Steerpike

Last month relations between the Tories and John Bercow hit an all-time low as the Speaker called Sajid Javid 'incompetent' for taking too long to an answer a question. Well, David Cameron can at least take heart today that it's not just the Conservatives who can find themselves on the wrong side of the Speaker. Today Corbynista Clive Lewis was scolded by Bercow for making too much noise during the Chancellor's Autumn Statement. As George Osborne announced the details of the Spending Review only to be heckled by Lewis, Bercow paused proceedings to address the Labour MP: 'Mr Lewis, get a grip of yourself man -- calm. Take up yoga, you'll find it beneficial man.' https://vine.

Jess Phillips made the news earlier this year after the Labour MP told Diane Abbott to 'f--- off' during a meeting of the PLP. The comment came after Phillips attempted to take Jeremy Corbyn to task over the lack of women in senior roles in his shadow cabinet, only for Abbott to jump to his defence. While Corbyn failed to intervene when the row between the two women escalated, it appears that some of his comrades are now fighting back. Jon Lansman -- who helped manage Corbyn's campaign before founding the hard-left Momentum group -- has tweeted a link this morning to an article published on the Left Futures website he edits. https://twitter.

With the news that Left Unity -- the far-left political party -- have suspended plans to stand in elections in order to support Jeremy Corbyn, many Corbynistas have taken the decision as proof of their leader's positive influence. Alas, it all got a bit much for Alan Johnson, the former Home Secretary, when he appeared on the Daily Politics alongside Left Unity spokesman Simon Hardy. With Left Unity amassing a mere 455 votes across three seats in the general election, Johnson didn't take Hardy's criticisms of Labour pre-Corbyn all that well.

Yesterday Mr S reported that Robert Halfon was due to give a talk to young Tory activists on Wednesday -- less than two weeks after he confessed to an affair with a... young Tory activist. The Minister without Portfolio went public over his brief affair with Alexandra Paterson, the chair of Conservative Future, after 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 her as part of a blackmail plot.

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.

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'.

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.

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'.

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.

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.