Steerpike

The chaos of the Brexit days has reignited in parliament tonight. The drama broke out after Speaker Lindsay Hoyle selected a Labour amendment calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, despite the Clerk of the House’s warning that doing so went against parliamentary convention. Hoyle reportedly wanted to offer a wider debate, in light of concerns about MPs safety. In response, the government pulled its own amendment and the SNP joined in with the anger. The Speaker attempted to placate MPs by returning to the Commons to apologise – but sorry wasn’t good enough for some MPs. The SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn wondered whether Hoyle could stay in his job.

'Change Labour, change Britain' has been the internal mantra of the Starmer army since seizing the party leadership nearly four years ago. But while a 20-point lead suggests they've made considerable progress in that area, there are infrequent reminders of the not-so-distant Corbynite past. The Rochdale debacle proved to be an uncomfortable reminder of all that, with the Mail on Sunday reporting on 11 February the not-so-savoury views of Azhar Ali. Even more awkward perhaps was the fact that just five days earlier, Morgan McSweeney – Keir Starmer's election overlord – was boasting to fellow Labourites about the progress they have made in the field of, er, candidate selection.

An almighty war of words has broken out over the biggest political drama of the year. In the red corner is Henry Staunton, former chairman of the Post Office. He has used an interview in yesterday's Sunday Times to suggest the government deliberately tried to slow down compensation payments to sub postmasters. And in the blue corner is Kemi Badenoch, the Business Secretary, who has furiously hit back at Staunton, suggesting his interview was 'full of lies' and that she will 'tell the truth in parliament' later today. Someone get the popcorn in. Both Badenoch and Staunton claim they have contemporaneous notes of the phone call in which she sacked him, with both alleging different reasons for why this happened.

Who'd want to be a Scottish nationalist, eh? The SNP's poll ratings are tanking faster than their Ferguson Marine ferries fleet, with Humza Yousaf proving to be as adept at First Minister as he was at transport, justice and health. After 17 years in power, the party's record on crime, spending and drug deaths is finally getting the attention it deserves. But with the Holyrood press now turning on them, at least the SNP can count on one uncritical media outlet for support. Step forward, the National – the self-identifying newspaper in breach of the Trade Descriptions Act. In their ceaseless zest to turn attention away from Michael Matheson and his five-figure phone bill, the craven hacks there have stumbled on an ingenious wheeze. Why not run a story suggesting that all MSPs are at it?

If the Scottish Labour party are keen to get one message across at their Glasgow conference, it’s that they are the party of change. ‘That is what change means. That is why change matters,’ riffed Anas Sarwar throughout his keynote speech – 14 times, to be precise. But while more specifics about Scottish Labour’s ‘change’ agenda wouldn’t have hurt, the party hardly needs to convince the public that they are committed to it – they’ve changed their position on, er, just about everything.  Perhaps it’s no surprise then that Labour remains in a muddle about its stance on Gaza. While Sarwar used his conference speech to call for an ‘immediate ceasefire’, Ian Murray MP was not quite as clear.

Irony alert up in Scotland. Conference season is upon us again, with Anas Sarwar’s Labour party hosting their three-day soiree in Glasgow. It’s significantly busier — and bigger — than last year’s event, with one veteran declaring to Mr S: ‘This looks like a party preparing to win an election.’ And it was in that spirit that Sarwar gave his keynote speech this afternoon, with the Scottish Labour leader taking aim at the SNP’s recent U-turns. He told the party faithful: ‘It’s hard to keep track of their strategy. First it was “the general election will be a defacto referendum”. Then they scrapped the de facto referendum. Then it was back on the table. Then it was a majority of votes. Then it was about a majority of seats. Then it was the most seats.

How much longer can Sir Keir Starmer's local survive under the ever-blundering regime of Sadiq Khan’s City Hall? As every Westminster obsessive knows, Starmer’s favourite pub is The Pineapple in Kentish Town – a site ‘woven into the fabric of the community since it was built in 1868.’ Yet the battle-class boozer is struggling to survive: all thanks to the incompetence of Transport for London, responsibility for which sits with the capital’s Mayor. Kentish Town station has been shut since June to fix two escalators and carry out ‘wider work’ on the station. But sadly, the effect on local business has proved to be catastrophic.

David Cameron is currently in the States, urging politicians there to back support for Ukraine. Currently Washington DC is ensuring a stalemate over £75 billion of aid for Kyiv's struggle against their Russian invaders. The Foreign Secretary used an article in the DC website the Hill to urge Congress to support Ukraine with more funding. He wrote: I believe our joint history shows the folly of giving in to tyrants in Europe who believe in redrawing boundaries by force. I do not want us to show the weakness displayed against Hitler in the 1930s. He came back for more, costing us far more lives to stop his aggression.

As Keir Starmer flounders over Rochdale, Rishi Sunak is enjoying the delights of County Durham this evening. But speaking at the GB News 'People's Forum', the Prime Minister was confronted by one voter who certainly wasn't willing to stay on script. An audience member used his opportunity to speak to Sunak to angrily raise qualms held about the Covid jab, demanding he 'look him in the eye' as he made an impassioned address: We have been left with no help at all. I know people who have lost legs, I know people with heart conditions like myself, Rishi Sunak. Why have I had to set up a support group in Scotland to look after the people that have been affected by the Covid-19 vaccine?

Oh dear. It seems that the all-conquering Labour by-election machine might have come unstuck in the treacherous terrains of Rochdale. Following the death of veteran MP Tony Lloyd on 17 January, the party quickly moved the writ to elect his replacement to the House of Commons. The ensuing by-election is due to be held on 29 February, with Labour plumping for a six-week campaign for fear that a longer contest would benefit an outside challenger. Almost a third of the Rochdale electorate is comprised of Muslim voters; many of them are angry at Keir Starmer's stance over Gaza. But in their undue haste to replace Tony Lloyd, it seems that Labour have blundered badly. For the candidate they chose to replace Lloyd – a man respected on both sides of the House – is none other than Azhar Ali.

Happy new peerages’ day! These auspicious occasions seem to roll around quicker now. Rishi Sunak has clearly learned something from the rows over resignation honours for his two predecessors: stagger the names, slip out a list in recess and then hope that no-one notices. Thirteen new peers have been ennobled in the latest drive to boost ermine sales, with eight to the Tories, four to Labour and one to Plaid Cymru.  So who are this baker’s dozen of lifelong legislators? Well perhaps the most intriguing name is the Welsh nationalists’ sole nominee. At just 27, Carmen Smith will become the youngest ever life peer, smashing the record of Charlotte Owen set last year. Can’t beat a trailblazer eh?

Another twist in the ongoing TV wars. After nearly two years of competing with GB News, TalkTV's biggest star last night dropped a bombshell: Piers Morgan is taking his daily Uncensored show off the terrestrial network to focus on its YouTube channel. The former Mirror editor says that television schedules had become an 'unnecessary straitjacket' and that moving online will allow him to conduct longer, more in-depth interviews. Though hopefully in a format more riveting than last night's Tucker/Putin snoozefest... Speaking to the Times, Morgan said that greater numbers of people were watching his show on YouTube and that 'you can't defy audiences or tell them how they should be consuming'.