Steerpike, Author at The Spectator

Tuesday

20 January 2015

Exclusive: Russell Brand pays an unwelcome visit to Lord Rothermere’s home

Russell Brand’s stints filming for his new documentary on the financial crisis have so far seen him storm RBS and upset a bank employee by causing his lunch to go cold. Now Mr S learns that the 39-year-old comedian’s forays haven’t stopped with capitalist banks. Brand recently made an unwelcome visit to the home of Lord Rothermere, the proprietor of the Daily Mail newspaper group. The comedian turned up unannounced at the London residence of the executive chairman of the Daily Mail and General Trust, traipsing through his front garden with a camera crew in tow. Unfortunately for Brand, both Lord Rothermere and his wife Claudia weren’t at the property at the time of his visit.

Monday

19 January 2015

Steerpike

Now that the Sun has axed Page 3 girls, will Britain ever be the same?

Word is that Friday's edition of The Sun was the last to have a topless woman on Page 3 - thereby closing a chapter of British cultural history. Immortalised, perhaps, in the following sketch from Yes, Prime Minister:- PM: Don't tell me about the press, I know exactly who reads the papers: The Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country; The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country; The Times is read by people who actually do run the country; the Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country; the Financial Times is read by people who own the country; The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country; and The Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it is.

Steerpike

Chuka his toys out of the pram

Uh oh, looks like Chuka Umunna hasn't been doing his homework. The shadow business secretary walked out of a live television interview on Sky News after he was asked his opinion on a letter Eric Pickles sent to Muslim leaders. The Labour MP, who was invited onto the show to talk about the economy, appeared distressed to be questioned on the issue as he had not read the controversial letter in question. His response was to wave his arm around in a fury before walking off air, as Steerpike's gif helpfully demonstrates. While Mr S is all for playing fair, surely Chuka should be reading his party’s own detailed media briefing that it sends out every day, explaining what the story is and what frontbenchers should say if they’re cornered?

Steerpike

Green Party smash their own system

Last week the Green Party announced that their membership has soared to 52,000, thanks to a little help from the free publicity awarded to them by the Prime Minister over the leaders' debate. However, Steerpike hears that all is not well at Green Party HQ, or their 'National Office' as the non-hierarchical collective delicately call it. 'Our systems have crashed,' Green peer Jenny Jones was heard loudly proclaiming at their press conference this morning. 'They can't cope with the numbers.' Well that's certainly one meaning to revolutionary cries of 'smash the system,' there was Mr S thinking that you couldn't go wrong with a carbon free pencil on a bit of recycled paper.

Steerpike

‘Blooming precious’ James Blunt vs ‘prejudiced wazzock’ Chris Bryant

Chris Bryant's call for more diversity in British culture, has hit a nerve with James Blunt. After Bryant, the new shadow culture minister, remarked that 'we can’t just have a culture dominated by Eddie Redmayne and James Blunt and their ilk,' the You're Beautiful singer has responded in an open letter. Despite initially brushing off the comments on Twitter, Blunt writes that Bryant is a 'classist gimp'. Really? I thought we'd got rid of me years ago. RT @ianbirrell: James Blunt is 'dominating' UK culture, according to Labour arts spokesman — James Blunt (@JamesBlunt) January 18, 2015 The musician, who is married to Lord Wellesley's daughter Sofia, claims that his Harrow education did not help him launch his music career.

Steerpike

Will South Thanet care that Al Murray has a gig in Dartford on election night?

On election night, Al Murray will not be in South Thanet as is the usual custom among candidate hopefuls. Instead, the 46-year-old comedian will be performing a gig in Dartford. Despite launching his campaign last week to run as a Free United Kingdom Party candidate in the same constituency Nigel Farage is vying for, Murray's comedy tour means he will be nowhere to be seen for the bulk of the night, though it's thought he will head there after his show. The Orchard Theatre's marketing manager Michelle May has confirmed that Murray is to go ahead with the gig. 'Al is 100 per cent committed to his spring One Man, One Guvnor Tour and will be going ahead with the Dartford show on May 7 and will travel onto South Thanet after,' May says.

Saturday

17 January 2015

Steerpike

Burnham’s bill for hollow Hunt legal threat

Ubiquitous Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham has had to admit that he 'spent' £25,000 in a disastrous and embarrassing threat to sue his counterpart Jeremy Hunt. Burnham has had to declare donations in kind of £16,665 worth of legal services offered by Steel & Shamash, the Labour Party's solicitors, and £8,250 from Gavin Millar QC, a barrister who specialises in defamation proceedings. Students of North London Labour Kremlinology will be aware that Millar is the brother of Fiona Millar, the left-wing agitator and partner of Alastair Campbell. He was last seen taking down Tory MP Andrew Mitchell in the High Court.

