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
Gibraltar has intermittently featured in the headlines in recent years amid repeated incursions by Spanish ships into the peninsula’s waters. The future of the Rock – which voted by 96 per cent to stay in the EU in 2016 – was subject to much speculation and briefing during the Brexit negotiations as Spain has long
Who is in charge at Defra? Technically, it’s the environment secretary George Eustice. But in recent weeks there have been whisperings of the growing influence of the Goldsmith clan. Zac Goldsmith is a minister in the department as well as a close friend of both Boris Johnson and his fiancé Carrie Symonds. Just this weekend,
Sir Charles Walker has earned himself the reputation of being one of the most consistent and outspoken critics of the government’s lockdown policy. The 1922 Committee stalwart has previously gone viral for passionate clips lambasting Matt Hancock’s 10 year imprisonment plan for returning holidaymakers dodging quarantine rules, attacking Boris Johnson for treating MPs like ‘dogs’ and
BBC’s grumpiest news presenter Simon McCoy today announced he’s leaving the corporation, the latest big name hire poached by start up channel GB News. McCoy, 59, leaves after 17 years at the Beeb, signing off this afternoon’s News at One with the words: ‘From me, it’s good afternoon – and goodbye.’ Mr S thought it only
Michael Gove was up this morning in the Commons fielding questions following last night’s controversial announcement that vaccine passports could be required for the pub. Amid collective fury at such a prospect by journalists, parliamentarians and policy wonks alike, William Wragg, the baby faced assassin of moderate Toryism, stepped up to ask the obvious question: Does my
It is the question on everyone’s lips: is Boris Johnson a feminist? The Prime Minister’s press secretary claimed a fortnight ago that he is; to the Guardian and the usual suspects he is a ‘priapic sexist’ guilty of the worst sorts of On the Buses smut – including in the Spectator’s own august pages. But now given
On New Years’ Eve former Labour minister Andrew Adonis grandly declared on Twitter: ‘The campaign for Britain to rejoin Europe starts at midnight.’ Since then it’s not exactly been going swimmingly. The last nine weeks have seen a stark contrast between vaccine procurement and rollout in Brussels and in Britain, replete with swipes at the Oxford
Boris Johnson appeared before the Liaison Committee this afternoon to face a smorgasbord of select committee chairs on everything from pubs to passports. After culture chief Julian Knight grilled Johnson on the continued problems facing British musicians touring Europe, Liaison chair Bernard Jenkin took his chance to nimbly interject. Westminster’s answer to the ‘capo dei capi’
Campaigners for LGBT+ rights have recently been most occupied with proposals to ban gay conversion therapy and the rights and wrongs of such a move. But could another battle soon be underway on an appropriately military subject? The Armed Forces had a ban on homosexuality until 2000 when the Blair government lifted it following a
President Biden’s stimulus splurge is clearly working wonders, given the new found desire of American companies to stuff dollars into Prince Harry’s pockets. Following the news yesterday that the exiled royal would be joining billion dollar tech start up BetterUp, America’s answer to George Osborne has now bagged himself a second gig alongside existing million dollar content deals with Netflix
What’s going on over at Reddit? The popular chatroom, which bills itself as ‘the front page of the internet’, has been accused of blocking Spectator articles. Earlier this week, the most popular UK politics page was suspended from public view and users who posted a link to a Spectator article were blocked. The article in question mentions one Aimee
‘Go woke, go broke’ has been a constant jibe at trendy businesses and progressive media outlets in recent years. But now the same refrain can be directed at Sadiq Khan and his Greater London Authority as it tries to plug a £500 million Covid-related black hole that has wrecked its revenue streams. The number of
President Biden makes much of his links to the Emerald Isle, in no small part perhaps because 35 million of his countrymen view themselves as Irish American and live disproportionately in swing states. Biden, who proudly describes himself as ‘five eights’ Irish once responded to a British journalist ‘BBC? I’m Irish’ and was clearly keen to
Where does one find freedom these days? A billion dollar Silicon Valley tech company now appears to be the answer. Mr S was delighted to read in the Wall Street Journal this afternoon that Prince Harry, 36, will be taking up his first formal job post-Megxit as the chief impact officer at tech start up BetterUp in California. The
Labour have been taking a cheeky pop at the PM’s father today in the Guardian over new coronavirus regulations coming into force later this month. Under the guidelines from 29 March, people will be allowed to leave the UK to prepare a second home for sale or rent as part of a list of specific ‘reasonable excuses
Things got a little heated in the House of Commons last night after defence secretary Ben Wallace gave short shrift to fellow Tory MP and ex Royal Anglian Regiment reservist Lieutenant Mark Francois. All hell broke loose after a war of words over the Ministry of Defence (MoD) budget blackhole. Scot’s Guard’s own Captain Wallace pointed
It has not been a great nine weeks for the European Union. Readers both inside and outside the supranational bloc will have been horrified at the dithering, disinformation and mixed messages of the commission and its national leaders, now considering an export ban to stop vaccine orders to the UK being honoured. The French position on the Oxford jab
BBC Director General Tim Davie was grilled today by the Commons public accounts committee and for Tory MP James Wild there was one item top of his agenda: flags. It follows last week’s sniggering incident in which two BBC breakfast presenters appeared to poke fun at Robert Jenrick’s Union Jack. Wild asked Davie: ‘In your own report
While the rest of SW1 was distracted this afternoon by the findings of the Hamilton report, Mr S tuned in to see Theresa May appear before the National Security Strategy Committee. The former PM remains the master of the withering putdown, as poor Gavin Williamson will have discovered to his cost on watching the meeting back.
Ahead of James Hamilton QC’s report this afternoon and the expected verdict of the Salmond inquiry committee tomorrow, Steerpike went back through the archives to find this clip from Holyrood in January 2019. Will the committee and the QC agree with the First Minister?