Nigel Farage is in Romford for a Reform rally alongside the constituency’s MP, Andrew Rosindell. They’ve promised some ‘special guests’ will be attending. Shadow Cabinet announcements planned for tomorrow…
Donald Trump has shared a few delicate thoughts on Ed Miliband’s net zero deal with California Governor Gavin Newsom. He told POLITICO today:
“The UK’s got enough trouble without getting involved with Gavin Newscum… Gavin is a loser. Everything he’s touched turns to garbage. His state has gone to hell, and his environmental work is a disaster… It is inappropriate for [the UK] to be dealing with him.”
The deal is a memorandum of understanding between the UK and California in which both economies promise to collaborate on green energy technologies like offshore wind. It is also a chance for Newsom to start making powerful new friends ahead of his inevitable 2028 presidential bid, which Miliband was only too happy to oblige. The White House noticed…
A rare sighting as Mandelson hops into a 4×4. Police have searched two properties and Sky News’ Sam Coates reports that police interviews under caution could begin within weeks…
A rogue briefing from National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell to his friends at The Guardian went wrong on many levels yesterday – not least the suggestion that the doyenne of centrist geopolitics will soon be returning to his “consultancy“. The organisation that, er, happens to be in China a lot…
Now it emerges – further to forensic reporting by The Spectator’s Tim Shipman – that a phalanx of senior No10 political advisers are actively opposing the Chagos handover and are attempting to persuade Starmer to U-turn. Starmer is contemplating giving Chagos deal supporters – Powell and Hermer – a ladder to climb down ahead of the locals…
Well-connected Labour insiders with direct access to Starmer told Guido that Vidhya Alakeson, Starmer’s joint Chief of Staff, remains opposed to the Chagos deal and has lobbied the Prime Minister to U-turn on the matter. Alakeson is seen as holding the balance of power in No10 as she is “smart, popular and not a dinosaur”. She is said to be supported by a team of “younger” advisers in Downing Street who believe the deal is electorally toxic. Labour just U-turned on its local elections cancellation today – advisers are now asking why Chagos cannot be next…
U-turning on the disastrous Chagos deal would demonstrably improve Starmer’s position ahead of a crunch set of local elections. Multiple polls have established the public oppose Starmer’s Chagos plan by a large margin. By scrapping the deal, Starmer would immediately return £30 billion of revenue to the balance sheet. “The Chagos plan was all Powell’s” said one adviser, who pointed to the briefing regarding his imminent exit as a sign that his enthusiasm for continuing in government has waned. “Plans cooked up by the ‘boys club’ are now being killed off”, said another source. When Powell goes, will the hated Chagos deal go with him?
Starmer was asked if there would be no more U-turns on Radio 2 at 12:39:16:
“Absolutely. I know exactly why I was elected in with a five-year mandate to change this country for the better, and that’s what I intend to do.”
News broke of one of the biggest U-turns yet – reversing the cancellation of local elections – at 2:20 p.m.
1 hour, 40 minutes, and 44 seconds…
Starmer was read out a list of his 13 U-turns on BBC Radio 2, to which he responded:
“Well, I am a common sense merchant.”