusing to take media requests. At which point an aide dived in to stop the interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWcSEw7LHrU 'Hang on a minute, we're not doing any of this nonsense.' Alas for Hunt and his team, the camera was already on record.