Two months ago Simon Enright, one-time press adviser to the King and Queen, was being tipped to become “Sir Keir Starmer’s king of spin in 10 Downing Street“. According to The Sun’s Harry Cole, Sue Gray was “keen to bring in Simon Enright”, which seemed plausible given he had been providing training and advice to the shadow cabinet.

That didn’t play out, Simon Enright last week left spin-shop Freuds to become the new director of communications for Grant Shapps at the Ministry of Defence. Which means Sue Gray is still looking for a new “king of spin” for Number 10…

She could of course choose a queen, Beth Rigby’s online analysis in what is the unregulated-by-Ofcom “Sky Analysis” (formerly “Sky Views”) section of the channel’s website already reads like she is writing press releases for the Labour Party:

Perhaps the Parliamentary Lobby’s only openly known Labour Party member, Paul Waugh, might get the job assuming he doesn’t want instead to have a second go at becoming the MP for Rochdale.

Could Tom Baldwin reprise the role he did for Miliband? His hagiography of Keir shows his closeness to the principal. They say everyone has a third act in them…

While Starmer may make all the right noises on Corbyn’s disastrous leadership now it’s in the rear view mirror, he still can’t answer the direct question of why he told voters to vote for Jeremy – “a personal friend” – at two general elections. Even last night, when asked by Beth Rigby, he can only offer a word salad:

“Well look, I think in 2017 and 2019, the Labour Party lost its way. And that’s why my first words as Labour leader… were to rip anti-semitism out from its roots… every Labour party member and activist always wants a Labour government but I’m not going to shy away from the fact that we lost our way in recent years… which is why I was utterly determined to change our party…”

Despite repeated questioning, he can’t give a coherent answer. Wonder why…

In a testy interview with Beth Rigby for Sky News, the Prime Minister repeatedly refused to commit to a migration target. Despite the best efforts of bulldozing Beth, Rishi only committed to “bringing down the levels of net migration”. He couldn’t even promise to get it back below last year’s high of 504,000….

Beth also asked Sunak, “will you have failed as a government?” if migration figures reached projected levels of up to 1,000,000. Unsurprisingly, Rishi couldn’t be drawn for an answer, he responded:

“Again Beth, you’re speculating on what may or may not be. What I can tell you is I am committed to bringing the levels of legal migration down… at the same time I think people know I’m relentlessly focussed on stopping the boats”.

Guido isn’t filled with confidence – Rishi’s “relentless focus” on small boats didn’t stop figures reaching their annual high in April…

Speaking to Beth Rigby on Sky News, David Lammy got defensive when pressed about his outside earnings. The Shadow Foreign Secretary is Labour’s top earner, and had a robust response when pressed by Beth over a potential crackdown:

“I don’t think- no-one’s complaining about those hours. No-one is suggesting I’m in the pocket or LBC or anyone else”.

Lammy then begrudgingly accepted that, if parliament does rule against MPs having second jobs, “I will have to live with that like everyone else”. His £243,800 outside earnings would be a tough hole to plug amidst a cost of living crisis…

In the interview, Lammy also defended outside earnings on the basis they went to fund his staffing costs. If Lammy has also received donations for this he would have to declare it on his register of interests. There is no record of any such donations…

Yesterday evening, Sky News revealed the latest in the long-line of dramatic lobby-driven allegations against “coercive” arch-villain Dominic Raab. They use whistleblower-esque video of anonymous actors filmed in poorly-lit rooms to convey the gravity of the situation – with the anonymous sources – read leftie civil servants – accusing Raab of showing “quiet fury”. Buried half-way through the video piece, Beth admits her anonymous sources “weren’t bullied by the Deputy Prime Minister themselves”…

Amongst the other allegations lodged against the Justice Secretary was the claim he would “adapt his behaviour depending on the person” and that officials would be “nervous about going into meetings with him” for fear of an “unpleasant encounter”. The testimony adds that Raab’s victims “wouldn’t complain”. You have to wonder why.

The claims go further. Although Beth’s sources admit “he wouldn’t shout”, in this case, his crime was far worse. His victims allege “The vein would be pumping on his head and he would look like he was about to explode.” Just shocking.

In the wake of all this, Raab has the unfortunate job of facing questions on this morning’s media round, even with the government’s announcement of tougher sentencing for domestic abuse, no prizes for guessing where their attention was focused. So far, he has stuck to a refusal to comment, though Sky News did get him to admit he “absolutely” has high standards in the workplace:

“I think if you’re in any walk of life, the media, in sport, CEO of a big business, let alone in government, you want to set high standards because that’s how you deliver.”

We can’t have that…

Sky News has broadcast an interview of Beth Rigby, featuring a cameo from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. In the interview she launched an interrogative tirade, pressuring Rishi to apologise for the mistakes of the previous government of which he had no part.

Beth repeatedly claimed, “no-one’s apologised” for the mistakes of Liz Truss, ignoring the fact they have. Frequently.

An unrelenting Beth, refused to understand Rishi’s admission that “mistakes were made”. The scalp-addicted Lobby are showing withdrawal symptoms…