Steerpike

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.

MPs have done their best this year to make their Christmas cards stand out. To do this, Nigel Evans opted to make himself the centre of attention, while Jeremy Corbyn managed to catch the Daily Mail's attention with a picture of some snow-covered bicycles. However, one such card has caught Mr S's attention for a rather different reason than any of the above. Suella Fernandes -- the MP for Fareham -- has sent out a card which contains an extra message. Only it's not from the Tory politician -- or her staff -- instead it's from the official sponsor of her 2015 Christmas cards!

Today marked James Naughtie's last day in the presenting chair on Today after 21 years. To honour his time as a presenter on the programme, John Humphrys played some of his highlights from over the years, before asking Naughtie to recall the parts of his job that he did not enjoy. The Scottish presenter responded by referring to his now infamous Jeremy Hunt gaffe in 2010, which saw Naughtie's introduction to an interview with the then Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt go disastrously wrong when he mispronounced his name. Naughtie ended up saying 'c--t' instead of Hunt: 'Things I haven't enjoyed? Oh, getting things wrong. I can't remember who the Culture Secretary is at the moment but anyway.' https://www.youtube.com/watch?

Since Lucy Allan was accused of faking her own death threat online, the Tory MP has gone underground -- deleting her Twitter and changing her privacy settings on Facebook. Last night she made a brief return to social media in order to release a statement with an accompanying video. In this, she opted not to apologise for adding the words 'unless you die' to a constituent's letter. Instead she chose to blame the whole fiasco on activists who were unhappy she was elected. 'Last week was without doubt the weirdest of my political life so far. It was never about my use of social media.

It's happened. Jeremy Corbyn has released his annual Christmas card. The Labour leader has refrained from following the traditional MP format by including a photo of himself on the card -- and has instead opted for a picture of some snow-covered bicycles: While Corbyn should be congratulated on managing to use the C-word this time around, it's fair to say that the photo isn't the most cheery effort around. Still, at least he has managed to push his green credentials.

Since Jeremy Corbyn was elected as leader of the Labour party, his main cheerleader Diane Abbott has never been far from his side. In fact, Abbott has even taken it upon herself to often fight Corbyn's corner. This has involved warning unruly MPs about the size of his mandate, as well as having a heated argument with Jess Phillips during a meeting of the PLP, after the newly-elected Labour MP hit out at the lack of women in Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet. Since then, it's been claimed that Abbott -- who has earned herself the nickname Madame Mao as a result of her behaviour -- has also played up during meetings of the Shadow Cabinet.