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
A spectre is haunting Britain: the spectre of the ‘pingdemic.’ With Covid cases on the uptick, it is no surprise that more than 500,000 people in England and Wales were ‘pinged’ by the NHS test and trace app in the week to 7 July, up 46 per cent on the previous week. Iceland and Greene King are among the
For a man who professes to despise the media, Dominic Cummings is certainly adept at courting it. The former No 10 chief special adviser has given his first, long-awaited interview since storming out of Downing Street some eight months ago. In an hour long grilling with Laura Kuenssberg which will air tonight, Cummings will set
And so after months of debate and disagreement, at last the government has today revealed vaccine passports will be introduced in nightclubs and large events from the end of September. This afternoon vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi told the House of Commons that a negative Covid test will not be sufficient; instead, only two vaccinations will do.
It was 60 years this week since the first Prime Ministers’ Questions took place. What began as a sedate affair under Harold Macmillan has now become the centrepiece of the weekly parliamentary calendar, beginning at 12 p.m. every Wednesday afternoon. Over the years there have been numerous zingers, gaffes, probing questions and shameless defences, contributing to the
It’s been a long pandemic for young people – who’ve had their lives put on hold to prevent the spread of a disease which mainly affects the elderly. So one can certainly sympathise with those wanting to let their hair down as Covid restrictions were lifted last night for ‘freedom day’. That certainly seemed the
Following yesterday’s news that health secretary Sajid Javid had tested positive for Covid, it seemed only a matter of time before other cabinet ministers were similarly forced to self-isolate. Javid had a ‘lengthy’ meeting with Boris Johnson on Friday afternoon, just hours before his symptoms developed. So, surely the Prime Minister will be expected to
As the government prepares to lift nearly all legal Covid restrictions on Monday, ministers are at pains to emphasise that the pandemic is not over. A helpful reminder can be found in the news that Sajid Javid has today tested positive. In a video posted on Twitter, the Health Secretary — who is double jabbed
There are just six days left before the Commons rises for recess but there’s still time for one last election. The 1922 Committee, that bastion of Tory backbenchers, is currently holding elections to fill two vacant slots on its executive, with the results announced on Tuesday. Ministers, whips and paid vice chairmen of the party do
Andy Burnham is very much the flavour of the month in Labour circles at present. Having left Westminster in 2016 when it became clear he wasn’t going to become leader any time soon, he has undergone something of a renaissance as mayor of Manchester. In this capacity he gets to govern an overwhelmingly left-leaning city
Oh dear. Having squeaked home in the Batley by-election and with the summer recess less than a week away, Sir Keir Starmer probably thought he had made his way over the finish line of the parliamentary calendar. Unfortunately his party’s youth wing have been able to get one last embarrassment in before MPs pack up
Late on Sunday night, less than an hour after England lost on penalties to Italy in the European championship final, a mural of the United striker Marcus Rashford was defaced in his hometown of Withington in south Manchester. Shortly afterwards the defaced part of the mural was hidden by black bin-liners and an online campaign
Cressida Dick has tonight resigned as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. Last July, Steerpike looked at her greatest hits… This week it emerged that Cressida Dick wants to continue running the Metropolitan Police, in spite of a string of recent scandals. Dick, who became the Met’s first female commissioner in 2017 will see her contract expire
Tomorrow will mark three weeks since the Matt Hancock scandal broke. The man himself has been keeping a very low public profile since his resignation as Health Secretary on 26 June but already there is talk about an improbable return to government. Boris Johnson’s letter accepting Hancock’s resignation ended by claiming ‘your contribution to public service is
Today’s Daily Mail boldly trumpets the ‘war on obese Britain,’ splashing on the latest recommendations from food tsar Henry Dimbleby. The Leon co-founder last year released the first major review of England’s entire food system in 75 years with the second part of the report now released one year on. The Mail estimates his proposals
Next Monday is ‘freedom day’ when all social distancing restrictions are removed. Clubs will reopen, pubs will be packed, sports crowds will resume and the bells of liberty will ring out across the nation. Well, that’s the theory at least. The reality is, as Sajid Javid told the Commons on Monday, that all these venues
Could Angela Rayner be Labour’s first female leader? Her friends and allies seem to think so, judging by the level of briefing that has occurred in recent months. Beginning in the aftermath of the Hartlepool contest in May, the mischief-making culminated eight weeks later in the Times headline the day after the Batley and Spen
The last few years have been tough for Jeremy Corbyn. One minute you’re being heralded by the trustafarians of Glastonbury; the next you’re leading Labour to its worst result since 1935. Rejected by the electorate, suspended by his party, the world’s unluckiest anti-racist has found himself embroiled in a series of minor self-inflicted scandals, whether that be speaking next
What are the three words likely to turn any SNP press officer’s blood cold? James Dornan MSP. The gaffe-prone Glaswegian has found himself in more scandals than the Salmond Inquiry in recent months, culminating in last week’s social media rant at Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg after the latter tweeted his support of the Borders Bill. Dornan told
Since his Grenfell gaffe in the last election, Jacob Rees-Mogg has kept a much lower media profile, to the consternation of sketch writers across the nation. The Leader of the House now mostly saves his quips, riffes and various bon mots for his appearances at the dispatch box, announcing the government timetable or rapping New
It’s groundhog day in the House of Commons today. Another Health Secretary, another Covid announcement and now another scheduled vote on the government’s decision to abandon the Tory commitment to spending 0.7 per cent of gross national income on international aid. The Leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg told MPs this afternoon that there will
