Steerpike

It's never too long before Labour's woes are back in the news. Now suspended MP Mike Amesbury has been summonsed to court to face an assault charge – after some rather shocking CCTV footage emerged a fortnight ago. The video appears to show the then-Labour politician speaking to a man at the side of a road, before throwing a punch at his victim. It was later reported that the bust-up had been the culmination of an ongoing dispute over the temporary closure of the Sutton Weaver swing bridge, and that frustration over cuts to the winter fuel payment also came up before the alleged assault took place. Talk about fighting for what you believe in, eh?

Donald Trump has won the US election, and will become the 47th president of the United States. But while the Republicans celebrate, the Labour lot may not be quite as happy. Starmer's army has a history of being less than cordial about the president-elect, as new Tory leader Kemi Badenoch noted today at PMQs. Did Foreign Secretary David Lammy apologise for his comments about the US leader? Would Sir Keir Starmer apologise on his behalf? Er, not quite. And no wonder – there are more than a few comments to apologise for. To jog readers' memories, Mr S has assembled a list of the things Cabinet members have said about the new President. Talk about ageing badly... Keir Starmer, Prime Minister, 19 June 2018: ‘Humanity and dignity. Two words not understood by President Trump.

With polls open across the United States a new President is about to be elected. But who is it going to be? Steerpike has already taken a look at the betting markets who have Trump down as the winner. But do Spectator readers agree? For the past fortnight Mr S has been asking new subscribers to guess who will win the US election and the results are in! The winning guessers receive a cash prize so there was added incentive to tell Steerpike who they really think will win and not just who they'd like to win. It was a tight run thing with Speccie voters breaking neck and neck until the final day of the poll. But with voting closing Trump has taken a slight lead and wins by 55 per cent to Kamala's 45. Not long to go until we find out if Spectator readers will be proved right.

In a rather surprising development, it transpires that Scottish people are Donald Trump's biggest fans in Europe. A Norstat poll for the Times has revealed that support for the US presidential candidate is higher north of the border than in the rest of the UK – and indeed western Europe. Who'd have thought it, eh? According to the survey, a quarter of Scottish adults back the former president for the win this week – while, of the rest of the country, just 16 per cent would throw their weight behind the ex-businessman. Italy is closest behind the Scots in terms of Trump hype, with 24 per cent of Italians hoping the Republican candidate sees victory.