Steerpike

Steerpike

Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

Monday

Steerpike

Robert Halfon earns himself a new nickname

Last week Robert Halfon made headlines after he confessed to an affair with a Tory activist, claiming that Mark Clarke -- the Tatler Tory currently facing allegations of blackmail and bullying (which Clarke denies) -- had planned to film him leaving a hotel with his mistress as part of a blackmail plot. While Halfon has since promised Tory officials that there are no more embarrassing revelations to come out relating to him, Steerpike understands that the Minister without Portfolio has been given a new nickname by colleagues. 'He's now known as "red hot Rob".' Mr S's No.10 mole whispers.

Steerpike

George Galloway on Seumas Milne: ‘he’s my closest friend’

Since Jeremy Corbyn was elected as Labour leader, the party has struggled to put on a united front. In fact, MPs from the moderate section of the party have regularly found themselves at loggerheads with the Corbynistas during meetings of the PLP. Happily the majority of MPs did at least manage to find common ground at one meeting earlier this month, where Steerpike understands Jess Phillips' call for Corbyn's old comrade George Galloway -- who was expelled from Labour in 2003 -- to never be allowed back into the party was met with loud cheers. So Mr S can't imagine a disclosure from Galloway over the weekend is likely to prove helpful to 'Team Corbyn'.

Friday

Steerpike

Diane Abbott seeks help getting her message across

Since Jeremy Corbyn was elected as Labour leader, his close friend - and rumoured former lover -- Diane Abbott has proved to be one of his most loyal allies. When Abbott -- who has earned the nickname Madame Mao -- isn't spending PLP meetings writing her Christmas cards, the Shadow International Development Secretary can be found defending Corbyn from accusations of sexism, as well as appearing on television to praise the new regime. Still, with rumours circulating that Abbott is being given the cold shoulder by some members of Team Corbyn after a rather disastrous turn on Today, could it be that she is planning to change the way she deals with the media? Mr S only asks as the Labour MP is on the hunt for a Communications Officer.

Steerpike

Watch: Andrew Neil takes on ‘loser jihadists’

After the Paris terrorist attacks over the weekend which left at least 132 dead, there has been much discussion about how best to tackle the problem of IS. While politicians put out carefully worded statements and mull over their stance on air strikes, Andrew Neil has a message of his own for the 'Islamist scumbags' responsible for the Paris attacks. He kicked off BBC's This Week with a special introduction in support of France at this testing time: 'Evening all, and welcome to This Week. A week in which a bunch of loser jihadists slaughtered 132 innocents in Paris, to prove the future belongs to them rather than a civilisation like France. Well I can't say I fancy their chances.

Thursday

Steerpike

Paris terrorism photos not en Vogue, says magazine’s picture editor

In the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks, many have been left asking why they happened and what can be done to prevent another deadly massacre. Meanwhile some -- including Jeremy Corbyn -- have asked why terrorist attacks in non-European countries appear to attract less attention. However, for one Vogue fashion journalist the question on her lips is to do with another matter entirely: why weren't there any photos of a high standard? Alessia Glaviano -- Vogue Italia's senior photo editor -- has taken to the net to ask why the photos documenting the attack were not of a higher standard. Glaviano -- who was in Paris at the time -- says that it seems 'peculiar' to her that no photographers took high quality photos.

Steerpike

News from Labour: Jeremy Corbyn’s email policy to tackle Euro-centric media bias

After the media reported in detail about both the Paris terrorist attacks and the aftermath over the weekend, several online users began to take to social media to complain that the same treatment hadn't been given to the terrorist attacks that recently occurred in Beirut and Ankara. Jeremy Corbyn was quick to join the cause, hitting out at the mainstream media in a television interview by accusing them of showing Euro-centric bias: 'Likewise, which didn’t unfortunately get hardly any publicity, was the bombing in Beirut last week or the killing in Turkey. I think our media needs be able to report things that happen outside of Europe as well as inside. A life is a life.' Happily, Corbyn is doing his best to remedy the situation.

Steerpike

Watch: Ken Livingstone calls Maria Eagle ‘silly’ in disastrous Newsnight interview

Yesterday Ken Livingstone found himself at the centre of a media storm after he suggested that Kevan Jones -- a Labour MP with a history of depression -- required psychiatric help, after he dared to question Livingstone's appointment as co-chair on Labour's defence policy review. As Jones -- along with Jeremy Corbyn -- called on Livingstone to apologise, a series of media appearances followed where he did no such thing. At first he said Jones should 'get over it', later explaining he was just standing up for himself as any self-respecting south London lad would. Eventually a grovelling statement appeared on Livingstone's Twitter account where he apologised 'unreservedly'.

