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

Sunday

Steerpike

Lorraine Kelly’s Brexit holiday shame

Congratulations to the artist formerly known as Lorraine Kelly, for taking the gong for this weekend's most tasteless media appearance. Having repeatedly failed to turn up to host her own show on ITV, the self-styled 'chatty persona' decided to take a turn on a rival channel, pitching up to Times Radio on Saturday for an interview on – what else? – her travel plans. The Scottish sage moaned to host Hugo Rifkind about the 'awful' post-Brexit queues, declaring that 'people were lied to' and 'didn't know' what they voted for in the 2016 EU referendum. 'I'm fed up with going away to Europe and kind of apologising, you feel embarrassed' she added. But it was what followed which really distinguished Kelly from the standard Remainer fare.

Steerpike

Labour U-turns on No. 10 donor pass

It's just 50 days since Keir Starmer took office – so it's impressive he's already embroiled in a sleaze row. Amid the growing number of controversies about political appointees, the Sunday Times today features an intriguing story as its front page splash. 'No. 10 pass for Labour donor who gave £500k' screams the headline, which adds, in the sub-deck 'As Starmer crony allegations swirl, millionaire TV mogul gains access to the heart of power.' Oh dear... It transpires that Waheed Alli, a former investment banker who led Labour’s fundraising for the general election, was subsequently given unrestricted access to Starmer's No. 10. Alli also organised a post-election reception in the Downing Street garden with others who helped to bankroll its campaign.

Friday

Steerpike

Tugendhat’s non-existent Scottish backer

Oh dear. Tory leadership candidate Tom Tugendhat has been rather excited about all the support he's received from his counterparts north of the border. So far almost a third of the 31 Scottish Conservative MSPs have backed Tugendhat – and in his excitement to announce his latest supporters, the Tory contender's team accidentally, um, fabricated one. Details, details... Tugendhat's lot put out a press release this morning celebrating two of his newest endorsements, only it quickly transpired that one of the politicians in question didn't actually exist. Alexander Brown is not actually a serving MSP – despite multiple references to the unknown politician.

Steerpike

Pro-indy paper clashes with BBC over ‘propaganda’ claims 

The Beeb is no stranger to controversy, and now pro-independence Scottish newspaper the National is on the warpath. The editor of the secessionist journal has taken to Twitter to fume after the BBC’s business editor described her august paper as ‘propaganda’ multiple times on one of the broadcaster’s own podcasts. Talk about saying the quiet part aloud, eh? The podcast in question is the BBC’s Media Show, featuring an interview with BBC Scotland business editor Douglas Fraser. The offending clip first features discussions of the 2014 indyref’s tenth anniversary before considering the impact of the independence debate on newspaper subscriptions.

Steerpike

Greens face yet more climate hypocrisy charges

The eco-zealots never do manage to stay quiet for long. After Levelling-Up Secretary Angela Rayner approved the expansion of operations at London City Airport earlier this week – in a rebuke to the Labour-run Newham Council attempting to block it – the Green party has launched its latest protest. But the eco-activists would do better to think before they speak, as once again they're facing a rather uncomfortable charge of climate hypocrisy themselves... Labour's move means that passenger capacity at London City Airport will rise by a whopping 40 per cent – from 6.5 million annual flyers to around 9 million. LCY has also been given permission to offer three extra flights in the first half hour of each day – although the airport's weekend curfew is to remain in place.

Steerpike

Now animal activists call for ‘vegan friendly’ paint names

If it's not Just Stop Oil eco-zealots causing havoc, it's the animal rights activists creating a fuss. Now it transpires that Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is on the warpath – about, er, paint names. Just when you think things can't get much weirder... Peta – which 'opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview' – has hit out at the prestigious decorating firm of Farrow & Ball over the names of some of its high-end colourants. Criticising the company for the names given to certain shades – Dead Salmon and Smoked Trout being some of the most contentious pigments – Peta has demanded that the firm consider 'updating' the names to more 'vegan-friendly' options, in order to stop 'normalising exploiting animals'.

