After Reform demanded a public apology from the BBC for Matt Chorley’s misquoting Farage on Newsnight last night the corporation has acquiesced. Matt Chorley said Farage called for “white cold rage” instead of “pure cold rage.” He was forced to apologise this morning – it wasn’t enough…
The BBC itself has apologised to Farage, removed the Newsnight episode from iPlayer and Sounds for now and will also air an apology tonight. Safe to say the BBC wants Robert Kenyon to appear on the Question Time panel tomorrow night…
Shabana Mahmood has not done any media since before she went into Downing Street and told Starmer to set out a path for his leaving office. Shy?
The Home Secretary was not even due to give the Commons statement on the Henry Nowak case. Until it became such big news that she took the place of policing minister Sarah Jones, who was due to take to the despatch box…
Sue Gray ally Donjeta Miftari is working on comms for Team Burnham as Guido revealed last week. Not only is Miftari a Grayite – she also worked for a year as an adviser to Mahmood prior to the general election…
Mahmood is close to key Burnham aide (and seat provider) Josh Simons through Labour Together, the Starmerite operation from which she drew tens of thousands of pounds. Mahmood’s current chief of staff Josh Williams also previously served as Simons’ chief of staff at the organisation…
Sources familiar with the messages say the Home Secretary’s SpAds were texting excitedly about Andy’s seat announcement on the morning of that Thursday.
Burnham has praised Mahmood in the press – he said 13 days ago that he agrees with the “thrust” of her immigration reforms and his spokesmen have gone further in indicating Team Burnham’s support for the policy programme. That’s crucial for a Home Secretary who is obsessed with the policy side of things…
An optimistic Burnham camp is briefing that the fealty–paying Cabinet ministers are more of a pain than anything and are trying to keep their presence low-key. Ministers are in the Mah-mood for a job in the new Andy ministry…
Irony is dead, and so is the Labour Growth Group. A new message from Mark McVitie to supporters just now:
“Hi all,
I wanted to update you on where things stand with Labour Growth Group, following recent conversations about the group’s direction and the work it should be doing.First, I want to acknowledge that some of you felt blindsided by the publication of An Honest Day without sight of it beforehand. That was a mistake, it sits with Chris and me, and we apologise. The paper came at the end of a long and resource-light process, and in the rush to land it we did not bring you in as we should have. I remain very proud of what the paper has done to shape the argument for a more persuasive and dynamic politics of growth both within the party and more widely. But the process should have been better.
You may also know that the current funding block which has sustained LGG operations is coming to an end. Chris has given a huge amount to LGG as Parliamentary Chair and is now keen to focus on other work, including advocacy on housing and on devolution and the metro mayoralties around the country. For my part, I am keen focus my energy on taking the ideas in An Honest Day forward through new routes.
With that, Chris will soon be standing down as Chair and I will be winding things down behind the scenes.
That leaves the question of what LGG becomes next open, and I think it is only right to put that to all of you. If you want to take it on, as Chair or as part of a new organising committee, please email Chris and CC me. I would encourage anyone who believes in the group’s potential to put themselves forward. Based on the response, we will create a process for an orderly handover and a timetable for moving into a new phase.
I am genuinely very grateful for the support so many of you have shown throughout my time leading this work. I am glad to have gotten to know many of you and hope to continue working with you in the future. I hope you feel it has been worthwhile.”
Will anyone bother to step forward…
Every month, we publish the power rankings of all the leading lights in Reform based on our readers’ responses. Click here to fill in the survey, and the results will be published at the end of the month. Here’s how last month played out…
We’re offering £10 off your Guido membership once you complete it. If you’re not a Guido member yet, that’s a whole month as a Co-Conspirator for free. You’ll get instant access to all our exclusive content, including Labour Wars and The Right Angle…
Morgan McSweeney has cultivated an impression post-resignation that he’s ploughing the global security and disinformation furrow, with briefed-out appearances in Kyiv and Prague inevitably described as “rare” by hacks. What’s the McIavelli really up to…
McSweeney is this week back in the UK and busy briefing senior media figures across the political spectrum. Lunching one of them at the Ivy restaurant in central London today…
Former leader of the SNP in Westminster Ian Blackford told Times Radio why he believes Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that she spent no time in the kitchen and therefore didn’t see any of her husband’s purchases:
“She doesn’t have a passion for cooking.”