Friday

16 January 2015

Steerpike

Charles Moore puts Michael Gove’s ‘jazzy’ ringtone to the test

Ever since Michael Gove was scolded at Cabinet for bringing his noisy mobile phone into the room, everyone’s been trying to find out what the ringtone is. Cabinet sources various described it to The Times as a ‘female ballad’ and a ‘Jazz FM-style comedown music after a heavy night out’. But the Chief Whip is refusing to reveal what the tune is.Last night Gove spoke at a Westminster dinner, and started his speech by announcing he was putting his mobile phone on silent. He then said that the ringtone would remain secret until someone worked out how to use the Freedom of Information Act to secure its identity. But then the former Education Secretary looked rather confused, and clutched at his pocket.

Steerpike

That’s Dr Vince Cable to you…

After Vince Cable was ditched last week as the Liberal Democrat’s main economic spokesman, Mr S is pleased to hear that he still has some titles left to his name. Word reaches Steerpike that a number of staff working with the Business Secretary, who has a PhD in Economics, have been advised to refer to him strictly as Dr Vince Cable in written correspondence. ‘We were a bit surprised that Vince Cable won't do as that's what we are used to but it apparently has to be Dr Vince,' a mole whispers. A Liberal Democrats source says that far from coming as a request from the business secretary himself it’s official guidance that in formal correspondence politicians are referred to by their full title.

Thursday

15 January 2015

Steerpike

Al Murray in Twitter spat with Ukip MEP

Although Nigel Farage referred to his new political rival Al Murray as the first 'serious opponent' he has encountered in South Thanet, not all of Ukip are amused that The Pub Landlord is running for the seat their leader is after. David Coburn, the Ukip MEP for Scotland, has got himself embroiled in a Twitter spat with the Oxbridge educated comedian, accusing him of 'mocking the voters of Thanet South'. @DavidCoburnUKip @Independent did I go to a better Uni than you? Ah well — Al Murray (@almurray) January 15, 2015 @DavidCoburnUKip @Independent having a punt at my education not much better. — Al Murray (@almurray) January 15, 2015 @DavidCoburnUKip @Independent *your. There's that Uni education again.

Steerpike

Red Meat Month: Tory MP vs Peta

After Mr S's 'Red Meat Month' article revealed the trouble brewing between Neil Parish and Peta's UK director Mimi Bekhechi over the Tory MP's proposal for a meat month in Parliament, the pair appeared on today's Daily Politics to try and put their beef to one side.

Steerpike

Peers demand PM lobbies President over haggis ban

Patriotic peers have demanded that David Cameron raise the US haggis import ban with President Obama at the White House today. As Steerpike noted yesterday, the 1971 ban on the product is under renewed scrutiny in the run up to Burn’s Night, with Lord McColl demanding answers to great cheers in the House of Lords this morning. Apparently ‘this wholesome food is much better than the junk many Americans eat’. Tory peer Michael Forsyth even went as far as to demand that a special envoy on the matter be appointed immediately, and suggested the former First Minister Alex Salmond might be free to take the fight directly to the Yanks.

Wednesday

14 January 2015

Steerpike

Could a Tory peer convince the USA to stomach imported haggis?

Tomorrow, parliament will debate a topic of immense significance. Steerpike hears that Tory peer Lord McColl is planning on championing a great repressed minority, in a land that claims to be free. Not so much a political hot potato, rather a hot sheep stomach stuffed with the animal’s heart, liver and lungs. Since 1971 haggis has been banned in the States, denying the 24 million Americans who claim to be of Scottish descent (with varying degrees of credibility), from celebrating Burns Night properly. Behind the scenes there has been a long lobbying campaign to have the ban overturned, aimed at Defra and the US Embassy, and spearheaded by Ranald Macdonald, owner of Boisdale, whose four restaurants alone serve 4.5 tonnes of the offal stuff every year.

