Steerpike, Author at The Spectator

Saturday

January 31, 2015

Benedict Cumberbatch: Pardon all gay men convicted under same law as Alan Turing

From our UK edition

A screening of The Imitation Game hosted by the American ambassador Matthew Barzun saw Alan Turing's nephew Sir John Dermot Turing and his great-niece Rachel Barnes welcomed to 24 Grosvenor Square. There Barzun spoke of the progress that both America and Britain have made with gay rights since Turing's day. The wartime code-breaker committed suicide after he was found guilty of gross indecency and given chemical castration treatment as punishment. He was given a pardon for his 'crime' by the Queen in 2013. Now, members of the film's cast have signed an open letter to the British government urging them to to pardon the estimated 49,000 men who were persecuted under the same law that Alan Turing was found guilty of.

Friday

January 30, 2015

Steerpike

Chris Bryant: I am not James Blunt’s sex toy

From our UK edition

After Mr S revealed that Chris Bryant has broken two ribs getting out of bed, speculation is rife that his nemesis James Blunt could be to blame for the incident. The duo fell out after the Labour MP claimed that British culture should not be dominated by the likes of privately educated crooners such as Blunt. The You're Beautiful singer swiftly replied in an open letter in which he called Bryant a 'classist gimp'. Keen to avoid any confusion about the cause of his injury, Bryant took the opportunity at a mock leader election debate at King's Place to clear the singer's name: 'Just to clarify – James Blunt played no part in my injury. He called me a gimp, which I believe is some sort of sex toy. Well I’m not his sexual toy, and never will be. He’s gutted.

Steerpike

Is the dream over? Russell Brand and Johann Hari go their separate ways

From our UK edition

Russell Brand and Johann Hari were once the revolutionary dream team, working side-by-side to produce the comedian's YouTube series The Trews. Brand hired the self-confessed plagiarist last year to help with his videos. Now, alas, Mr S hears it is the end of the road for the like-minded pair, with Hari quitting. The writer apparently wants to focus on his next book. Hari had previously worked with Brand while also working on his most recent release Chasing The Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs. Their working relationship had been an amiable one, with Brand even acknowledging the discredited journalist in the credits for his book Revolution, calling him a ‘tireless, brilliant, adrenalised busybody’.

Steerpike

Sheila Hancock: I don’t care if an actor is posh

From our UK edition

Julie Walters added weight to Chris Bryant's claim that British culture is dominated by the upper classes when she said that there are very few opportunities for working class actors today. Walter's fellow actress Sheila Hancock, however, thinks it's not worth getting her knickers in a twist about. 'Are there a lot of posh actors? Yes. Are there more important things going on in this country? Yes,' the actress told Mr S at the Political Book Awards. 'I think the point Julie was making is that its the lack of government grants that existed when we were younger which no longer exist, which means often only the rich go to drama school. But I, in truth, do not really care whether an actor is 'posh' if you want to call them that, or working class.

Thursday

January 29, 2015

Steerpike

Scottish sisterhood unite for Andy Murray

From our UK edition

While the behaviour of the Westminster mob at PMQs is often reminiscent of playground bickering, the women of Scotland are taking a more civilised approach as they prepare for First Minister's Questions. Far from any hostilities between their opposing parties, Nicola Sturgeon has been joshing on Twitter with Ruth Davidson, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, and Kezia Dugdale, Deputy Leader of Scottish Labour. The trio put their politics aside to support Andy Murray in his match at the Australian Open. @RuthDavidsonMSP I'm sure we could come to some arrangement - @kdugdalemsp?

Steerpike

Plot thickens over which Tory MP planned to push over cameraman

From our UK edition

After Mr S's disclosure that a Tory MP plotted to knock over a BBC cameraman to cease filming for Inside the Commons, speculation is rife as to who the backbencher could be. Steerpike was curious to hear the show's presenter Michael Cockerell deny that the culprit was Bill Wiggin. The Tory MP had very publicly lost his rag with the crew back in September 2014, when he could not hear the PM speaking about Iraq: Bill Wiggin (North Herefordshire) (Con): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You will have noticed that the House is very full. My constituents expect me to be able to get into the Chamber and hear my Prime Minister. No such obligation rests on this poor man behind me. Will you find a safe place for this camera crew, so that he can film without getting in our way?

Steerpike

Tory MP ‘plotted to knock over’ BBC cameraman

From our UK edition

Michael Cockerell's new documentary series inside the House of Commons saw the reporter gain unprecedented access to parliament. However, while many MPs were keen to be involved, a group of Tory MPs plotted to knock over a BBC cameraman in order to stop them filming. The astonishing claim was made by Cockerell at a press screening today of Inside the Commons ahead of its release next Tuesday. 'There was a plan by some backbenchers to knock our cameraman over so that proceedings would be suspended and we would be blamed for it,' he revealed. 'But it was thwarted by the man in charge of security. The doorkeepers are the eyes and ears and the internal security system.' The backbenchers in question were Conservative. 'It was a Tory group.