Thursday

Steerpike

Andrea Jenkyns hits out at ‘classless’ Labour successor

Oh dear. It seems that all is not well in Leeds. Former Tory MP for Leeds South West and Morley, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, has taken to Facebook today to slam the ‘insensitivity’ of the constituency’s new MP, Labour’s Mark Sewards. It seems that cross-party relations are only, er, souring… Jenkyns slammed her ‘classless’ successor for ‘gloating’ about his success, claiming he not only messaged her days after she lost her seat about office space, but actually turned up at her office and ‘upset’ her staff. Taking to social media to vent, Jenkyns fumed: Today, my office manager has just rang me, Sewards has visited my office, my team are still there working on the casework handover.

Steerpike

Award Taylor Swift for boosting London economy, insist Lib Dems

Just when you think the stunts pulled by Sir Ed Davey's liberal lot can't get any stranger, they do. Now the Liberal Democrats are calling for Taylor Swift to receive the 'Freedom of the City of London' after her shows filled a 'blank space' in the British economy – and the party has even tabled a motion to 'recognise the cultural and economic impact' of Swift's latest Eras tour. Quiet recess, eh? Swift wrapped up the UK leg of her Eras tour this week with an eighth show at Wembley Stadium – breaking a record held by none other than Michael Jackson. Playing to over 1 million fans, the US country singer-turned-pop sensation is thought to have generated a whopping £1bn for Britain's economy, boosting London's finances by almost £300 million.

Steerpike

Now more Scottish Tory leadership candidates drop out

Back to Scotland, where the ongoing leadership contest for the next leader is heating up. Nominations for candidates close today, and any potential contender who hasn't received the backing of 100 members won't be able to progress to the next round. Frontrunner Russell Findlay hosted his official launch on Monday, and this morning his main rival Murdo Fraser is making his formal bid for the leadership. But in a rather interesting development, a number of MSPs who had initially thrown their hat into the ring have this week dropped out – and jumped ship to Fraser. And then there were three...

Steerpike

Scottish Tory leadership race: runners and riders

While contenders in the UK Tory leadership race ramp up their campaigns, north of the border the Scottish Conservative contest is just about to get started. Nominations for candidates to succeed outgoing leader Douglas Ross close on the 22 August at 12pm. Each leadership hopeful will need 100 party members to back them in order to formally stand before voting takes place next month – with the winner to be announced on 27 September. Initially six candidates declared they would run for the top job, however just before nominations closed, ex-athlete Brian Whittle announced he would, er, no longer run – and has now endorsed Murdo Fraser, alongside two other former leadership candidates Jamie Greene and Liam Kerr.

Steerpike

SNP membership numbers plummet further

Oh dear. It's not a good time to be an SNP politician, what with the recent electoral wipeout, the party's muddled stance on the Middle East and party insiders already plotting who their next leader will be. And now it transpires that the party has lost yet more members, leaving its card-carrying supporters at a new low of just over 64,000. Crikey... After the bitter leadership contest that tarnished the reputation of the SNP, membership numbers fell from 125,000 in 2019 to around 72,000 – a staggering drop of 43 per cent. Not that the party was particularly keen to admit it, with then-spin doctor Murray Foote resigning after it emerged he had inadvertently misled the media over the exodus.

Wednesday

Steerpike

Tories demand Treasury impartiality probe

Whitehall has received a lot of attention of late, what with interesting civil service appointments prompting claims of cronyism. And now Mr S can reveal that the Tories are calling for a civil service probe – and a ministerial apology – over impartiality concerns. The shadow minister to the Cabinet Office, Baroness Neville-Rolfe, has today written to Lord Livermore, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, over fears that he may have 'inadvertedly misled the House' after he was quizzed about whether a party political document was uploaded to the official government website. Oh dear... Lord Livermore was this month questioned about the publication on the gov.uk website of the Chancellor's statement on public spending inheritance.

Steerpike

BBC blasted over Sir Brian’s ‘partisan’ badger doc

The Beeb is developing a habit of being the news rather than making it – and the upcoming release of Sir Brian May's badger documentary this Friday is no exception. The public service broadcaster has been slammed for allowing a BBC 2 programme to air after it emerged that the Queen guitarist will this week release a tell-all about badger culling. In the show, the longtime animal rights activist will attempt to make the argument that killing badgers to stop the spread of TB is like, er, burning witches to 'protect your crops'. May has warned viewers that his findings are 'pretty shocking', adding the story 'will outrage viewers more than anything since the Post Office scandal'. Crikey...

