Steerpike

Steerpike

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

Thursday

Steerpike

Starmer backs Labour minister named in corruption probe

The Labour drama just never seems to stop. All eyes are now on Tulip Siddiq after the Daily Mail revealed the Labour minister was named in an embezzlement probe. It has been reported that Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission has launched an investigation into the lefty MP, her mother and her aunt over claims the family embezzled billions from infrastructure projects. How curious… Siddiq herself is alleged to have helped broker a deal with Russia in 2013 that overinflated the price of a nuclear power plant. The Labour MP has been accused of helping her aunt Sheikh Hasina – Bangladesh's recently-ousted PM – to siphon off large sums of money intended for eight infrastructure projects, with the claims coming as part of a wider investigation into Hasina.

Steerpike

Salmond aided police in SNP finance probe

To Scotland, where the focus is back on Operation Branchform. It now transpires that the late former first minister Alex Salmond met and spoke with police in the probe into the SNP's funds and finances – which saw three senior nationalists arrested and Nicola Sturgeon's husband Peter Murrell charged with embezzlement. How interesting… It has today been revealed that Salmond assisted officers in their fraud investigation, with reports suggesting the Alba party leader secretly met Branchform detectives more than a year ago. The long-running probe began in 2021 over a 'missing' sum of £600,000 fundraised for a second independence referendum, with Murrell arrested alongside the party treasurer and the SNP's former Dear Leader last year.

Wednesday

Steerpike

Labour splits over WASPI compensation

Christmas may be just around the corner, but not everyone is in festive spirits quite yet. The mood has certainly soured among the WASPI women campaigning for government compensation over changes to the state pension age. On Tuesday, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall announced that no payouts would be forthcoming, with costs of up to £10.5 billion not deemed 'fair or appropriate' by the Labour lot. Now, Kendall is not only facing backlash from pension activists but from within her own party too. The now-Secretary of State has been on quite the journey over the issue, as Mr S revealed yesterday, blogging on her own website as recently as 2019 that she was a 'longstanding supporter of the WASPI campaign' and that 'this injustice can't go on'.

Steerpike

Starmer makes the most of No. 10’s gift shop

Jetting off on one of his (many) trips abroad last month, Keir Starmer was snapped on his plane sipping from an intriguing choice of mug. The Labour leader seems to favour a specially produced cup emblazoned with the number '10' – just in case he, er, forgets that he is actually the Prime Minister, again. The item in question was specially produced by the No. 10 gift shop, though sadly purchases are only available to Downing Street staff. Spoilsports! Limited-edition £17 mugs are just one of the 19 items currently being sold at the power centre of British politics. The costliest items are the top-of-the-line hooded sweatshirts on offer for £29 while branded cufflinks go for £9-a-pop.

Steerpike

Top Tory tries to woo Elon Musk

The talk in Westminster is how much Elon Musk is going to give to Reform. But might the Tories might be a better bet for the Tesla billionaire? On this morning's media round, Andrew Griffith – the Shadow Business Secretary – made his pitch to the X owner, praising him as an 'accomplished' businessman and insisting that his party is best placed to take the fight to Labour. Griffith told Kay Burley on Sky that the Tories were the 'only' force able to take on 'the woke mind virus', saying: What I would say to Elon is: he's been campaigning a lot about freedom of speech. He talks a lot about the "woke mind virus", this whole thing that he thinks is infecting the world. And I'd say, look, look at the Conservative party.

Steerpike

Reform sack Scots organiser over terror links

Nigel Farage's party has been having a rather good time of it lately, after winning its first five seats in the July election and continuing to gather support across the country. But north of the border, Reform has found itself in a spot of bother after its party organiser in Scotland was found to have links to terrorists. Good heavens… A probe by the Daily Record has revealed that Craig Campbell's late father was an Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) commander who was jailed after the bombing of Catholic pubs in Glasgow. Campbell's cousin Jason was also handed a lengthy jail sentence after he was found guilty of murdering 16-year-old Celtic supporter and aspiring sportswriter Mark Scott.

