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
When Extinction Rebellion took over the streets of London last year, even some of those who disagreed with the aims of the movement found the number of protesters an impressive sight. Thousands of people descended on the capital, blocking streets and causing chaos as they desperately tried to outfox police officers. This week, Extinction Rebellion is back.
Oh dear. It’s safe to say that Rishi Sunak is not having the best week. Although the Chancellor’s made the news every day, it’s more because Tory MPs are complaining about various Treasury tax proposals than because they have anything nice to say. While the jury’s out on tax rises, it seems that the Chancellor has at least
It’s parliament’s first day back, and the government will be hoping to restore an aura of competence, after recent U-turns from exams to face masks – but they have not had a strong start. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace was spotted shaking hands with a colleague this morning, while on his way to a socially distanced cabinet
One of the reasons the Red Wall fell so decisively in favour of the Tories was that Labour failed to understand Brexit voters. That at least is a common theory put forward as to why Boris decisively trounced Corbyn last December. And it certainly seems to tally up with what some current Labour MPs make of
‘Don’t be a fatty in your 50s’, that was the advice Boris Johnson had for his colleagues following his recovery from coronavirus. It seems he’s taken that comment to heart – the PM has signed up a new PT to help him shift the pounds. The Evening Standard reports that celebrity trainer Harry Jameson has been spotted alongside the
Diversity and inclusion is, apparently, ‘mission critical’ to the Ministry of Defence. That’s right, up there with keeping our troops safe or even, believe it or not, defence of the realm. Which is why the MoD is now looking for a new director of diversity and inclusion. In fact, the role is so ‘mission critical’ that the successful candidate
James O’Brien has done it again. LBC’s eviscerator-in-chief has skewered yet another caller and their ill-thought-out opinions. No, not a moronic Brexiteer this time but a concerned parent. Wait, what? The father in question had phoned O’Brien’s mid-morning show to share his concerns about his children, suggesting they really ought to get back into the classroom for their own
What happens when a lifelong anti-monarchist meets a pair of vocal young royals? Might one expect a statement of principles from the republican, politely reminding the couple of their illegitimacy as would-be rulers? Or perhaps just a quiet detachment, civil but aversive. It seems that when Jeremy Corbyn and his wife Laura Alvarez met Harry
A prime minister better known for his charisma than his policy achievements proroguing parliament to ride out a political storm. Sound familiar? No, it is not Boris Johnson, but the quintessential liberal heartthrob Justin Trudeau. Trudeau’s party promised not to use prorogation to ‘avoid difficult political circumstances’ When Johnson suspended parliament a year ago, Nicola
Gavin Williamson has taken a lot of stick for the A-level exams debacle, but Mr Steerpike thinks we should perhaps look to Roger Taylor, the chair of Ofqual, who also happens to be head of the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation. Not many people think that using an algorithm to decide exam results was
Not content with criticism from virtually all sides of the political arena, Gavin Williamson appears to have turned even his own Twitter account against him in an act of online sadomasochism. The most recent like on his account is of a tweet by the children’s author Michael Rosen, in which he argues that under the
Gavin Williamson has performed a big U-turn today and announced that pupils in England receiving A level and GCSE results this year will be awarded their teacher-assessed grades, to avoid any student being downgraded by an algorithm. In a statement this afternoon, the Education Secretary said: ‘We worked with Ofqual to construct the fairest possible model,
Was Margaret Thatcher a feminist icon? Given that the Iron Lady was Britain’s first female prime minister, you would think so. But not according to Russell Brand. The comedian and Corbyn fan has released a video in which he explains feminism. Brand then asks whether Thatcher – who defied the odds to rise to the
When Dawn Butler was stopped by police last weekend she was not in a forgiving mood: It later turned out that the vehicle Butler was travelling in was stopped after an officer made a mistake when typing in the car’s number plate. ‘As a result of an officer making a human error as he inputted the car
Nicola Sturgeon was able to indulge in a small spot of schadenfreude today, as A level results were announced in England, and UK ministers were criticised for the downgrading of some students’ results. The Scottish first minister has had a hellish week defending her own disastrous handling of exam results north of the border, which
The UK government has seemed flummoxed in recent days about how to best stop migrants and asylum seekers crossing the English Channel in inflatable dinghies – with ministers particularly concerned about the failure of the French authorities to prevent people traffickers organising journeys out of Calais. Immigration minister Chris Philp travelled to Paris this week
Yesterday afternoon, the ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s made an unusual contribution to the debate over how best to deal with migrants crossing the English Channel. In a series of tweets, the ice cream corporation blasted the Home Secretary Priti Patel, and advised her that the ‘real crisis is our lack of humanity for
Last Friday, Evgeny Lebedev, owner of the Independent and the Evening Standard, was celebrating his nomination for a peerage. But while the future looks bright for soon-to-be Lord Lebedev (son of the former KGB spy Alexander Lebedev), there is bad news for some of those who work for him. Today it was announced that the
Power struggles at the heart of government continued today, with a key member of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office announcing his retirement. Palmerston the cat, Chief Mouser of the department since 2016, announced he was stepping down via the Foreign Office Twitter account. In a statement, Palmerston explained that working from home over lockdown had
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has shown an increasing willingness to venture into political debates lately. In June, during the Black Lives Matter protests, he suggested that portrayals of Jesus as white should be reconsidered in English churches. And ahead of the December election last year he accused Boris Johnson of pouring petrol on
