Steerpike, Author at The Spectator

Monday

February 23, 2015

Ed Miliband attempts to build bridges with the arts world, but where will the money come from?

From our UK edition

After Labour confirmed that they would not reverse Tory art cuts, the luvvies turned on Ed. During a spending plans onslaught from the Tories earlier in the year, the party spin machine proudly boasted: p.44 of Tory dossier says Labour will cancel cuts to the arts budget. We won't. — Labour Press Team (@labourpress) January 5, 2015 Leading to a thorough pasting from all sorts of media darlings: This is not something to brag about. RT @labourpress: p.44 of Tory dossier says Labour will cancel cuts to the arts budget. We won't. — Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) January 6, 2015 @labourpress And you're proud of that? Jesus. — Simon Blackwell (@simonblackwell) January 6, 2015 .@labourpress why are you proud of this?

Steerpike

Lord Brocket: Eddie Redmayne gives hope to Old Etonians

From our UK edition

Chris Bryant found time to congratulate Eddie Redmayne on his best actor Oscar today despite previously claiming that British culture should not be dominated by privately educated actors of Redmayne's ilk. While the shadow culture minister's support for the Old Etonian may be lukewarm at best, The Theory of Everything actor can at least count on the constant support of his fellow alumni. Lord Charlie Brocket has come out to congratulate Redmayne on his win. The peer, who was jailed for an insurance scam in the 1990s, claims that Redmayne's success will hopefully lead the way for more Old Etonian actors.

Steerpike

Only a matter of free time: Labour candidate blasts ‘invisible’ MP Sir Malcolm Rifkind

From our UK edition

Sir Malcolm Rifkind claimed to an undercover reporter during a Telegraph sting operation that they would be surprised by how 'much free time' he has, despite being the MP for Kensington. One person who would not appear to be surprised by Rifkind's admission is his Labour rival Dr Rod Abouharb. Rifkind flaunting his free time, more evidence of him being the invisible MP for Kensington. Isn't being an MP http://t.co/MO2iavJRYR — Dr Rod Abouharb (@kensingtonrod) February 23, 2015 Speaking ten days before the allegations broke, the Labour candidate claimed that only 17 people out of 100 surveyed in the Kensington constituency could successfully pick out their MP from a line-up of eight.

Steerpike

Guardian editors-in-waiting make their cases: ‘Wolfgang Blau is not a woman’

From our UK edition

The statements are in. The four Guardian employees to make it to the staff ballot in their bid to become the publication's next editor have released their manifestos, and there are some startling declarations. First Mr S sees that the only male horse in the race, Wolfgang Blau, has taken the bold step of acknowledging that he is not, in fact, a woman. 'I want to acknowledge the obvious: I am not a woman and I have not grown up in the United Kingdom.

Friday

February 20, 2015

Steerpike

Virginia Ironside has no time for E L James’s ‘appalling’ prose

From our UK edition

Fifty Shades of Grey has so far taken a record amount at the box office for an 18-certificate film. Virginia Ironside, however, will not be contributing to the film's profits. The author writes in this week's issue of the Spectator that she has no desire to see the film adaption of E L James's novel, after being left unimpressed by the novelist's 'appalling writing'. 'All this fuss about Fifty Shades of Grey! I wonder how many people have actually read all three books? Sado-masochism is only half the story. When you’ve waded through the entire oeuvre, if such appalling writing can be dignified with that term, you discover that the whole story is one of redemption.

Steerpike

Coffee Shots: George takes Boris out for breakfast

From our UK edition

Boris and George have been painting London town red this morning. First, the Tory duo took over the Tate Modern at the crack of dawn to show off a very large, and presumably expensive, banner for a speech on a 'long term economic plan for London'. During this they announced that the London Overground will run 24 hours a day — eventually. This morning @Tate Modern the Chancellor @George_Osborne and I launched #LongTermEconomicPlan for London pic.twitter.com/cOZnwIf6xu — Boris Johnson (@MayorofLondon) February 20, 2015 Then en-route to a building site in Edgware, the Chancellor generously opened up his purse to buy the Mayor a sumptuous breakfast at a greasy spoon.

Thursday

February 19, 2015

Steerpike

Clash of the Titans: Rod Liddle calls Piers Morgan a halfwit

From our UK edition

Piers Morgan's claim in the Daily Mail that the Prime Minister of Israel’s reaction to the terror attacks in Denmark 'is a disgrace' has caught the attention of Mr S's colleague Rod Liddle. Liddle writes in defence of Benjamin Netanyahu in this week's Spectator, arguing that Netanyahu's offer of Israeli sanctuary to Jews should not be ridiculed. He also finds time to level a few insults at Morgan, whose face apparently 'resembles a puckered anus'. 'The bien-pensant attacks on Netanyahu were epitomised by the idiotic Piers Morgan, writing in the Daily Mail. I suppose one should not be surprised about what emanates from a man with a face which so closely resembles a puckered anus. Remember 9/11, Morgan wrote: many Jews were killed on that day.

