Steerpike

Sir Keir Starmer hasn't exactly had the easiest start to his premiership – what with the recent riots, the country's financial woes and today's move to activate emergency measures in prisons. And now it appears that the PM's popularity with the public has taken a hit too. New Ipsos polling reveals the Prime Minister's net favourability rating has plummeted from his post-election score of +7 to 0. While Starmer is still the most-liked politician in the poll – and has a higher score than the likes of Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak two months into their premierships – it transpires that more than half of Brits believe that things in the UK are going in the wrong direction. Talk about a short honeymoon...

It seems that bad headlines run in Sue Gray’s family. After a week of newspaper reports suggesting that Keir Starmer’s chief of staff is to blame for the government’s ails, now it is the turn of her son to face the wrath of Fleet Street. Liam Conlon, who was elected last month as the MP for Beckenham and Penge, has quickly been earmarked as one to watch. Within days of his election, he was appointed as a parliamentary private secretary at the Department for Transport. Talk about a rapid rise: perhaps he knows someone at the top? Unfortunately for Conlon, his new appointment has landed him in a spot of bother with the Mail on Sunday.

Prison is supposedly a place for wrongdoers to repent and reform – but it seems that even the staff inside are no angels themselves. After a female Wandsworth prison guard was suspended in July for a viral video of her, er, engaging with an inmate, Mr S did some digging into how widespread this phenomenon this really is. And Steerpike can reveal that dozens of prison officers have faced disciplinary action for ‘inappropriate relations’ with inmates or ex-offenders – with 65 probed since 2018 alone. Talk about the screws, eh? This figure was provided by the Ministry of Justice in respond to a Freedom of Information request by The Spectator and includes prison officers, supervising officers, and custodial managers on salary bands 3-5.

Will the last lobby hack please turn out the lights? After Torcuil Crichton and Paul Waugh made the jump from journalism into politics by being elected last month, now another scribe has formally joined the Starmer army. After much Westminster speculation about the slowness of SpAd appointments, today Guido Fawkes revealed an interesting new hire. It transpires that the political editor of the famously partial Mirror tabloid has jumped ship – and right into the Cabinet Office. John Stevens has opted to leave the world of lobby journalism for go and spin for top Keirleader Pat McFadden. During the Tory years, Stevens relished causing headaches for Tory spads with his scoops on ‘Partygate’ and the Afghanistan withdrawal.

Back to the curious case of Ian Corfield. Revelations emerged this morning that the civil service watchdog was not informed of the banker's donation history to Labour before it approved his selection to a top civil servant job in the Treasury. As Politico reported, the Civil Service Commission chief Kate Owen stated that government departments are responsible for vetting candidates, but the Treasury refused to say whether Corfield's donations – of over £20,000 in the past nine years – were indeed declared. And now it appears the Tories have started sniffing around the Labour donor's appointment.

Back to Scotland, where there appears to be trouble in Holyrood's progressive paradise. The Scottish government's Culture Secretary Angus Robertson has received strong backlash after appearing in a photo with Daniela Grudsky, the deputy ambassador of Israel to the UK. It transpires that the Scottish government minister met with Grudsky to discuss 'culture, renewable energy and engaging with the country's respective diasporas'. A Scottish government spokesperson added that the discussion 'emphasised the Scottish Government’s continued work with Police Scotland to protect Scotland’s faith communities and tackle all hate crimes, including antisemitism'. But Robertson's meeting has ruffled feathers – particularly with the SNP's former coalition partners.

Blue is the colour, winning is the game. The Premier League returns this week and it seems that one Tory leadership contender is taking notes. After the 1922 committee ruled that any candidate found engaging in 'blue on blue' will face the public shame of a 'yellow card', James Cleverly has now gone a step further. Well, as a former Home Secretary, it is only right that he taking a stern approach to laying down the law.... Steerpike understands that Cleverly has ordered his campaign team that there will be no 'yellow cards' for blue on blue, only straight reds. Any Tory attacks coming out of camp Cleverly will be rewarded instead with the perpetrator being booted straight off the team.