Steerpike, Author at The Spectator

Sunday

June 2, 2024

Watch: Yvette Cooper flails over private schools

From our UK edition

It seems barely five minutes ago that Mr S was writing up the last exchange between Camilla Tominey and a Labour frontbencher on their plans to put VAT on independent school fees. Back in January, it was Bridget Phillipson, the Shadow Education Secretary, who scored an 'F' for her failure to answer Tominey's questions. Today it was the turn of Yvette Cooper, the Shadow Home Secretary, who felt the wrath of the GB News star after six minutes of prevaricating on the subject. Tominey asked Cooper about a triumvirate of stories critiquing the policy in today's papers, including union warnings that it could cost jobs. Unsurprisingly, the Labour MP chose not to address the substance of the question, instead suggesting the policy was about 'fairness'.

Steerpike

Could Diane Abbott go to the Lords?

From our UK edition

The Diane Abbott saga rumbles on. After questions over whether the former shadow home secretary would be allowed to stand as a Labour candidate in the election dominated the news agenda this week, Keir Starmer sought to end the media circus on Friday by declaring that the Corbyn ally was 'free to go forward as a Labour candidate'. Abbott has suggested she will hold off popping the champagne corks at Starmer's comments until after Tuesday's National Executive Committee meeting when the candidates are finalised. But could another option tempt Abbott? The Sunday Times reports that a string of Labour MPs – including Abbott – have been offered peerages in return for them standing down as MPs to make way for key Starmer allies.

Friday

May 31, 2024

Steerpike

Sir Keir’s private jet hypocrisy

From our UK edition

Oh dear. In yet another campaign blunder for Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader has been forced to fess up to using a private jet — just hours after taunting Rishi Sunak’s helicopter use. Rules for thee but not for me… The lefty Labour leader flew to Scotland on a private plane to make an announcement about his ambitions to set up a publicly-owned 'GB Energy' company — but was curiously reluctant about revealing his mode of transport, with a Labour spokesperson eventually admitting: Yes, we did use a private jet because we needed to get very quickly to Scotland from Wales yesterday. We have to use the most efficient form of transport in the middle of a very busy general election campaign. Talk about hypocrisy.

Steerpike

Listen: Peter Kyle’s GB Energy blunder

From our UK edition

Uh oh. It’s the first day of Labour’s official GB Energy launch and things haven’t quite got off to a flying start. Sir Keir Starmer is in Scotland this morning to announce plans (including an all-new the website and logo) for his brand new publicly-owned Great British energy company. It’s the third of Labour’s ‘first steps’ to turning the country around — but it seems as though the proposal isn’t quite catchy enough for some of his own party members to memorise... Speaking on LBC this morning, now former Labour MP for Hove Peter Kyle floundered over the website name when quizzed by Nick Ferrari. Kyle claimed that the £8 billion proposal was ‘all costed and all paid for’ and would ‘use money wisely to unlock private investment’.

Steerpike

Iain Dale pulls out as a Tory candidate

From our UK edition

Oh dear. Less than 48 hours after he quit LBC to stand for Tunbridge Wells, Iain Dale has now ruled himself out. In an interview with his former employer this morning, Dale revealed that he had asked for his name to not be included on the candidates' shortlist after a clip of him disparaging his home town went viral on Twitter. The comments, recorded in 2022, were made on the For the Many podcast which he co-hosts with former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith. In the clip Dale said that he 'did not like living in Tunbridge Wells and would quite happily live somewhere else.' Naturally this was seized upon by gleeful opponents in Kent...

Thursday

May 30, 2024

Steerpike

Former Tory MP to support Starmer at election

From our UK edition

Another day, another defection. This time it's Mark Logan, now former Conservative MP for Bolton North East, who has announced he will be backing Sir Keir Starmer's Labour Party at the general election. It's yet another blow for poor Rishi Sunak who is already facing an exodus of 78 MPs while the Tories remain 20 points behind Starmer's army in the polls. Steerpike would point out that Logan's excruciatingly small majority of, er, just 378 in 2019 made his one of the most marginal seats in the country — and he would be unlikely to win it back even if he did remain a true blue.

Steerpike

Watch: Sunak slammed for Partygate during campaign trip

From our UK edition

Oh dear. It was only a matter of time before the issue of Partygate came up on the campaign trail and today the Prime Minister was forced to face up to it. On his trip to Buckinghamshire, the first question asked of Rishi Sunak centred on the pandemic, the government-enforced lockdown and the rule-breaking in No. 10. Hardly the best start... Pointing to the PM's use of the word 'trust', a frustrated voter spoke out: It's good that you mentioned trust. My mum died in 2020, the height of the pandemic, my brothers couldn't be with us in hospital, I couldn't be there. You probably remember, that was the month where all the parties were going on in Downing Street. I think the month after you attended a gathering where you got a fixed penalty notice.