Wednesday

Steerpike

Listen: George Galloway comes to Ken Livingstone’s defence over mental health jibe

A mere hour or so into his new role as the co-chair of Labour's Trident review and Ken Livingstone is already facing calls to step down. The former mayor of London has managed to put his foot in after making an insensitive mental health jibe during an interview with the Mirror. When asked about comments made by Kevan Jones -- Labour's shadow defence minister -- questioning whether he was the right person to help lead the review,  Livingstone said Jones 'might need some psychiatric help': 'I think he might need some psychiatric help. He's obviously very depressed and disturbed. He should pop off and see his GP before he makes these offensive comments.' As Jones has been very open about his battle with depression in the past.

Tuesday

Steerpike

Diane Abbott finds a novel way to spend heated PLP meeting

Last night's PLP meeting proved to be a lively affair as Jeremy Corbyn was turned on by members of the Labour party over his ‘shoot to kill’ comments. As Mr S's colleague Sebastian Payne reports, Corbyn was then ‘shouted down’ by MPs for his stance on military action and Syria. So where was the Labour leader's primary cheerleader Diane Abbott while all this was going on? Well Abbott, who has won herself the nickname Madame Mao since her close friend – and rumoured former lover – was elected, was rather distracted at the event.

Monday

Steerpike

James Naughtie’s swear gaffe sends the BBC into a tizzy

This morning Nick Robinson made his debut as a presenter on the Today show. However, it was Robinson's co-presenter James Naughtie who managed to make the news, after he turned the air blue during the broadcast. The Scottish presenter uttered a four letter expletive on air just before 7am after failing to realise he was on air. While the BBC have since had to issue an apology, it appears that the corporation are also keen to wipe the incident from history altogether. The radio show is usually made available to listen to on demand on BBC iPlayer within minutes of the broadcast finishing.

Steerpike

Camila Batmanghelidjh comes to the government’s aid

Since Mr S's colleague Miles Goslett blew the whistle on Kids Company – and its founder Camila Batmanghelidjh -- in The Spectator earlier this year, the charity has been closed down and Batmanghelidjh has been summoned to a select committee hearing. With Batmanghelidjh's former cheerleader David Cameron now doing his best to distance himself from the disgraced charity chief -- after his ministers were accused of brushing aside civil servants' concerns about Kids Company's finances, could she still have one cabinet minister on side? Mr S only asks after an email popped into his inbox this morning from 6 Hillgrove PR saying that Batmanghelidjh was helping to inspire children as part of an Entrepreneurs4Schools scheme allegedly backed by the education secretary.

Steerpike

Nick Robinson tackles anti-Corbyn bias at the BBC

During the summer over 50,000 people signed a petition accusing the BBC of showing bias against Jeremy Corbyn. One major grievance was that presenters regularly referred to the Labour leader as 'left wing'. While the corporation issued a statement at the time defending their coverage, it appears that even one of their own staff was left unhappy by their efforts. Step forward Nick Robinson. Over the weekend the BBC's former political editor confessed -- in an interview in the Sunday Times -- that he had written to several BBC colleagues over concerns that the corporation's political coverage is biased against Jeremy Corbyn. When asked by Lynn Barber whether he was 'shocked' by the way the BBC 'rubbish Jeremy Corbyn', Robinson replied 'yes': 'Yes.

Friday

Steerpike

A ‘kinder politics’ falls flat on Question Time

Last night's episode of Question Time saw David Dimbleby joined in Stoke-on-Trent by Sajid Javid, Lucy Powell, Ukip's Paul Nuttall, the Sun's managing editor Stig Abell and Paris Lees, the transgender rights activist. With Jeremy Corbyn the main topic on the agenda following the Sun's story this week claiming Corbyn failed to bow deeply enough at the Remembrance Sunday service at Whitehall, would Corbyn's supporters prove to all the merits of a new 'kinder' politics? At first, it looked like Corbyn's call to 'treat people with respect' and with no 'rudeness' may have been taken on board, as even Javid seemed keen to take part in the new regime.