Steerpike

Coming soon: David Cameron’s obituary

From our UK edition

Isabel Oakeshott has gone to such lengths to get close to David Cameron for the biography she is helping Lord Ashcroft write that she has even been pictured following him on his jogs. Now David Cameron’s nemesis Ashcroft has given an insight into what readers can expect from the tome. Speaking at the Political Book Awards, Ashcroft, who was a sponsor of the event, had a choice use of words to describe the biography of the Prime Minister. 'I hope that next year with Isabel Oakeshott that we may have one of the books up there for 'Political Book of the Year'. As most of you know we are writing the obit... Ah sorry David, the biography.' Mr S hears that the final chapter won't be written until the election result is known.

Steerpike

Chris Bryant breaks two ribs getting out of bed

From our UK edition

It's been a tough few weeks for Chris Bryant since he claimed that 'we can’t just have a culture dominated by Eddie Redmayne and James Blunt and their ilk' in an interview with The Guardian. Privately educated Blunt didn't take kindly to the comments and responded by calling Bryant a 'classist gimp' in an open letter. If that wasn't reason enough to be gloomy, the new shadow culture minister confides to Steerpike that even laughter brings him misery nowadays. 'I broke two ribs this morning, so I'm in quite a lot of pain,' he tells Mr S at Paddy Power's Political Book Awards. 'Bizarrely, getting out of bed in the morning I slipped and I was in hospital and in an ambulance and all that.

Steerpike

Rory Bremner takes John Bercow to task over million pound gym revamp

From our UK edition

John Bercow got more than he bargained for last night when he presented an award at Paddy Power's Political Book Awards. Appearing on stage alongside Rory Bremner to giveaway the gong for 'Polemic of the Year,' the Speaker of the House of Commons was grilled by the impressionist on the rising cost of the Westminster gym upgrade. Bremner said, 'Can I ask you, have you come from the new gym?' 'I have, I was there earlier, I didn't see you there,' Bercow replied, nervously. The 53-year-old Scotsman then asked Bercow if it was really true that a spinning room at the costly gym had been named in his honour. 'It's not called the spinning room, you must always be accurate.

Wednesday

January 28, 2015

Steerpike

When is a meatball not a meatball?

From our UK edition

Q: When is a meatball not a meatball? A: When it's vegan. Nothing is sacred to the killjoys over at Peta, not even the honest Ikea meatball. Just about the only tolerable aspect of an afternoon spent at the Swedish furniture giant – the meatball –has come under attack from the left, with the introduction of a vegan version. Teaming up with the animal rights lobby, 'the company has announced that the tasty vegan treats will be available in its store restaurants beginning in April.' Mr Steerpike is not sure what these non-meat balls will be named, but given Ikea's form in the area, it will probably be a totally random Scandinavian Christian name.

Steerpike

Vote of no confidence for ‘offensive’ Ian Liddell-Grainger

From our UK edition

Ian Liddell-Grainger has been branded unfit for purpose by local Tories. The Conservative MP is facing calls to be deselected as a Tory candidate for the general election, with Conservative councillors in West Somerset passing a vote of no confidence in him. The Tories on the council are cross because he’s allegedly made ‘gratuitously derogatory and offensive comments about West Somerset Council, its leaders and some of its councillors and officers’. The charge sheet includes other accusations of bullying and immoral and dishonourable behaviour. Liddell-Grainger is certainly an outspoken chap.

Steerpike

Robert Harris: BBC’s books coverage is a ‘disgrace’

From our UK edition

Lord Hall will be glad that he didn't attend last night's Costa Book Awards. Robert Harris, who chaired this year's judges, took the opportunity to criticise the corporation's book coverage when announcing the winner. Harris says that it is 'an absolute disgrace' that there is 'no dedicated book programme' on television. The 57-year-old author urged Tony Hall to do more given that the BBC is a 'monetary funded organisation'. 'The Costa Prize attracts people into the trade and it has being doing that for 44 years ever since 1971 and one thing I would just like to say is that in the 1970s books had it a bit easier,' he told guests at the champagne bash at Quaglino's, Mayfair, which saw Helen Macdonald win the gong for H is for Hawk.

Steerpike

Have you heard the one about David Attenborough, a case of diarrhoea and a rat?