Steerpike

Rayner backs Abbott staying on as Labour MP

From our UK edition

Another day, another confusing twist in Labour's stance on Diane Abbott. The ongoing saga has created significant disquiet over the last 48 hours, with Labour's confusing messaging on the whole thing proving a rather effective distraction from Sir Keir Starmer's party policies. It's hardly the best way to kick off your election campaign... First we heard that Labour would bar the long-standing MP from representing the party at the next election. Then, just hours after the story broke, Abbott was reinstated with the Labour whip, which some speculated was to allow her to retire with dignity.

Steerpike

SNP’s ‘urgent plea’ to house campaigning Westminster staffers

From our UK edition

Oh dear. No one party appears to be enjoying an especially slick campaign at present, but north of the border the SNP seems particularly down on its luck. As Mr S noted on Monday, the Nats are not exactly swimming in cash at the moment — the party is struggling to bring donations in while the police probe into its finances remains ongoing — and separatist candidate have been forced to plead with the public for help with their campaign Crowdfunders. Now the Nats are faced with a fresh problem: where to house the party's central Westminster team, who are loyally trekking north to help with election efforts. Well, if the London-based campaigners had high hopes for hotel bookings, they can forget it.

Steerpike

Paul Waugh to fight Rochdale seat for Labour

From our UK edition

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again. That appears to be Paul Waugh’s guiding mantra anyway, after the former chief political commentator for the i newspaper put himself forward for the Rochdale candidacy for a second time this year. He has now been successful and will stand as Labour’s candidate for the seat in the looming general election. All’s well that ends well, eh? Waugh announced at the start of the year that he was stepping down from his top newspaper job to try to be selected for Rochdale after the death of veteran MP Tony Lloyd on 17 January — but the hack was unsuccessful after Labour's Rochdale members picked Azhar Ali to represent the party at the by-election. However this quickly turned out to be a rather suboptimal choice.

Steerpike

Vaughan Gething to face no confidence vote

From our UK edition

It wasn't so very long ago that Sir Keir was hailing the Welsh Labour party as a 'blueprint' for what he would do in office. But with Vaughan Gething's government crumbling by the hour, it is no surprise that Starmer has stopped praising his sister party in such gushing terms. The flailing First Minister of Wales is now facing a no confidence vote after just 70 days in post, following a string of scandals in the Senedd. He makes Humza Yousaf look like a model of stability... Gething's woes started before he even took up office. During his leadership campaign accepted a controversial £200,000 in donations from a businessman twice convicted of environmental offences.

Wednesday

May 29, 2024

Steerpike

Now Labour blocks Lloyd Russell-Moyle from standing

From our UK edition

It is a bad time to be a member of the Socialist Campaign Group. Hours after Mr S revealed that Labour activists in Poplar are urging the party to intervene against Apsana Begum, tonight Lloyd Russell-Moyle has confirmed that he will be blocked from standing again in Brighton Kemptown. The left-winger, a former frontbencher under Jeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer, told activists tonight that ‘yesterday, out of the blue, I received an administrative suspension letter.’ According to Russell-Moyle, an unknown person has made ‘what I believe to be a vexatious and politically motivated complaint about my behaviour eight years ago. This is a false allegation that I dispute totally.

Steerpike

Is Apsana Begum next to go from Labour?

From our UK edition

It's a busy day in Labour land, following the mishandling of the Diane Abbott disaster. But now Mr S hears of a fresh row brewing in another of Labour's London safe seats. In 2019, the Corbynite candidate Apsana Begum was chosen to replace the moderate Jim Fitzpatrick for the Poplar and Limehouse constituency. Her first two years as an MP were dominated by her trial for housing fraud, of which she was cleared in court in July 2021. She subsequently fell out with her constituency party to such an extent that in July 2022, the local branches and their affiliates voted for a full 'recall' process to determine who would contest the seat for Labour.

Steerpike

Iain Dale quits LBC to run as Tory candidate

From our UK edition

It's the end of an era for over 70 Tory MPs who will quit their seats at the next election – but one media veteran is making a rather interesting move in the opposite direction. Iain Dale, who has worked at LBC since 2010 and has presented a number of shows including Cross Question and All Talk, told listeners on Tuesday night that the show would be his last as he wants to stand for the Tory candidacy in Tunbridge Wells. After an extremely successful broadcast career, it's quite the decision... The seat is currently held by Greg Clark MP, who announced last week that he will be joining the Tory exodus and standing down at the election.

