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
Test and trace boss Dido Harding has been ordered to self-isolate by her own app. The Baroness joins a handful of Tory MPs — not to mention the Prime Minister Boris Johnson — who have been ‘pinged’ by contact tracers. Sharp-eyed readers will notice that Harding has been told she only has to isolate for nine
At the end of October Jeremy Corbyn was suspended from the party he loved and led, after suggesting that concerns about Labour’s anti-Semitism problem during his tenure had been ‘dramatically overstated’ for political reasons. At the time of his suspension, the former Labour leader seemed to strike a defiant tone. In a broadcast interview, Corbyn
While most people welcomed the news last week that Pfizer had developed a vaccine that was over 90 per cent effective, others saw it as a very personal vindication. In particular, allies of the head of the UK’s vaccine taskforce, Kate Bingham, suggested that her decision to buy 40 million doses for the UK was
The £12 billion splurge of taxpayer cash into a test-and-trace system meant that due process was suspended. Cash was spent without question, shortcuts were taken, and basic questions were dodged. For example: was contact tracing ever going to stop a virus which, as we knew as early as March, left no symptoms in many of
There may be a pandemic on but that’s not going to stop Downing Street staff briefing against one another. Tensions came to a head this week after Boris Johnson’s director of communications, Lee Cain, announced his resignation. The row began after it was reported in the Times and Daily Mail that Cain – a former Vote
Today is Remembrance Day, when we collectively pay our respects to those who died fighting for their country. It’s not usually considered an opportunity to indulge in activism or gross politicisation. Clearly though, Extinction Rebellion didn’t get the memo. This morning, the climate activists decided to use the opportunity to hang a wreath of poppies
When Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader and MP for Islington North, was suspended from the Labour party, many wondered how his fellow party members in the leafiest groves of north London would take the news. Today, it appears we may have the answer – and it seems as if all is not well in
Oh dear. There has been much amusement today over the revelation that the graphic Boris Johnson shared to congratulate Joe Biden on winning the US election had originally been meant for Donald Trump. Still, it could be worse. Although there has been a lot of talk in the media of the Irish government’s close links to the
Sir Simon Stevens, the chief exec of NHS England, joined Boris Johnson during this evening’s Downing Street press conference where the pair sought to justify England’s second national lockdown. Stevens, however, went one step further: he had a dig at Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance. He told the press conference: I’ve watched a number of these press
SNP politicians often get an easy ride when they appear on politics programmes south of the border, where most of the discussion tends to revolve around the performance of the Westminster government. Unfortunately, that was not the case for the SNP MP Alyn Smith, who appeared on the BBC’s Politics Live this afternoon. Near the
Theresa May has continued her campaign of criticism from the backbenches, questioning the government’s thinking over England’s month-long lockdown. The former PM pointed out the problems with the now-infamous 4,000 deaths a day graph used by Vallance and Whitty at Saturday’s press conference. In fact, she went a step further, pointedly telling the Commons: ‘For many
President Trump came out fighting after his Democratic challenger Joe Biden told supporters he believed he was ‘on track to win’ the US election. Giving a speech inside the White House, Donald Trump said he believed results to be a ‘fraud on the American people’ and stated ‘we will be going to the US Supreme Court. We want all
Following the release of the EHRC report into anti-Semitism and Jeremy Corbyn’s suspension from the Labour party today, several members of the Corbynite wing of the party have attempted to argue that Labour’s anti-Semitism crisis had been overblown by the media. Who better then to make their case than former Labour MP Chris Williamson –
The Equality and Human Rights Commission released its report today on antisemitism in the Labour party – and it did not make pretty reading. The report claims that the Labour party was responsible for three breaches of the law in its handling of anti-Semitism complaints after alleged ‘political interference’ in the process. It also found
Scotland has been pursuing a radical course when it comes to social justice recently. The government has introduced a hate crime bill that seeks to create the offence of ‘stirring up hatred’; it has attempted to redefine the definition of ‘women’; and one SNP MP has even supported taking a drag queen to a primary
It was announced yesterday that South Yorkshire would be the latest area to move into Tier 3 of the coronavirus restrictions, after Sheffield City mayor Dan Jarvis concluded negotiations with ministers. It appears though that not everyone in the region was thrilled at the news. BBC Yorkshire spoke to one woman in Barnsley who launched
Angela Rayner was accused of some extraordinary behaviour in the Commons just now. The Labour deputy, unhappy with something Conservative MP Chris Clarkson said, allegedly decided to shout the word ‘scum’ across the chamber floor. Deputy Speaker Eleanor Laing appeared none too impressed… Rayner quickly shot back, denying that she used the phrase.
Corbynite ultra Diane Abbott has given an interview to Newsnight in which she denounces Labour leader Keir Starmer in her own particular, Abbott-esque way. Starmer’s problem? Ambition. Oh, and also being named ‘Keir’ by his mother. In reality, this is just a return to form for Diane. Her political career has been defined by the struggle against
It can be a hard task adjusting to life on the backbenches after leaving front-line politics. One minute you’re running the country, the next you’re being batted away by busy ministers. Former Prime Minister Theresa May appeared to learn that lesson this afternoon in the Commons, when submitting a question on Brexit to Michael Gove.
The Covid second wave is hitting Europe, so the European parliament has decided not to up sticks from Brussels and decamp to Strasbourg next week. Instead the parliament’s president David Sassoli has announced that the meeting will be a virtual one. He said: ‘The situation in France and Belgium is very serious and travelling is not advised.’