Steerpike

Club wars: Robin Birley gives Ukip £55,000 while Annabel’s gives Tories £20,000

From our UK edition

Mr S has just been flicking through the latest figures released today by the Electoral Commission, and was intrigued to see that in the last quarter Robin Birley, the half-brother of Tory MP Zac Goldsmith and New Statesman associate editor Jemima Goldsmith, has donated £55,000 to Ukip. This latest lump takes the millionaire's donations to Farage's self-styled 'People's Army' up to £120,000. In the lead up to the election, the club wars of London have taken a political twist. With Birley and his 5 Hertford Street venue now firmly in the Ukip camp, Mr S was amused to see deadly Mayfair rival Annabel's giving £20,000 to the Tories. The club's proprietor Richard Caring recently donated a night at the venue as a lot for the Tory Black & White Ball.

Steerpike

Drugs Live drama: Channel 4 vs Home Office

From our UK edition

So far Channel 4's Drugs Live series has examined the effects of ecstasy while next month's installment will look into cannabis use. However, for those wondering which illicit substance will be next, the programme's host Dr Christian Jessen is unsure about the show's future. Speaking to Mr Steerpike at The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel premiere in Leicester Square, Jessen confessed that getting permission from the Home Office for each programme is proving a hard task. 'We're slightly limited by whether we can get the Home Office to give us permission because obviously these drugs are illegal so doing experiments on them requires all these complicated licenses. They're really difficult.

Wednesday

February 18, 2015

Steerpike

Dippygate: Natural History Museum’s diplodocus sacrificed on the commercial altar

From our UK edition

There was outcry last month when it was announced that 'Dippy the Diplodocus' is to be removed from the Natural History Museum's vast Hintze Hall, where he has been greeting visitors for the last 35 years. Instead a giant skeleton of blue whale will be suspended from the ceiling, in what they spin as an 'important and necessary change'. Officially, 'the blue whale symbolises' the museum's 'desire for people to be completely engaged in current issues about humans’ impact on the natural world and our chance to build a sustainable future.' Or so a spokesman of the museum says. However, a source tells of a more cynical explanation for the departure.

Steerpike

Al Murray tries to muster some funds for his FUKP campaign

From our UK edition

The Conservatives held a Black and White Tie Ball earlier this month to raise funds for their election campaign, while Ukip are reported to have recently taken a princely sum from Richard Desmond. As for Al Murray, and his Freedom United Kingdom Party, the comedian has resorted to more humble methods to muster precious campaign funds. The Pub Landlord, who is vying for the same seat as Nigel Farage, is selling FUKP stickers and badges online to raise party funds. You can now show your support for #FUKP with party t-shirts, mugs, stickers and badges. Visit http://t.co/b9AYpj8HRe pic.twitter.

Tuesday

February 17, 2015

Steerpike

Jon Snow on skunk: ‘I felt utterly bereft’

From our UK edition

Jon Snow previously investigated the effects of taking ecstasy in a Channel 4 documentary. Now, in the interests of investigative journalism, the newsreader has been filmed taking skunk for a follow-up programme. Although Snow could not remember being filmed at the time, he has now written a blog detailing the identity crisis that occurred after he inhaled the strong strain of cannabis. 'I knew within five minutes, or so, of taking the first two balloons, that I had taken skunk. What was happening to me outstripped anything I have ever experienced. I have been passed the odd spliff of cannabis in the distant past perhaps a dozen times. But this of course in a social context, in which you probably only get two or three puffs of the thing.

Steerpike

Cathy Newman cancels charity appearance following mosque incident

From our UK edition

After Cathy Newman falsely tweeted that she had been 'ushered' out of a mosque on an open day, she made a public apology and said that she was planning to to take a break from Twitter. This break appears to also stretch to parliamentary pancake races. The Channel 4 presenter's absence was notable at today's Rehab Parliamentary Pancake Race. Newman had previously been billed as the host for the charity race, which raises awareness of the need to support disabled people. We are delighted annonuce @cathynewman as Official Starter for the 2015 Rehab Parlimentary Pancake Race #Flip4Rehab http://t.

