Steerpike

The French media might prostrate themselves before their own leaders; but they are a little more adventurous with ours. Le Figaro reports that the original plan for today’s Anglo-French Summit at RAF Brize Norton, followed by a pub lunch, was to have been a far grander affair. Hollande was to be invited to Cameron’s constituency and then on to nearby Blenheim Palace. But French officials reportedly pointed out that the Duke of Marlborough's home was so named in honour of his ancestor's crushing defeat of the Franco-Bavarian army at Blenheim in 1704. The French suffered 30,000 casualties and the battle was a turning point in the War of the Spanish Succession. Mr S would like to think that the PM was acutely aware of this history when making his arrangements.

Ed Balls had a tricky time at Treasury Questions today. But fortunately, it seems he had his colleague Chris Leslie watching his back. Or, more specifically, his backside. Mr Steerpike was intrigued to see that Leslie's contribution during a particularly robust round of heckling was to pat the Shadow Chancellor on the bottom as he sat down.

Bruce Springsteen spent years ignoring his self-proclaimed biggest fan Chris Christie, but relations thawed between the two beasts of New Jersey last year in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. The Republican governor and the staunchly Democratic legend ‘hugged it out’ backstage at a fundraising concert for storm relief, which Christie failed to remain cool about:  ‘When we got home there was a lot of weeping because of the hug. Well, to be honest, I was the one weeping; everyone else was fine.’ Now relations have taken a dramatic turn for the worse as Christie is engulfed by the political retaliations scandal (affectionately known as bridge-gate). The Boss has given the state’s boss one hell of a slap on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

President Hollande’s private life continues to fascinate the whole world (other than the French press pack, obviously); but it is worth noting that the embattled president signalled a major shift in economic policy yesterday. France is a couple of years late to the austerity party; but it will experience €50 billion worth of cuts in 2015 - 2017, on top of the €15bn scheduled for this year. When Hollande won the Élysée, he promised ‘another way’. But he’s been mugged by reality. Austerity est arrivé. All of which is a little embarrassing for Ed Miliband, who told ITV in May 2012: ‘I congratulate Francois Hollande.

Francois Hollande, was framed by a set of panto-esque red curtains as he attempted to conduct a gigantic U-turn on fiscal policy while simultaneously fending off interest in the identity of the First Lady of France. The President wanted to sound and appear dignified; but it seemed to Mr S that his make-up had been painted by a malevolent clown. The leader of the Fifth Republic puckered his tiny, baby pink lips and proceeded with his economic statement. My filthy Anglo-Saxon mind made it seem that the spiel began with a procession of double entendres. ‘We're talking about going faster, going further, going in more depth,’ he promised. ‘We must produce more. We must produce better,’ he conceded.

Last week the sugar police were on the beet beat. This week the ‘thinnist’ lobby is claiming that a 2007 report into obesity, which predicted that half the country would be obese by 2050, was ‘an underestimate’. The National Obesity Forum says that ‘it is entirely reasonable to conclude that the determinations of the 2007 Foresight Report, while shocking at the time, may now underestimate the scale of the problem.’ But Christopher Snowdon, the bon vivant from the Institute of Economic Affairs, says that the only thing being underestimated here is the evidence to the contrary. He told Mr Steerpike earlier this afternoon: ‘We are not seeing an "exponential" rise in obesity, as the National Obesity Forum claims.