Steerpike

Labour cronyism claims continue

Another day, another drama. The spotlight is back on Sir Keir Starmer's Labour lot as accusations of cronyism continue to fly in. Now it transpires that yet another civil service appointee has rather strong political links to Starmer's army. Ex-Labour Together campaigner Jess Sargeant has been appointed to a top civil service job, with Politico suggesting she will play a leading part on the issue of Lords reform. Alright for some... As revealed by Guido Fawkes, Labour-sympathetic Sargeant has bagged a deputy director role with the Cabinet Office's Propriety and Constitution group only eight months after she moved to 'Starmerite central' Labour Together. Before that, Sargeant was an Institute for Government think tanker, working as an associate director at the centre-left organisation.

Tuesday

Steerpike

Now Ross brands Scottish Tory colleagues ‘calculating b**tards’

As the UK Tory leadership contest rumbles on, north of the border the Scottish race is hotting up. Last week saw a rather dramatic few days in which four of six contenders called for the competition to be paused and the party's deputy leader quit her post after 'disturbing claims' about outgoing leader Douglas Ross emerged. It transpired that Ross attempted to shuffle out a prospective parliamentary candidate so that he could be selected to contest a Westminster seat in the 2024 election. The Telegraph report also claimed that the Scottish Tory leader wanted to ditch the top job over a year ago – and instead coronate current leadership candidate Russell Findlay. But despite the negative press, Ross remains pugnacious...

Steerpike

Left-wing media’s double standards on show at DNC

To the Windy City, where the Democratic National Convention is in full swing. In the early hours of this morning, outgoing President Joe Biden bid an emotional farewell to conference delegates to pave the way for Kamala Harris's 2024 campaign, and former US leader Barack Obama is due to speak today. But besides the big names of the moment, Mr S spotted something rather interesting about just how the DNC has been received in comparison to its Republican counterpart by some of the noisiest voices in UK media... When a selection of British politicians decided to make the transatlantic voyage to Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention last month, not everyone was supportive of the international trip.

Steerpike

Librarians attending ‘whiteness studies’ to avoid ‘racist’ venues

Just when you think the equality and diversity police can't get any madder, they do. Now it transpires that libraries across Wales have been told to become 'anti-racist' in the devolved Labour government's bid to 'eradicate' systemic racism by 2030 – with librarians urged not to hold meetings in 'racist' buildings by decolonisation training experts. It turns out that Welsh library workers are being educated – as part of a £130,000 'anti-racist library collections' project – in 'critical whiteness studies'. These aim to help staff understand the 'dominant paradigm of whiteness' besides other issues, as part of the Welsh government's 2022 Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan. Crikey...

Steerpike

Trump was ‘very rude’, thought Queen

Good heavens. As the 2024 US presidential campaigns pick up pace, some rather damning revelations have emerged about the impression contender Donald Trump left on Queen Elizabeth II. A new biography serialised in the Mail, A Voyage Around the Queen by Craig Brown, has set out the late monarch's reflections on meeting the US businessman and former president – and it appears that she was not particularly complimentary... The pair first met in the summer of 2018, over English tea at Windsor Castle. But despite the civilised setting, the then-President is said to have rather ruffled feathers.

Monday

Steerpike

Watch: Snappy Starmer dismisses ‘nonsense’ Sue Gray rumours

To Northern Ireland, where Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has been speaking to reporters about emergency prison measures, the violent riots that swept Britain's streets and the response of the police. But during his interrogation by journalists, the PM didn't seem to be in the mood to entertain recent rumours that his chief of staff, Sue Gray, is becoming a disruptive presence in Downing Street. Touchy subject, Keir? In a rather curious Times piece, Gray was accused of 'subverting' Sir Keir's cabinet by 'personally dominating' negotiations about the proposed venue for the 2028 Euros tournament.

Steerpike

Boris’s memoir to drop during Tory leadership battle

Boris Johnson is back. The ex-prime minister is preparing to grace the nation with his musings as the launch date of his new memoir Unleashed looms. The former Tory leader's latest work will be unveiled at the Cheltenham Literature Festival on 10 October, with his publishers promising the ex-PM will 'explore the big decisions of his time in power' and 'shatter the mould of the modern prime ministerial memoir'. And the October release date ensures Johnson's tome will hit bookshops almost a month before the conclusion of the Conservative party's leadership race, in timing that might leave some contenders more than a little anxious about how his version of events will sway the membership... BoJo's memoirs have not come cheap.