Tuesday

Steerpike

Mauritius rejects Sir Keir’s Chagos deal

As if Starmer's Labour government hasn't had enough bad news lately, it now transpires that Mauritius has rejected the Sir Keir Starmer's Chagos Islands deal. Mauritian PM Navinchandra Ramgoolam has told his parliamentarians that the agreement was just not good enough and is now calling for improvements. Back to the drawing board… Speaking to his MPs, Ramgoolan revealed he had already spoken to UK National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell about the change in plan, remarking: Mauritius made clear that while it is still [our] belief to conclude an agreement with the UK, the draft agreement that was shown to us after the general election is one which, in our view, would not produce the benefits that the nation could expect from such an agreement.

Steerpike

Humza Yousaf’s top five worst Covid WhatsApps

Well, well, well. It has now emerged that the SNP government will ban WhatsApp on official devices in the wake of the Covid Inquiry. The announcement from the SNP's deputy first minister Kate Forbes came today after the publication of an external review into the use of mobile messaging apps on government devices. 'The use of mobile messaging apps increased during the pandemic as staff worked remotely in unprecedented and difficult circumstances,' Forbes remarked, adding: 'Having reflected on our working practices, we are now implementing changes to the use of mobile messaging apps.' How curious. A number of Scottish government figures endured rather embarrassing sessions at the Covid Inquiry after their pandemic messages were dredged up for all to see.

Steerpike

Liz Kendall’s WASPI women U-turn

Another day, another drama. Liz Kendall, the Work and Pensions Secretary, has finally confirmed that the WASPI women will not receive pension compensation. The decision comes after women born in the 1950s began campaigning to be reimbursed for a previous rise in the state pension age, with activists claiming millions had not been adequately informed of the changes. Kendall has today said that the 'great majority of women knew the state pension was increasing', adding that a pay out costing up to £10.5 billion would not be 'fair or proportionate' – although she did accept that there had been a delay in sending letters communicating the changes. But Kendall's firm stance on the matter now may come as a surprise to those who knew the Labour politician in 2019.

Steerpike

Humza Yousaf to step down as MSP

Well, well, well. It now transpires that hapless Humza Yousaf will step down as an MSP at the next Holyrood election, with the former first minister of Scotland making the announcement this morning. It comes after Yousaf spent a year in the top job before being ousted in April this year when he rather abruptly cut off his eco-activist coalition partners. Dear oh dear… Posting his letter to John Swinney on Twitter, Yousaf wrote that being Scotland's first minister had been 'the greatest honour' of his life, going on about his time in the Scottish government: In government, I was proud to have significantly increased our budget for active travel, laid the groundwork for taking Scotrail back into public ownership and overseen the completion of the Queensferry crossing.

Monday

Steerpike

Starmer receives worst rating yet as Labour leader

Another day, another bit of bad news for Sir Keir Starmer. A new Ipsos poll carried out between 27 November and 4 December has revealed that dissatisfaction with the Labour leader has reached a staggering 61 per cent – his worst rating as leader of the lefty lot. Good heavens… It’s not just Sir Keir struggling with unpopularity – overall unhappiness with the Labour government remains rather high too, with a whopping 70 per cent of Brits registering their dissatisfaction with the party in charge.

Steerpike

SNP ministers blasted over taxpayer-funded limo trips

To Scotland, where more SNP ministers are under scrutiny over their use of official limousines with First Minister John Swinney facing calls to investigate the matter. It's not a good look for the Nats who, alongside ministerial slip-ups, have the ongoing police probe into the party's funds and finances to contend with. Dear oh dear… It transpires that rural affairs secretary Mairi Gougeon took her husband to a Six Nations rugby game between Scotland and France last February as guests of Salmon Scotland. She classed the trip as official government business but due to her failure to take an official with her, there was no formal record of what was discussed and the tickets were not declared as gifts.

Friday

Steerpike

The Spectator’s Christmas reception, in pictures

The festive season is well and truly upon us and The Spectator celebrated with a Christmas reception that took place this week. From Labour cabinet ministers to Reform's Nigel Farage, the great and the good of Westminster descended upon Old Queen Street. After a pretty eventful year in politics, parliamentarians, pundits and professionals were able to let off some steam and enjoy the festivities.

