Starmer and his team touched down in Samoa this morning after flying for a ridiculous 27 hours (not including refuelling stops). Accompanied by the usual gaggle of lobby journalists looking forward to putting out all the same lines about the PM, just from a different location…
Broadcasters and print hacks paid about £4,750 to fly with Keir, or an eye-watering £10,000 if they were lucky enough to score business class. What do they get for their cash?
- Thunder and showers disrupting the official itinerary.
- A short CHOGM event being hijacked by campaigners demanding the UK pay reparations for slavery…while Starmer tries to talk about trade instead.
- Official snubs from Commonwealth leaders, including Modi and Ramaphosa who are at Putin’s BRICS summit in Russia. Hilariously even Trudeau didn’t bother to come, sending his high commissioner to London in his place. The Canadian PM did however send doughnuts when the plane stopped for fuel in Winnipeg, which were promptly eaten by the lobby, a big news moment…
Lobby hacks who stayed home are feeling smug as more interesting news ploughs on in dry London. One says: “You literally couldn’t have paid me to go on this one.” And they’ve got to fly all the way back…
According to Labour sources a new SpAd is about to enter Downing Street – John Stevens, the current Mirror political editor, is leaving the Lobby to spin for the government. Stevens is going to work for Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Labour heavyweight Pat McFadden…
No stranger to a scoop, Stevens will have to fend off his Lobby colleagues from inside government. From memory the last Mirror political editor to make the jump to Downing Street was Bad Al Campbell, the jury is out on how well that went. Guido has approached Stevens for comment…
UPDATE: Move confirmed.
The dust has settled since Thursday’s election and everyone can now see exposed the sheer bliss of liberal journalists at the new government. Beth “Praise the Supreme Leader” Rigby obviously seizes the award for her breathless high-impact coverage…
Ian Dunt’s usually incisive analysis is that politicians like being in power. Maitlis, meanwhile, is stuck in 2016…
Channel 4′s Krishnan Guru-Murthy has essentially declared that all journalism was terrible under the Tories because hacks were forced to talk about politicians. With the policy-focussed earnestness of a serious, professional Labour Party, journos will have the time to have refreshing fireside chats about policy. Pass the sick jar…
BONUS: Guido couldn’t help adding this extra Rigby stormer:
‘I’ve never seen a Deputy Prime Minister with a phone strap, that signifies to me a new era’ says @BethRigby as @AngelaRayner arrives for the first cabinet meeting at No 10.
#GeneralElection2024 https://t.co/xItZsH7tea📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/4ZVWs6d3n0
— Sky News (@SkyNews) July 6, 2024
Keir’s making Britain serious again, you say?
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.”