Steerpike

Has Starmer told the truth about Diane Abbott?

From our UK edition

Sir Keir Starmer has made personal integrity front and centre of his election campaign. When asked about his multiple broken pledges two days ago, the Labour leader declared that 'I think it's more important to stand in front of the electorate and say, "I'm sorry, I can't now afford what I said before"... I'm not going to tell you you can have everything and then break a promise'... I think that is basic honesty with the electorate.' But has Starmer given that 'basic honesty' when it comes to the matter of one of his own party's MPs? On Friday, Sir Keir was asked by LBC's Nick Ferrari about his party's ongoing investigation into Diane Abbott, following her suspension in April 2023 over her letter to the Observer. Ferrari said: NF: 'Some Labour supporters have been speaking to me.

Tuesday

May 28, 2024

Steerpike

Diane Abbott banned from standing for Labour

From our UK edition

The drama in Westminster never seems to end – and tonight is certainly no exception to that rule. In one of the biggest developments of the week, it transpires that Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour party will not allow veteran MP Diane Abbott to represent the party at the upcoming general election. However, Abbott has reportedly been given the Labour whip back as a middle way. The Hackney North & Stoke Newington MP was the first black woman elected to parliament, serving continually since 1987 and achieving a majority of over 33,000 in 2019 – but Labour’s decision this evening is likely to bring her 37-year political career to end. The BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire reported this morning that the internal party investigation into Abbott had wrapped up a whole, er, six months ago.

Steerpike

Poll slashes Labour lead to just 12 points

From our UK edition

They think it’s all over – but is that actually the case? After a difficult start to the campaign for the Conservatives, many of their own MPs had privately written off their chances at this election. However a new poll out tonight could force the skeptics to think again, with Labour’s lead down to just 12 points. The survey for JL Partners revealed that the Starmer army still retain some 40 per cent of the vote but suggested Sunak and the Tories are coming up on the rails with 28 per cent. The fieldwork for this poll was done on Friday 24 and Saturday 25 May, shortly after the Prime Minister’s announcement of a general election. The last poll done before this by JLP was on 5 May and had Labour enjoying a comfortable 15-point lead, with 41 points compared to 26 for Sunak.

Steerpike

BBC presenter grovels after Farage jibe

From our UK edition

It seems these days that the BBC is doing a better job of creating the news than presenting it. Today’s row is about one of the broadcaster’s stars entering into a spat with Reform’s Nigel Farage — and losing rather spectacularly... The I’m a Celeb finalist was out today helping promote Richard Tice’s party in Dover as he made his first big speech of the election campaign. At a gathering of party supporters and journalists, Farage spoke of immigration problems seen in Europe. Quoting remarks made by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the Reform founder pointed to ‘the wave of — and I’m using his words not mine — “aggressive, young males” that are coming into Poland’ adding: ‘He has said that this is now a matter of national security’.

Steerpike

Reeves reprises her Wikipedia tribute act

From our UK edition

Once we had New Labour: now we have Changed Labour. As part of Sir Keir Starmer's bid to prove that his party is different (honest!) since the far-off Corbyn days of, er, April 2020, Labour has been out today banging the drum for business. The Opposition is terribly proud of itself for stitching together a letter of support for its economic policies, signed, no less, by some of the country’s leading business experts. What a coup! But Mr S could not help but wonder about some of the names signing the letter that Rachel Reeves touted today in her big speech in Derby. For one thing, there were no FTSE 100 company chief executives putting their pen to paper – perhaps out of fear of Angela Rayner's trade union package.

Steerpike

Watch: Ed Davey struggles to stay afloat during campaign tour

From our UK edition

It's a gaffe a day in British politics, as poorly-planned campaign visits are fast turning party leaders into laughing stocks. The latest victim is none other than Sir Ed Davey, who is currently on a UK tour to spread the word that the Liberal Democrats are putting the issue of sewage dumping at the top of their manifesto. This morning, Davey joined local MP Tim Farron on a constituency visit to Windermere in the Lake District to campaign on water cleanliness. For that reason alone — never mind the fact that the Lib Dem leader is not exactly an, um, experienced paddleboarder — it's certainly rather brave of Sir Ed to take to the lake. But the trip hasn't gotten off to the best of starts.