Steerpike

When the Tory MP Philip Davies called for a Commons debate to mark International Men's Day last week during a backbench business committee meeting, his suggestion was met with laughter from Labour's Jess Phillips. Phillips said that despite it being the case that a Commons debate currently marks International Women's Day, it was 'laughable' to suggest that the men should have the same for International Men's Day. She said that men do not need more opportunities to speak in the House of Commons given the current ratio of men to women. So when the pair were brought together on the Daily Politics to air their differences, it made for some entertaining viewing.

Oh dear. The SNP are so powerful in Scotland at the moment that some of the party's elected representatives might be forgiven for thinking it can defy the laws of gravity and time. Take Angela Constance MSP, who today thought it might be possible to re-do a live interview. In an interview with the Sunday Politics, she found herself saying 'twenty thousand and twelve', rather than 2012, and asked the presenter if she could start the interview again. He agreed, but then rather gently pointed out that the programme was live. https://twitter.

After Harriet Harman stepped down from the frontbench earlier this year after 28 years, she was asked by Andrew Neil on the Daily Politics which Labour leader had been her favourite to work under. While Harman had praise for Neil Kinnock, Tony Blair -- who was nice even when he sacked her -- and Gordon Brown, she failed to mention her most recent boss Ed Miliband. So perhaps the MP for Doncaster North will be emitting a bead of sweat on hearing that Harman is in the process of writing her memoirs. The outspoken Labour MP has tweeted a photo of a censored screen as she begins to recount her days on the frontline of politics: https://twitter.

As stormclouds gathered over London, the most politically connected pooches in the country assembled by the House of Lords for the most eagerly anticipated event of the year – the Westminster Dog of the Year competition. Among the familiar faces – including Alec Shelbrooke's Maggie and Boris, and David Burrowes' Chomeley, Steerpike spotted a number of novice entrants. Baroness Masham had left her pack of seven dachshunds at home in Yorkshire, and had instead brought with her the soft-coated Wheaten Terrier, Theodora (aka Teddy). Having bonded with her lookalike, Hugo Swire’s cockapoo Rocco, the pair made firm friends, and proved that cooperation between the Commons and the Lords is actually possible.

After Heidi Allen gave a barnstorming maiden speech last week criticising her own party over tax credit cuts, the Tory MP has found herself in the firing line within her own party. Mr S's colleague Isabel Hardman writes in today's Times that a number of Tory MPs are even refusing to speak to her over concerns that 'her careless talk could cost them their majorities'. Now to make matters worse, it appears that even journalists are struggling to work out which side Allen is on. Word reaches Steerpike that a producer for a national radio station -- thought to be one of the BBC's radio stations -- contacted the Labour party to ask if they would put Allen forward to speak on tax credits...

When Chuka Umunna pulled out of the Labour leadership race earlier this year, he explained in a statement that he had decided it was time to prioritise his personal life over his political career: 'I've said that I could live without leading the Labour party or politics. For once I decided to put the rest of my life first,' the former bookies' favourite mused. While Umunna may have been led to question his decision in the months following Jeremy Corbyn's election as the leader of the Labour party, his efforts in regards to his personal life have at least paid off. Umunna has proposed to his solicitor girlfriend Alice Sullivan, with the pair announcing their impending nuptials in the announcements section of today's Times.

Although Stella Creasy has proved to be one of the most vocal pro-European politicians, the Labour MP may have unwittingly managed to convince one Tory MP of the cons that come from remaining in the EU. David Cameron is facing a potential Commons defeat over the 'tampon tax' after a group of Eurosceptic Tory MPs decided to vote with Labour to demand an end to the EU regulated tax on sanitary items. While the amendment is tabled by Labour's Paula Sheriff, Bernard Jenkin is one of several Tory MPs who have jumped on it, in the hope that they can use it to gain a wider renegotiation of the UK's relationship with the European Union.

After Mr S's colleague Harry Mount argued in the Spectator that the Labour party 'has had a brain transplant' under Jeremy Corbyn with a purge of the Oxbridge set, Martin Amis has accused the new Labour leader of being undereducated. Writing for the Sunday Times, the best-selling novelist has launched a verbal attack on Corbyn over his 'slow-minded rigidity'. The life-long Labour supporter -- who says he found himself 'close to the epicentre of the Corbyn milieu' in his twenties when he worked for the New Statesman -- has criticised Corbyn for his lack of educational achievements: 'He is undereducated. Which is one way of putting it.

Oh dear. The Halloween plans of a group of Ukip supporters look set to turn into a nightmare for the event's organiser. After Guido Fawkes reported earlier this month that a Farage-sceptic branch of 'Kippers were planning a Halloween party with the theme 'Nigel Farage and his creepy henchmen', word reaches Steerpike that the event has now been cancelled. Richard Hendron -- who launched a failed bid earlier this year to be selected as Ukip's candidate for London mayor -- has written to attendees explaining that he has cancelled the event after 'the powers that be in Ukip' failed to see the funny side.

After the Jeremy Corbyn-backed 'grassroots network' Momentum was launched, several Labour politicians voiced fears that the campaign group could be used to oust moderate Labour MPs in favour of Corbyn champions. The campaign group has since insisted that although it grew out of the Corbyn campaign, it is independent to the party’s leadership. Now things have been made official with the Labour leader's election campaign group renamed Momentum on Companies House.

Today Theresa May has hit out at the lack of black and Asian officers in the police forces, arguing that the current diminutive figures are 'simply not good enough'. She said that the current forces must increase ethnic diversity in order to represent their communities, claiming that there are no black officers in Cheshire, Durham, Dyfed-Powys and North Yorkshire. Strong words from the Home Secretary, which left Mr S wondering just how diverse May's own personal work force is. Surely with May -- an apparent champion for ethnic diversity in the workplace -- branding police forces 'too white', she herself has a high proportion of staff from ethnic minorities?

Oh dear. Labour under Jeremy Corbyn is about to get a whole lot stranger. The Labour leader has appointed none other than Guardian columnist Seumas Milne as his 'executive director of strategy and communications'. Milne starts the job next week and joins on leave from the paper. https://twitter.com/SeumasMilne/status/656540739753615360 The controversial appointment may well do Corbyn some good, in the sense that when compared to the left-wing columnist, Corbyn begins to look like a moderate. While Corbyn has apologised for the Iraq war, Milne has gone further and actually praised the other side.