Steerpike

Given that John Whittingdale once described the licence fee as 'worse than the poll tax', the BBC were reported to be less than thrilled when David Cameron appointed the Tory MP as Culture Secretary ahead of the corporation's charter renewal next year. However, should the BBC be concerned about the impending decision, culture minister Ed Vaizey has at least offered an early pointer about the type of programmes the corporation ought to be commissioning. Vaizey took to Twitter to praise his old chum Andrew Roberts on his Napoleon documentary for the BBC. He says that it is 'just the kind of programme' the BBC 'should be making': https://twitter.

With the Labour party under increasing scrutiny for taking donations from the trade unions, they may have to start to rely more heavily on private donors. So it's good news that Lord Ashcroft, the former Tory deputy chairman, is willing to help the party out financially. Ashcroft says that if Labour wish to sell the now infamous #EdStone, the 8ft high 'policy cenotaph' Miliband had made to honour Labour's election promises, he will dig deep: https://twitter.com/LordAshcroft/status/608605863595659264 Should the party decide to accept, this would make Ashcroft one of the party's biggest new donors. Given that Lakshmi Mittal, the non-dom steel tycoon who has donated £5.

The Prime Minister was on boisterous from at PMQs today, welcoming the Labour Party's new found support for an EU referendum in the division lobbies last night. Cameron described it as 'the biggest mass conversion since that Chinese general baptised his troops with a hosepipe'. The green benches were left baffled to what on earth he was talking about. Mr S, as ever, can shed some light on the matter. General Feng Yu Xiang was a Chinese warlord, known as the 'Christian General', who dominated parts of Northern China in the twenties. Born an illiterate peasant in 1882 he converted to Christianity in 1914. Having conquered Beijing in 1928, Feng Yu Xiang was exiled in 1930 after an awkward relationship with Communist Russia.

Steerpike has long been a champion of the fight to get America to lift the ban on Scottish haggis being imported into their country. So Mr S was cheered to hear that Nicola Sturgeon has been doing her bit to fly the flag for the national dish on her trip to America. The New York Post reports that Sturgeon's team made some last minute menu requests ahead of a work lunch at Incognito Italian bistro in New York, following her appearance on Jon Stewart's Daily Show. The Scottish-Italian proprietors Paolo Montana and Adriana Moretti reportedly proposed an all-Italian menu, but Sturgeon’s team asked them to also include Scottish classics 'like highland haggis and smoked Scottish salmon'.

After Nigel Farage stepped down as leader of the Ukip party following his defeat in South Thanet, he hastily 'unresigned' days later. The move led to a Ukip civil war which saw Patrick O'Flynn rebel against the party leader, leading to both of Farage's senior aides standing down. Now one of his advisors has had their resignation rejected and their contract renewed. After Mr S revealed last month that Matthew Richardson, the party secretary, was expected to 'unresign', the Times' Red Box reports today that Richardson's contract has been extended with the party refusing to accept his resignation. A Ukip party spokesman confirms the reappointment to Steerpike: 'The post of Party secretary is a two year appointment.

When Ivan Massow appeared on LBC last month, the London mayoral hopeful had a car crash interview. He was outed on air for advertising for a campaign assistant for his mayoral bid at a rate of £6.50 per hour, below the London living wage, despite preaching about how expensive it is to live in London. What's more, the fact that he was employing someone on a wage below the living wage appeared to come as something of a surprise to the businessman, which can be viewed from the 7.40 mark on the video: 'We don't actually have anyone on that... oh God.' The incident provoked the ire of LBC presenter Iain Dale who was quick to blast Massow on Twitter: Ivan Massow wants to be Mayor of London. If he can't answer this simple question from @ShelaghFogarty... http://t.

David Cameron's recently departed speechwriter Clare Foges earned the affectionate nickname 'the Prime Minister's Larynx' for her work assisting Cameron with his public speaking, so her Times column today will make for some interesting reading for her former colleagues in No. 10. Despite the Tories winning a majority in the election, Foges, who used to work as an ice cream driver, has offered the Conservatives a shopping list on how they can 'reset their image' and shrug off their 'nasty party' tag. The poet, who has been working for Cameron since 2009, calls for the Department of Health to be made a cross party department - presumably by appointing both Burnham and Hunt, as well as suggesting Cameron makes National Citizen Service compulsory.