Thursday

Steerpike

Russell Brand makes a filthy profit (again)

When Russell Brand laid out his vision for a revolution back in 2013, the comedian-turned-revolutonary said that profit was a filthy word. 'David Cameron says profit isn't a dirty word, well I say profit is a filthy word,' he announced to a bemused Jeremy Paxman. So Mr S can't help but feel for the poor soul after reading the latest accounts for his company Pablo Diablo's Legitimate Business Firm. According to the abbreviated accounts, he reports a healthy profit of at least £228,893 -- to add to his already hefty £15 million fortune. Still, given that Brand retired from politics earlier this year after failing to influence the election, perhaps filthy profits are no longer high on the former revolutionary's agenda.

Wednesday

Steerpike

Owen Jones gives Seumas Milne a run for his money

As Seumas Milne attempts to settle in to his new job as Jeremy Corbyn's director of communications, the former Guardian columnist has got off to a rather shaky start. As well as making headlines himself over his controversial appointment, the negative press surrounding Corbyn has shown no sign of disappearing with a fresh storm recently emerging regarding Milne's colleague Andrew Fisher. Perhaps aware of his own shortcomings, Milne was even overheard outside a pub on Thursday asking the BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg for advice on how to do his job. Now, Corbyn's other original Guardian cheerleader Owen Jones has stepped in to offer Milne some advice of his own.

Steerpike

Tory MP climbs the greasy pole with £20,000 a month oil gig

Last year Nadhim Zahawi told Parliament in a debate on UK-Kurdistan bilateral relations that it should come as 'no surprise' that he has 'significant interest' in the region. Indeed only this summer, Zahawi -- who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Kurdistan -- led a cross-party group there which included a visit to an oil field which was run by a company that he has shares in. Now the millionaire businessman has managed to boost his income significantly with a new part-time job relating to the area. After it was announced in July that Zahawi was joining the oil firm Gulf Keystone as chief strategy officer, the latest register of interests reveals just how much he is earning in return for advising the company on its Kurdistan operations.

Tuesday

Steerpike

Benedict Cumberbatch defends his ‘f— the politicians’ rant

After Benedict Cumberbatch indulged in a foul-mouthed rant about the government's response to the refugee crisis, he was criticised by several figures -- including Boris Johnson -- for using the theatre as a platform for his political views. In fact, the incident even left Mr S asking: is Benedict Cumberbatch the new Russell Brand? Judging by comments he made today after collecting his CBE, the actor could well succeed the retired-revolutionary. When reporters outside the palace put to the Sherlock actor that he may regret his comments -- which included the line 'f--- the politicians', Cumberbatch said actually it was quite the contrary: 'Have you been to the theatre recently? How many times?

Steerpike

Labour’s Simon Danczuk under fire over economy class flight snub

Today Simon Danczuk has come under fire for reportedly pulling out of a parliamentary trip to China at the last minute, after discovering he would have to travel in mere economy class. The Labour MP cancelled his attendance after his request to be upgraded to business class was turned down. According to Richard Graham, the Tory MP,  this led to the whole trip being called off. However, Danczuk says that the suggestion he was being overly picky is 'nonsense' and that a health condition -- thought to be a back problem -- was the reason flying economy class was unsuitable. Still, this is the same super-fit Simon Danczuk who boasts that he runs at least 5k a day and is planning to run the London marathon: https://twitter.

Steerpike

Coffee Shots: the face of Labour is here to stay

Although Jeremy Corbyn has faced criticism this week for failing to bow deeply enough at the Remembrance Day service in Whitehall, the left-wing messiah can at least count on the continuing support of his Corbynistas. In fact, one 18-year-old fan by the name of Kierran Horsfield has decided to do his own permanent tribute to the Labour leader, with an inking of Corbyn's face on his shoulder: https://twitter.com/_megoll/status/663815056967254016 Still, Mr S suspects Corbyn shouldn't take his popularity among fans as an indication of where he will stand in the polls -- after all, one woman did get a tattoo of Nigel Farage: https://twitter.

Monday

Steerpike

Haggis tipped to return to the menu across the pond

After Mr S reported earlier this year that the Tory peer Lord McColl was reigniting the fight to bring haggis to an American audience by urging the government to ‘press the US government to change their position on the ban on haggis’, there is fresh hope for Scotland's great repressed minority. Although haggis has been banned in the US since 1971 -- over the inclusion of certain ingredients including sheep lungs, Richard Lochhead, the Scottish environment minister, is leading a trip to Washington this week where he plans to have the ban overturned. As a cause close to Mr S's heart (and stomach), Steerpike is pleased by the news, yet die-hard haggis fans may have to take any victory with a pinch of salt.