Steerpike

As the dust settles after Saturday's fracas between David Starkey and Laurie Penny, a source familiar with the situation explains to Mr Steerpike the history between these two scribes:   'David and Ms Penny were supposed to be debating at a fundraising event for the Thomas Paine Society about a week ago. Penny was in the US and had demanded a fee (which David did not: he only charges corporate engagements fees and does a huge amount pro bono). Such was her request that the event was cancelled — they couldn't afford her. So David mentioned this in response to the tax avoidance jibe and ended up saying, "I came up from the bottom and won't be lectured at by a jumped up public school girl like you, I will not have it.

The self-styled enfant terrible of the new radical left, Ms Laurie Penny, has taken her one-woman revolution to the heart of the establishment. Yesterday, she caused quite the ruckus at the Sunday Times Education Festival, hosted at Wellington College on a panel with David Starkey. As well as being banned from the speakers dinner at the behest of the Sunday Times, Penny later alerted her Twitter followers to the fact that 'violent old thug' David Starkey had 'attacked' her 'on stage'. 'That's what racists do when you call them out on their bigotry' she Tweeted. 'Bit shaken but I'll be ok.

Another grey weekend and another royal display of jubilation. The annual round of Establishment back-patting for the queen’s birthday is well underway. Arise Sir Kenneth Branagh! Presumably knighted for services to playing knights. Arise also Sir Stilgoe, Dame Jowell and Sir Baldry. Congratulations too to Alexander Chancellor, of this parish, for his CBE for services to journalism. Usually, the annual bitter mud-slinging is delayed until the letters pages of Sundays, where those who missed out chippily dig at those who have accepted gongs for being Establishment sell outs. It was ever thus, but a big clap for this year's sore loser Alastair Campbell for getting the ball rolling before the colours had even been trooped.

Steerpike's transatlantic cousins at the New York Post's Page Six are stirring up the rumours (again) that Vogue editor Anna Wintour is set to become Obama's Ambassador to the Court of St James.  Coincidentally, the fashion supremo has been pulling her weight for Obama's fundraising. Though vaguely denying the appointment, she is not exactly doing to much to quell the speculation — apparently she's very happy in her current job. Patrick Wintour, Anna'a little brother and the Political Editor of the Guardian, tells me he does not 'think she wants to give up the wardrobe allowance yet.

I hear that legendary British producer Jeremy Thomas (of The Last Emperor, Sexy Beast and Crash fame) is working on a script about the tumultuous affair between Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. Before fans of France's great intellectual exports become overly excited, it seems that Thomas wants to concentrate on the pair's Nazi sympathies during the War. Top of Thomas's cast wish list is French star Vincent Cassel — who had a memorable turn as a crazed sex addict in A Dangerous Method — and Marion Cotillard who won an Oscar for her portrayal of Edith Piaf. Rumour has it that Thomas could be set to hook up once again with David Cronenberg after the success of Crash and A Dangerous Method. Mr Steerpike will keep you posted.

Martin Amis is not appearing at Hay until next week, but his new novel was already getting the intelligentsia chattering this weekend. ‘Lionel Asbo: State of Britain’, a grim tale of a violent lottery winning criminal, is under strict embargo until it’s release on Thursday and the Telegraph has paid an undisclosed fortune for the serialisation rights. Numbered and unbound review copies have been kept under lock and key for weeks to protect the exclusive deal, so it was a little unfortunate that three copies of the novel were found in the festival's onsite bookshop on Saturday morning — the day the exclusive extract ran in the the paper.

I have learnt that Toby Young, also of this parish, has been briefing his fellow Sun on Sunday columnist Jordan, aka Katie Price. Young is one of Michael Gove’s biggest free school champions and I hear that keeping readers abreast of developments with his own West London Free School has paid off — Jordan is to set up a free school for blind and disabled children in Kent.  Toby informed me of the obvious benefits this development: ‘She’ll make a much more appealing spokesperson for the free schools movement than me!' Mr Steerpike couldn’t possibly comment.  But will we be seeing other Sun columnist joining the education revolution? The Jeremy Clarkson School of Driving? The Frankie Boyle School of Performing Arts?