Steerpike

Graham Linehan: I’m leaving Britain

To the world of comedy, where it transpires that renowned gender critical activist Graham Linehan is looking for pastures new. The Irish comedian – who worked on Father Ted and The IT Crowd – took to X/Twitter this week to announce he is leaving Britain to move to America after claiming 'freedom of speech is in bad shape at the moment' in the UK. In a video released on Elon Musk's social media site, Linehan discussed his attempts to dismantle gender ideology and how he received 'no support' from his colleagues in the industry in the process. 'As a result,' he admitted, 'I haven't worked in five years.' But it's not all doom and gloom.

Steerpike

Labour cabinet splits over Assad

Another day, another Labour drama. It now transpires that Sir Keir Starmer’s army is in turmoil over a previous Labour party's response to Bashar al-Assad’s regime – with one current Cabinet Secretary taking a pop at another. Talk about trouble in paradise, eh? Appearing on BBC Question Time, Health Secretary Wes Streeting remarked that 'if the West had acted faster, Assad would have been gone'. He went on: With hindsight, I think we can say, looking back on the events of 2013, that the hesitation of this country and the United States created a vacuum that Russia moved into and kept Assad in power for much longer. How curious – particularly given some of Streeting's colleagues were, er, on the opposition frontbenches at that time.

Thursday

Steerpike

Scotland’s Labour voters support two-child cap, poll finds

To Scotland, where a new poll has revealed results the Nats may be rather unhappy to see. It now transpires that more Labour voters north of the border support the UK government's two-child benefit cap than oppose it – just days after the SNP said they would scrap the policy in Scotland. How very interesting… A Norstat poll for The Sunday Times revealed that 34 per cent of Labour voters in Scotland oppose John Swinney's move to abolish the two-child cap, while only 31 per cent support its reversal. Despite the Scottish Greens blasting the Conservative policy as 'morally bankrupt', the party's voters were the biggest proponents of the policy with only a quarter of the eco-activists keen to see it repealed.

Steerpike

Scotland caves to UK puberty blocker ban

Well, well, well. It now transpires that the Scottish government will follow Westminster's lead on the UK puberty blocker ban – after Health Secretary Wes Streeting told parliament that he would be extending the policy following the findings from Baroness Cass's review. How very interesting… On Wednesday, the Health Secretary told MPs that the way the medications had been used was a 'scandal', adding he would continue on the medication block introduced by the Tories in May, noting: I know it won’t feel like it based on the decisions I’m taking today, but I really do care about this and so does this government. I am determined to improve the quality of care and access to healthcare for all trans people.

Wednesday

Steerpike

Full list: the MPs scrutinising the Assisted Dying Bill

At the end of November, Labour MP Kim Leadbeater's Terminally Ill Adults Bill passed its second reading with a majority of 55 in favour. Now, the MPs who have been selected to sit on the bill committee have been revealed. Find the full list – including each parliamentarian's party and how they voted on the issue – below.

Steerpike

Could Reform and the Tories form an electoral pact?

As if 2024 hadn't been packed full of elections, eyes are already moving to next year's local polls – and it seems some quite interesting conversations are taking place. According to Bloomberg, it transpires that Tory and Reform party branches in parts of the country have held discussions about working together in next year's council elections to push out Sir Keir Starmer's Labour lot. And so the plotting recommences… According to reports, talks have included the idea that Conservative associations could stand down candidates in certain areas where Reform might be better placed to defeat Labour – while Nigel Farage's lot would return the favour where the Tories stand a better chance.

Steerpike

Watch: Farming chief weeps at Labour’s tax raid

The public outrage at Labour's family farm tax isn't going away any time soon. Today farmers from across the country have driven their tractors to Westminster in yet another protest at Rachel Reeves's inheritance tax on agricultural assets, as countrymen fear for the future of family-owned farms. Sir Keir Starmer's Labour lot insist the majority of farms will be unaffected but their pleas for calm have landed on deaf ears as the Starmtroopers continue to lose rural supporters over the matter. As frustrated farmers gathered outside of parliament today, the issue was also being discussed inside the walls of Westminster.