Steerpike

Lord Alli never manages to stay out of the spotlight for long. Now the millionaire Labour donor has been found to have breached four parliamentary rules over his registration of interests, according to an investigation carried out by the Lords Commissioner Standards, and has been forced to issue a letter of apology. Oh dear... An investigation over ‘alleged non-registration of interests leading to potential breaches of paragraphs 14(a) and 17 of the thirteenth edition of the Code of Conduct for Members of the House of Lords’ was launched at the start of the month.

What isn't deemed offensive these days? The latest version of Northern Ireland's civil service 'inclusive language guide' has been published – and it appears that even some of the most benign language is too risqué for top mandarins. The newly released document, which advises readers that 'we all have a role to play in championing diversity and inclusion to make our workplace a safe, welcoming space', has issued warnings about how a 'phrase that feels harmless to one person' may leave another 'potentially unsafe'. Good heavens... Perhaps it's a good thing the Northern Irish civil service has put together this handy guide – as Mr S would bet almost no one else would have picked up on the, er, offensiveness of these non-inclusive terms.

Donald Trump's campaign has submitted an official complaint accusing Labour of breaking US electoral law over the secondment of volunteers, just days after Nigel Farage accused Labour of ‘election interference’ after party advisers headed stateside to canvass for Kamala Harris. Now leaked documents thought to have originated from a Labour-linked group suggest the lefty lot may also be looking to attack Elon Musk’s Twitter as part of their pro-Kamala efforts. Good heavens… Leaked documents thought to be drawn up by the Centre for Countering Digital Hate – founded by Sir Keir Starmer's now-chief of staff Morgan McSweeney – have been posted on Paul Thacker and Matt Taibbi's Disinformation Chronicle substack.

The SNP has fired through multiple leaders in recent months, and it now looks to be doing the same with CEOs. After former Daily Record editor Murray Foote announced his resignation last week, the Nats have appointed a new interim chief executive – who has already managed to cause quite a stir... Carol Beattie was formerly the CEO of Stirling Council until she stepped down earlier this year, releasing a rather scathing resignation letter in the process. As reported by the Scottish Daily Mail, Beattie blasted party decisions after lamenting the council authority had suffered 'more than a decade of cuts to its budget', which is decided by the, er, SNP government.

It's not looking like a good week for Sir Keir Starmer's lot and it's only Monday. This morning, Health Secretary Wes Streeting launched the 'biggest consultation in NHS history' in a bid to get public input into how to save the UK's flailing health service. Posting on Twitter today, the Health Secretary wrote that 'all patients, staff and partners' can now 'share your views and experiences' to help the Labour government shape its ten year plan. While it all sounds rather optimistic, Mr S has spotted that the answers to the questionnaire are being made public – and they are not quite as, er, positive as Streeting may have been hoping... From 'diversity' spending to concerns about immigration, the responses are rather damning.

To Australia’s Parliament House, where King Charles gave his landmark address today. But it wasn’t all plain sailing for the British monarch who, just before he came to the end of his keynote speech, was rather rudely interrupted by a protestor. The heckler — an indigenous senator — began to approach the stage, shouting at His Majesty: ‘You are not my King!’  Going on, senator Lidia Thorpe – dressed in a rather interesting coat made of, um, possums – raged at the monarch: You committed genocide against our people. Give us our land back. Give us what you stole from us – our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people... You are not our king, you are not sovereign... You destroyed our land. Good heavens.