Monday

February 16, 2015

Steerpike

Watch: Ed Miliband mucks up his lines

From our UK edition

Ed Miliband appears to have found some safe ground for his party this week, attacking the Tories whenever he can over tax avoidance claims. If he plans to continue on this note, Mr S suggests that he picks his words with more care in the future. Speaking at the Welsh Labour conference on Saturday about his plan to launch an HMRC review, Miliband went off message rather badly. The Labour leader promised to ‘stand up for all those who stand in the way of the success of working families'. That couldn't be what he means, could it?

Steerpike

Alex Salmond: Time for American citizens to enjoy haggis

From our UK edition

Former First Minister Alex Salmond has backed Steerpike’s campaign to overturn the US haggis import ban, gleefully admitting it ‘looks like we might be getting somewhere.’ Welcoming last week’s developments, that saw Tory chairman Grant Shapps promise to make haggis a key part of the UK negotiations around the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, Salmond told Mr S on Friday: ‘Now that Tories have finally come round to the idea of haggis, perhaps they will come round to the notion of self-determination.’ Throwing his support behind the campaign, he cried: ‘It’s time for American citizens to claim their inalienable right to eat haggis.

Steerpike

Don’t be a tit Harriet – it’s for charity

From our UK edition

Mr S witnessed an awkward moment for Harriet Harman before the microphones were switched on for Friday night's episode of Any Questions. During the off-air warm-up at BBC's Broadcasting House, Labour's deputy leader took umbrage with the fact that her water bottle had a pink lid, jumping to the conclusion that it was a dig about her much-maligned pink van. When it was delicately pointed out by a fellow panelist that the water brand in question was supporting a breast cancer fundraising appeal, she quickly made a big show of putting on her glasses and making sympathetic noises. It's not all about you, Harriet.

Steerpike

Kindred spirits? Nigel Farage wants Jean-Claude Juncker as his drinking buddy

From our UK edition

Nigel Farage wrote in the Spectator of his struggle to complete Dry January, while Jean-Claude Juncker is reported to be partial to a glass of cognac to kick start the day. So it came as little surprise to Mr Steerpike that the leader of Ukip named the President of the European Commission as his preferred drinking partner. Asked by Jim Mellon of Master Investor who out of David Cameron, Nick Clegg, Ed Miliband, Jean-Claude Juncker, Hilary Clinton and Jeb Bush, he would most like to go for a pint with, Farage opted for Juncker. 'Oh Juncker every time, top man . I don’t agree with him politically, but I tell you something, he’s got a terrific sense of humour, he’s a real human being – very few people in politics are.

Steerpike

Tory MP accepts donation from banker who used same tax avoidance scheme as Jimmy Carr

From our UK edition

With the Tories currently getting flak for holding a ball for the party's super rich donors in the same week queries were raised about their tax habits, Ken Clarke appeared on the Sunday Politics to deny any suggestions of wrongdoing. He did, however, say that a 'more defensible system' should be put in place with a 'donation cap' and state funding so parties do not become overly reliant on rich individuals. Until that happens it's business as usual for the Conservatives. According to the latest register of interests, Nicola Blackwood, the Conservative MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, accepted a £10,000 donation from George Robinson.

Saturday

February 14, 2015

Steerpike

Tom Hollander’s disastrous dinner date with Joan Collins

From our UK edition

When Tom Hollander met Joan Collin on the set of The Clandestine Marriage the pair hit it off. In fact, they got on so well that Hollander attended the Dynasty star's Christmas party alongside Conrad Black and William Hague, before receiving an invitation to stay with her in St Tropez. However, as Hollander writes in this week's edition of The Spectator, their friendship took a turn for the worse when the Rev actor called Collins to confirm a date. Collins was out at the time of the call so she rang Hollander back and left a voicemail for him. 'The next day I got a long voice message on my mobile. ‘Hi darling, it’s Joan here.

Steerpike

Tory Black & White Ball tempts Nancy Dell’Olio into politics

From our UK edition

One of the more glamorous attendees of this week's Tory Black and White ball was Nancy Dell'Olio. The former girlfriend of Sven Goran Eriksson attended the Conservative fundraiser as the guest of Ivan Massow, the London mayoral hopeful. When Mr S caught up with Dell'Olio after the ball, it seemed the presence of political leaders was starting to rub off on her. 'It was good to be there, I enjoyed David's speech,' the Italian lawyer told Steerpike at the Fernando Botero Private View at the Opera Gallery, before talk turned to her own career. 'I'll tell you what, I could apply to change my passport, one of my passions is politics. My friend could become mayor, I could be something like an international cultural ambassador because London is the centre of the world.