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
Peter Murrell, the SNP’s chief executive, made an awkward appearance in front of the Alex Salmond inquiry earlier today, which raised as many questions as answers. Thankfully, though, one thing was cleared up: was any in the room with Murrell helping him as he gave evidence? Jackie Baillie, the deputy leader of the Scottish Labour party, had her
The EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, has been in the firing line in recent weeks, over the EU’s failure to procure enough vaccine doses. The Commission’s haphazard programme has left officials scrambling for excuses to explain why the bloc has come up short, with various EU leaders hitting out at AstraZeneca, Britain’s one-dose
Oh dear. Sir Keir Starmer has had a difficult few days as Labour leader, coming under criticism both from the Westminster commentariat and his own party over his performance. Critics say Starmer is too timid and is failing to make his mark. So, what better time for a former leadership hopeful to once again raise
HMS Britain seems to be a nippier beast after her Brexit refit. That is, at least, according to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Earlier today the embattled Eurocrat admitted that when it comes to Covid vaccine procurement, the European bloc is a ‘tanker’ by comparison to the UK’s ‘speedboat’. When asked about her ability
Why are academic disputes so vicious? Because the stakes are so small – or so the saying goes. The same could probably be said of parish council meetings. Though they make up a small and vital part of our democratic life, these local bodies also have a rather unfortunate habit of being dominated by petty
Oh dear. Rishi Sunak is the subject of criticism from lockdown supporters everywhere this morning over a Telegraph front page detailing the Chancellor’s apparent concerns that scientists are moving the goal posts on when lockdown ought to end. Treasury sources are keen to play down the report – but the aspect that has Mr S’s
At PMQs today, Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer clashed over the latter’s support in the past for the European Medicines Agency – which as Mr S pointed out, appeared to involve Keir Starmer potentially misleading the House of Commons. It now sounds though like the pair’s argument continued outside the Chamber. The Sun reports that
Oh dear. Sir Keir Starmer was in a particularly prickly mood this afternoon, as he faced Boris Johnson at PMQs, and the pair clashed over border closures. But the Labour leader appeared most riled when the Prime Minister pointed out that Starmer had fought for Britain to stay in the European Medicines Agency – a move
You won’t be surprised to learn that Philip Hammond was no big fan of Brexit. But Mr S was still somewhat taken aback by just how little the former chancellor made of Theresa May’s ‘Brexit means Brexit’ strategy: ‘My assessment of Theresa May’s Prime Ministership, in terms of Brexit, is that she dug a 20-foot-deep hole
The number of Brits who have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine hit 9.2million yesterday. But not everyone is impressed at the pace of the rollout. Step forward, France’s Europe minister, Clément Beaune, who has followed the example set by his boss Emmanuel Macron in criticising the British approach. The UK has
Nicola Sturgeon is not known to be a forgiving sort but at least one of her MPs will be glad that she can sometimes let bygones be bygones. Glasgow North East MP Anne McLaughlin MP has been promoted to the SNP frontbench at Westminster, with the grand title of shadow secretary of state for justice
Hold on to your hats. In recent years, the New York Times has rarely if ever missed an opportunity to bash Brexit Britain. Whether it’s spreading false claims over ‘mix and match vaccines’, identifying Britons as mutton-munchers or simply linking the UK’s decision to leave the EU with bad Covid etiquette. So Mr S must admit
In the aftermath of the EU’s vaccine bungle, Brussels remains in damage limitation mode, determined to ensure that someone else gets the blame for its own crisis. But Mr S wonders whether top EU diplomat Martin Selmayr’s bid to put a positive spin on what has unfolded over the last few days was really so wise. Selmayr,
Tonight we have witnessed some remarkably bad behaviour from the EU, after the bloc unilaterally announced that it was controlling the exports of vaccines from its territory – a move that threatens to introduce a hard border on the island of Ireland. But perhaps more surprising is that the EU’s poor behaviour has even managed
Oh dear, can the EU do anything right at the moment? This morning, the bloc escalated its battle with the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca by publishing its vaccine purchase contract with the company online. The EU was hoping the move would bolster its demands for AstraZeneca to hand over vaccine doses meant for the UK, to
The UK’s vaccine programme may now be regarded as a big success but that wasn’t always the case. As the UK injects at five times the speed of the EU-27, even ardent-Remainers are coming around to the pros of going it alone. Only the UK would not be in this fortunate position had ministers taken the
Another day, another Covid advertising fail for the government. Fresh from discontinuing a radio ad suggesting joggers and dog-walkers are ‘highly likely’ to have coronavirus, a ‘stay home, save lives’ poster has been pulled. The advert, which showed women cleaning and caring for children while a man lounged on a sofa, sparked accusations of sexism. ‘It has been withdrawn and
It’s pretty clear that the EU has not exactly behaved well in recent weeks, during its row with AstraZeneca over the Oxford vaccine. First the German press pushed out an unsubstantiated claim that the vaccine had extremely low efficacy rates among the elderly. Then the EU threatened to introduce an export ban to prevent other
Yesterday’s extraordinary row over the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has just become even stranger. The German government spent much of Tuesday rubbishing reports they had found the jab to be only 8 per cent effective among the over 65s. A claim that was published by the Düsseldorf-based financial paper Handelsblatt following a tip-off from anonymous sources within the German government. Instead, according
With Sir Keir Starmer struggling to make a mark and the Tories maintaining a poll lead, there’s been a concerted effort of late among those on the Left to take on Rishi Sunak. Labour brains view the Chancellor as the government’s biggest electoral asset – particularly among swing voters. That perhaps goes some way to explain
