Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike
It’s been another bad week for the government, with rows over farmers, ships and businesses too. So what better time for Keir Starmer to manfully undertake his media duties, sitting out this morning for a grilling with local BBC news stations? This annual ordeal can prove somewhat merciless – as Liz Truss famously found to
‘Two countries separated by a common language’ is how transatlantic relations are often defined. But these days it really does seem like some in Washington are struggling to understand what is going on this side of the pond. Mr S has previously noted how British-based networks like the Center for Countering Digital Hate have enraged
At last, an outbreak of common sense from Essex Police. After a mounting backlash – with Boris Johnson, Elon Musk and Nigel Farage expressing their dismay – the boys in blue have decided to drop their investigation into Telegraph journalist Allison Pearson. The Crown Prosecution Service advised that no charges should be brought against Pearson
It’s a day ending in ‘y’ – so it’s more bad news for the government. This afternoon the men and women of HM Loyal Press Gallery trooped over to No. 10 for their lobby briefing with Starmer’s superannuated spinners. Unfortunately, it seems, no-one in the ever-expanding comms team had actually worked out a line on
RIP John Prescott. The Labour heavyweight kept much of Fleet Street in business throughout the noughties, indulging in various antics that inspired endless tabloid headlines. ‘Two Jags’, ‘two jabs’, ‘two shags’ and even ‘two lavs’ were some of the nicknames bestowed upon him – with the latter being a reference to the multiple toilet seats
Dear oh dear. The left-wing Twitter scourge hasn’t gone quite as well as users may have hoped. Following Donald Trump’s victory at the start of the month and the resultant appointment of Twitter CEO Elon Musk as co-leader of the Department of Government Efficiency, a number of ‘right on’ tweeters decided to jump ship to
Rachel Reeves remains in the spotlight after weeks of scrutiny over her rather curious CV claims. Mr S documented the full timeline of events on Tuesday and it is really quite something – with the Chancellor’s former role at Halifax Bank of Scotland first coming under scrutiny before attention was drawn to previous assertions she’d
Thousands of farmers descended on Westminster this morning to protest the Labour government’s new inheritance tax plans. As protesters brandished placards and called for the Chancellor to row back on her proposals, some rather famous faces were seen in the crowds – with former Top Gear presenter and now Clarkson’s Farm host Jeremy Clarkson amongst
Well, well, well. Picking a fight with Elon Musk is hardly the wisest decision Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour lot have made so far, especially given the new job the Twitter CEO has been awarded by Donald Trump. With Musk set to become co-leader of the president-elect’s Department of Government Efficiency, the UK Prime Minister might
Dear oh dear. Rachel Reeves has ended up in something of a pickle over her employment history, with the Chancellor under fire over whether she has been straight with the public about her economist background. Certainly after that Budget, Mr S is hardly surprised eyebrows are being raised… Pressure has been piling on Reeves for
While farmers gather in Westminster today to protest Labour’s Budget, it appears that north of the border Scottish Labour also have doubts about aspects of Rachel Reeves’s fiscal statement. Party leader Anas Sarwar has now vowed he will bring back the universal winter fuel payment for pensioners in a pushback against a cut brought about
Ding ding ding! All is not well in the SNP as the Nats are back to fighting among themselves over the issue of double jobs. Last week Westminster leader Stephen Flynn announced that he will stand in the 2026 Holyrood election – and, if successful, he will also continue on in his existing MP role.
Another day, another Downing Street drama. This time No. 10 is in trouble with the British Sikh community after it transpired its social media accounts failed to acknowledge the religious festival of Gurpurb last week. Now over 300 Sikh groups have addressed a scathing letter to the Prime Minister, blasting Sir Keir Starmer’s blunder as
After eight years of poorly serving the capital, there was relief from London taxpayers last month when Amy Lamé announced she was standing down as Sadiq Khan’s ‘Night Czar’. On her watch, dozens of clubs, pubs and bars closed down, all the while she continued to enjoy inflation-busting pay rises. It was Mr S who
To Scotland, where the Nats are once again under scrutiny over expenses claims. It now transpires that not only had SNP health secretary Neil Gray been using ministerial cars to take him to sports matches, he took relatives in the vehicle with him too. The last time Mr S checked, acting ‘in line with government
Hapless Humza Yousaf certainly picks his battles – and this week the former first minister has taken aim at Elon Musk. On a Tortoise media podcast, Yousaf rather pompously claimed that the tech billionaire was part of a campaign to ‘besmirch’ his reputation and insisted he was ‘certain’ the Twitter CEO had access to his
The circumstances of David Lammy’s Chagos deal get murkier and murkier. This week, the incumbent Mauritian government went to the polls – and got roundly thrashed. Pravind Jugnauth’s MSM party won just two of the 62 seats in parliament, with the Labour party taking the other 60. Now, five days after losing office, the Mauritian
Good old Remainiacs: where would be without them? It is eight years now since the UK voted to quit the EU and nearly five since we actually left – but a small band of Hiroo Onoda-impressionists are still refusing to accept those basic facts. Chief among them is ‘Led by Donkeys’, the self-identifying ‘satirists’ who
Oh dear. It is more than a week since Steerpike broke the news of Downing Street’s Diwali debacle. Many Hindu attendees at the No. 10 reception were horrified to be served alcohol and meat at the event, which aimed to improve the links between Labour and the British Indian community. When Mr S first Downing
Whether it’s falling masonry or rats, staff in the Houses of Parliament have to put up with a lot in their workplace. Since 2020 they have to endure the daily delight of navigating New Palace Yard in various states of repair. Parly bosses boast that this is to ‘deliver better and more inclusive accessibility, enhanced
