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
Oh dear. It’s crunch day for Theresa May as her Brexit war cabinet gathers for the first of two meetings to discuss the type of trade relationship the UK ought to seek with the EU post-Brexit. With tensions running high in the party and Brexiteers nervous that Theresa May could be about to agree to
PMQs proved a more lively affair than usual thanks to the Beast of Bolsover. Dennis Skinner attempted to ask a question on NHS funding but John Bercow managed to distract from the message by congratulating the veteran Labour MP on his upcoming birthday. The MP for Bolsover will turn 86 on Sunday – not that he’ll
Justin Trudeau is no stranger to virtue signalling, but he has surpassed himself with his latest gesture. The Canadian PM was taking part in a Q and A at a university when he took a female* audience member to task. Her offence? Succumbing to the patriarchy and referring to ‘mankind’. Trudeau interrupted her to mansplain
When David Cameron and George Osborne were in government, the pair heralded a new ‘golden era’ where the UK would be China’s ‘best partner in the West’. However, since Theresa May moved into No 10, questions have been raised about the health of this partnership. Osborne ally Lord O’Neill has criticised May for a focus on New
The friction in the Tory party shows no signs of calming down. Anna Soubry is the latest Tory MP to cause trouble – again – by calling for Conservative hard Brexiteers to be ‘slung’ out of the party. Soubry said it was time for ‘moderates’ to ‘take control’. She told Newsnight: ‘My frontbench…is in hock
Here we go. There’s been a lot of talk in recent months of the vicious rhetoric coming from Brexiteers – but what about ardent Remainers? Zac Goldsmith – the MP for Richmond Park – has taken to social media to share a letter that was sent to an 80-year-old constituent. Signed by ‘the real 48
After a weekend of Tory in-fighting, blue on blue briefing wars and confusion over the government’s Brexit position, it’s safe to say that tensions are running high in the Conservative party. One minister who is particularly rattled by the contents of the Sunday papers is Ben Wallace, The Mail on Sunday reported that the Security
After Georgia ‘Toff’ Toffolo won I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here, the Tories have been divided on how best to utilise their celebrity supporter. A proud Conservative, Toff’s offer to share her million Instagram followers with the party was snubbed by CCHQ over concerns she was ‘too posh to win over Labour supporters’.
Oh dear. After a week in which senior Brexiteers accused the civil service of trying to frustrate Britain’s exit from the EU, the Sunday papers have seen the first signs of fight back. In the Observer, Andrew Turnbull, who led the civil service under Tony Blair, claims the Brexit bunch are using tactics similar to those
No one puts the Moggster in a corner. He was due to speak to the UWE Bristol Politics and International Relations Society. A bunch of hooded protesters entered the room, and started to shout. There are about a dozen of them, shouting about Brexit, some with their faces covered. The Moggster, rather than taking cover,
With doubts about Theresa May’s leadership rising, talk has turned – once again – to who might replace her. Jacob Rees-Mogg has topped this month’s ConservativeHome leadership poll of members. So, is Moggmentum what the public needs? That’s the suggestion made by Michael Portillo. Speaking on This Week, the Tory stalwart conceded that Rees-Mogg could
Chris Williamson has been on Russia Today (where else?) lambasting the government for outsourcing to private firms. The Corbynista favourite said that ‘public services are being used as a cash cow to generate private profit’ – and, in the wake of the collapse of Carillion, it was time to ‘remove the private sector from all
This is going to end well. The Financial Times’ report on allegations of inappropriate behaviour at a Presidents’ Club charity dinner is the paper’s most-read story of all time. The investigation revealed hostesses at the event were groped, sexually harassed and propositioned. However, one writer has been left wondering what all the fuss is about. Step
Julian Smith has his work cut out as Chief Whip. As well as trying to stop Tory MPs firing off letters to 1922 Committee chairman Graham Brady, Smith must try and keep both Tory Remainers and Tory Brexiteers in line. In a bid to do this, Smith met with the European Research Group – the
A government minister has just dropped a clanger in the House of Lords – by resigning for missing a question. Lord Bates told peers that he was ‘ashamed’ for not being there to answer a query from Labour’s Baroness Lister. An emotional Bates told the Lords: ‘I am thoroughly ashamed at not being in my
Oh dear. Theresa May’s bad week just got worse. On top of Tory MPs taking to social media, the airwaves and the papers to criticise her, it now seems that Conservative peers are going public with their grievances. In the new issue of Tatler magazine, Baroness Trumpington – who retired from the Lords last year
John Humphrys has had a rough time of late. Not only has the Today programme anchor voluntarily taken three pay cuts – with his salary thought to have been cut from £649,000 to under £300,000 – he has received little credit for it. Humphrys has come under flak from all sides after a conversation in
Here we go. First the Stepford students at LSE submitted a motion to ban the university’s free-speech society, next City University students tried banning newspapers at the institution famed for its journalism school, then Lincoln University’s Student Union suspended the Conservative Society’s social media use after young Tories dared to suggest that the powers-that-be were intolerant of
The leaked government Brexit forecasts have this morning been reported by the BBC just as its leakers intended: as embarrassing proof that Brexit is bad for the economy. If it had any vague interest in being impartial, perhaps the Beeb would have bothered to make the rather obvious point: not only have we seen such
Theresa May’s not having a good few weeks. With Tories scrambling to either criticise their leader or covertly campaign to be the next leader, May’s premiership appears to be on shaky ground once more. Add to this a backlash from Conservative Brexiteers and a government Brexit forecast leak and it’s safe to conclude things aren’t