From our UK edition

To London Zoo, where Mr S caught up with Sir David Attenborough at the launch of his new UKTV series Natural Curiosities. The 88-year-old broadcaster gave party goers pause for thought when he revealed what his least favourite animal was. 'Rats. I don’t want to put you off your meal but when I was in India, I was by and large not afflicted by tropical diseases, but I did get a bit of the you-know-what and I had to run to a loo. I sat on the loo and I did what I had to do and a rat came out from between my thighs. That is not endearing.' Happily, Attenborough said such vermin does not inhabit his home in Richmond upon Thames.

Tuesday

January 27, 2015

Steerpike

Mike Tindall: Why in any way am I lucky with my in-laws?

From our UK edition

The Duke of York attended the World Economic Forum last week in what was his first public appearance since he was accused of abusing an under-age ‘sex slave’. While Prince Andrew chose to speak out in Davos to deny the allegations, members of his family appear to be lost for words. Mike Tindall, who is married to Prince Andrew's niece Zara Phillips, agreed to an interview with the Radio Times on the condition that 'any questions about the royal family, including Prince Andrew, will lead to it being called to an abrupt halt'. When the writer did venture a question as to how his wife is holding up, he was met with a terse reply. ‘Let’s not go there, I don’t want to talk about it.

Steerpike

Cameron reckons Gove prefers a ‘chillax playlist’ to ‘hip-hoppy’ Beyoncé tunes

From our UK edition

After Sarah Vine revealed that her husband Michael Gove's ringtone that infamously disrupted a cabinet meeting was the latest Beyoncé hit, David Cameron has thrown doubt on this version of events. Speaking to LBC this morning, the PM was tackling the big issues. When host Nick Ferrari played a series of Beyoncé tunes, Call Me Dave seemed confused: 'I don’t think it was any, my memory is it sounded like something from the sort of chillax playlist on Spotify. It wasn’t... that’s all a bit more you know sort of hip-hoppy and I don’t think it was that. But I mean it didn’t last very long. So we weren’t playing beat the intro. We were trying to have a cabinet meeting let’s be clear.' The mystery continues...

Steerpike

Another day, another Tory Ukip defection

From our UK edition

Sloppy seconds are on the menu for both Ukip and the Conservative party this week. Many questions remain for the Tories after Ukip MEP Amjad Bashir defected to them following a Ukip party investigation. Now, Nigel Farage has claimed another Conservative for his side. Paul Bellis, a Tory councillor from Stockport, has left the Conservatives and joined Ukip. Bellis, who has served Bramhall South and Woodford for over two decades, made the decision to join Farage's party after he was deselected by the Conservatives. Not that this information has dampened Ukip members' spirits. Conservative to UKIP defection. Conservative Cllr Paul Bellis, on Stockport Council, joins UKIP.

Steerpike

A medieval war of words: Salman Rushdie vs Times Literary Supplement

From our UK edition

Pencils are being sharpened on both sides of the Atlantic as a tiff between the Times Literary Supplement and Salman Rushdie reaches full swing. The author of The Satanic Verses has threatened to 'get medieval' with the literary magazine after it ran an article criticising his response to the Charlie Hebdo attacks. Following the attacks in Paris, the New York based author released a statement. 'Religion, a mediaeval form of unreason, when combined with modern weaponry becomes a real threat to our freedoms,' he wrote. 'This religious totalitarianism has caused a deadly mutation in the heart of Islam and we see the tragic consequences in Paris today.

Monday

January 26, 2015

Steerpike

Ladbrokes’ election guru should stick to politics (and avoid football)

From our UK edition

Politics nerds are obsessing over every single nugget of information about the election. Ladbrokes seems to be offering a rich bounty, set by Matthew Shaddick, the company's in-house 'Head of Political Betting'. But can his advice really be trusted? In a recent message accompanying their latest batch of odds, Shaddick was quoted as saying: 'If Cambridge can come from 2-0 down to beat Chelsea, I suppose anything is possible, although The Pub Landlord becoming an MP at 100/1 is surely going a bit too far.' Only problem is Cambridge didn't beat Chelsea this weekend, Bradford City did (the final score was an astonishing 4-2 to Bradford). Cambridge drew 0-0 with Man U. Place ya bets - with peril!

Steerpike

How will the Guardian and the BBC cover the Trinity Mirror phone hacking?

From our UK edition

Trinity Mirror have admitted that they published 71 stories which were enabled by phone-hacking. Now eight cases are due to come before Mr Justice Mann at the beginning of March, with a two-week trial scheduled. Those they concern include Alan Yentob, Sadie Frost and Paul Gascoigne. Steerpike is curious to see what coverage the trial will get in the papers and from the BBC. Both the corporation and the Guardian have taken glee in the past at resting the phone hacking crimes firmly in Rupert Murdoch's court. Giving the impression, of course, that the sin of hacking came straight from the blackness of Murdoch's heart - rather than a sin that was spread right across an industry.