Steerpike

Bond villain Andrew Scott gets into the spirit of 007

The last 007 film saw James Bond substitute his trademark vodka martini for a Heineken, after producers found a £30 million advertising deal with the Dutch brand too good to refuse. Thankfully, the next film Spectre will see Bond reunited with his martini as a result of a sponsorship agreement with Belvedere vodka. So Mr S was reassured to hear that Andrew Scott, who has been cast as the villain in the film, has been getting into the spirit of Bond ahead of filming. ‘I had a friend come to my house recently, and we drank martinis,’ Scott told Mr S at GQ’s London Collections dinner at Hakkasan. ‘By the end she was drunk and you know what she said to me? She said "you made the martinis too strong". I mean, how do you do that?

Steerpike

Neil Parish MP: In defence of ‘Red Meat Month’

Dear Peta, Thank you for your recent letter objecting to my campaign to support British livestock farming and encouraging sustainable red meat industry. I read with interest your argument that consuming red meat is 'out of touch' and 'irresponsible'. I am sure the millions of ordinary Britons who have enjoyed roast beef or a shepherd’s pie will be surprised to learn that they are 'out of touch' and with good reason. The House of Commons recently organised a 'World Vegan Month' for restaurants on the estate to promote veganism. There is a World Vegan Month, World Vegan Day and National Vegetarian Week but nothing to promote responsible, sustainable produced red meat such as beef and lamb.

Steerpike

Food fight in Parliament: Forks clash over ‘Red Meat Month’

Trouble is brewing in Parliament. First there was vegan month, which rattled the cages of the establishment's red-blooded males, and now a proposal for a meat month has led to beef between a Tory MP and Peta. The animal rights group have asked Neil Parish, who is chair of the All-Parliamentary Group on Animal Welfare, to reconsider his proposal for the carnivorous celebration, claiming the idea is 'grossly irresponsible'. Not put off by the hostile reception, Parish is pushing on with his plans for a 'Red Meat Month,' arguing it's only fair Parliament’s restaurants celebrate British meat in the same way they have embraced the green stuff of late. In an open letter sent to Steerpike, Parish has responded to Peta's criticism.

Tuesday

13 January 2015

Steerpike

No dry January for the BBC’s finest

It was no expenses spared last night at One Great George Street to toast the departure of long-time Andrew Marr Show editor Barney Jones. Most ‘leaving dos’ in journalism involve a few beers down the Dog and Duck but Aunty was an extremely kind benefactor, providing fine wines and canapés as well as music from Nick Lowe across three of the most expensive function rooms in Westminster. Three cheers for the licence fee! Ed Miliband and George Osborne were there, alongside half the cabinet including Danny Alexander and Michael Fallon. Andrew Mitchell and David Davis plotted in the corner while Harriet Harman and Peter Hain represented Labour.

Steerpike

The joke that stunted Alan Johnson’s career

To the Oldie literary lunch where Mr S dined alongside the magazine's editor Alexander Chancellor and Alan Johnson. Talk soon turned to Johnson’s former boss Tony Blair, as the Labour politician recalled a joke that backfired spectacularly. ‘Probably the reason why I fell out,’ Johnson said, before stopping himself and tactically rephrasing. ‘Alex and I have been talking a lot about Tony Blair, who I tell a lot of stories about but they are all true and they’re said with affection.’ ‘But Tony didn’t like it when, do you remember when he had that heart problem and he had to go in to have an operation?

Steerpike

Nick Robinson vs Russell Brand: Round Two

Last week Nick Robinson took a swipe at Russell Brand's call for the public to refrain from voting, claiming that it could undermine democracy. He went so far as to say that in a choice between quitting the BBC and defending democracy he would choose the latter. Happily it didn't come to that and instead the BBC's political editor got to pester Brand on Radio 4 in the first episode of Can Democracy Work? During the programme Brand is asked by a member of the public why if he has such a problem with today's politicians, he won't stand for parliament himself. ‘I’d stand for parliament but I’d be scared that I’d become one of them,’ the comedian replies.

Steerpike

Why Mo Ansar won’t jog on

Mr S's favourite 'rent-a-quote' Mo Ansar appears to have missed the message in a Twitter spat with our own Alex Massie. Ansar, who was a planning manager at Lloyds-TSB in Winchester until 2006, has reinvented himself as the 'voice of Islam' in recent years. He may, however, want to try thinking before sharing opinions in the future... #Newsnight awkwardly and gratuitously shows a print out of the #CharlieHebdo cover. Adults know the difference between could, and should. — Mohammed Ansar (@MoAnsar) January 12, 2015 @alexmassie I should jog more, generally. Not entirely sure what your point is here, other than one about jogging.