The sitting French finance minister Roland Lescure told the BBC this morning:
“British people decided, and that’s obviously their 100% right, and if they’re willing to come back, they will have to decide… But what I can tell them is: come back, anytime.”
France is in the throes of a supermassive debt crisis. Its bond yields are at the highest level in decades and the spread between French and German yields are at levels so alarming that onlookers fear a wider eurozone crisis is on the way. Good luck to the European Central Bank, which may need to start buying up bonds in large quantities…
The graph above is the spread between French and German 10-year bond yields. Good luck to France, which is enjoying watching schools get smashed up while public debt load nears 20% of GDP and no one can pass a €54 billion austerity package…
The euro has dropped 4% against the dollar since September. Despite the claims of some pro-Rejoin commentators Britain would be forced to sign up to euro accession in any rejoin situation. Burnham is off to meet struggling German Chancellor Friedrich Merz today to talk up ‘closer ties’ with the EU which could include informal talks on how the PM might force Britain back in. Out of the frying pan…
The Office of Rail and Road’s own data once again shows private open access operators beat the state-backed train companies. Long-distance open access operators recorded a cancellation rate of 2.3% in 2025/26, less than half the 5.0% for contracted long-distance services. Hull Trains recorded 1.8% and Lumo 1.9%. Avanti West Coast, which the government is busy nationalising, cancelled 5.6% of its trains…
There are more stats:
There are slightly more complaints for open access operators at 96 per 100,000 journeys against 72 for contracted operators. Though LNER, the state-owned flagship one, managed 109…
Why, then, is the state binning more open access trains? This morning ORR rejected Lumo’s Rochdale-Euston bid as well as the Wrexham, Shropshire & Midlands Railway’s Wrexham-Euston service, citing capacity on the West Coast Main Line. This comes one day after Grand Central abandoned its proposal to run services from Cleethorpes…
Burnham’s government has only paid lip service to competition, saying “there will be a continued role for open access operators where they can add value and capacity to the network.” Heidi Alexander announced at the weekend that Avanti’s West Coast services will be nationalised from March next year, and the Labour Conference transport offer was almost wholly limited to re-nationalising the railways. A government source told Guido: “Promoting open access isn’t helpful to the agenda.” Quite…
Israel has closed Britain’s consulate in Jerusalem in response to recent sanctions imposed by Ed Miliband. Hotting up…
Miliband responded in a statement this morning:
“The UK Government reiterates its long-standing view that East Jerusalem is occupied territory.
Following discussions with the Government of Israel, our Consulate General building will not be closing, and will be known as the UK Mission, Jerusalem from today. The UK Mission, Jerusalem is independent, operational, and will continue to deliver vital services and our work with the Palestinian people.”
The remaining operation will consist of about seven diplomats. Israel has removed the British sign on the side of the building…
FCDO minister Stephen Doughty is on the broadcast round and insisted it was a superficial change. He told LBC:
“You might see a name change, you might see a nameplate changing, but the crucial fact is that our office remains open… It would be called ‘UK Mission in Jerusalem’, but we retain our presence, we retain our building, we retain our people, and most importantly, we can carry on doing the work that we’re doing.”
This comes a week after Netanyahu claimed to have warned British authorities about RAF Fairford…
Today’s guests:
Watch along…
Long-dated 30-year gilt yields have risen to above 6% again today, up 12 basis points. Ten-year yields are up 11 to 5.49%…
The pound has also fallen 0.6% against the dollar with FTSE 100 down too. The pound is up against the Euro though amid France’s market meltdown – to think some people want to rejoin the EU…
There are 28 days until the Budget. John Healey will have to prove he can fix the cost of borrowing crisis…
A controversial charity has made appearances at both party conferences this Autumn despite being sanctioned by the UAE as a terrorist organisation. Welcome to the yookay…
Labour officially partnered with Islamic Relief UK for its Faith Reception at Labour Conference, while the charity also co-hosted a separate event pressing for further government action on Islamophobia. Islamic Relief UK and the Runnymede Trust also hosted “Systemic & Silent: Tackling Structural Islamophobia,” featuring Labour MP Rosena Allin-Khan, Runnymede Trust chief executive Shabna Begum, Islamic Relief UK interim director Zia Salik, and Himmah director Sajid Mohammed. Speakers reportedly called for the Government’s new Islamophobia definition to be implemented in practice, for a special representative on Islamophobia to be made more prominent, and for government to work with community organisations in addressing what speakers described as “structural Islamophobia”…
The event comes after Angela Rayner launched the government’s working group to develop an official definition of Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia. The government has since confirmed that the underlying dataset from the group’s call for evidence, including submissions from organisations, was disposed of after ministers considered its advice. Suspicious…
Islamic Relief UK and Islamic Relief Worldwide were both placed on the UAE’s official list of designated terrorist organisations in 2014. Israel separately designated Islamic Relief Worldwide an “illegal association,” alleging that it played a role in financing Hamas. Denied by the charity…
The charity supported a Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine reception in September and co-hosted “Engaged or Entangled? The UK in the Middle East” with the Coalition for Global Prosperity at Tory Conference on 5 October. Emma Schubart, Research Fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, said:
“Labour formally partnered with Islamic Relief UK while the organisation was pressing for government action on Islamophobia. That raises serious transparency questions. The Government has never disclosed which organisations contributed to its Islamophobia-definition process, and the underlying submissions have since been destroyed. The Government should disclose whether Islamic Relief or the Runnymede Trust contributed. Labour — and the Conservatives, who are also hosting Islamic Relief — should explain what due diligence they carried out before giving the organisation a platform.”
Never forget – charities are more egregious lobbyists than lobbyists…
Kemi Badenoch at the 1922-ConHome bash last night:
“I did praise [Burnham] for his stamina, it was amazing. All I had to do was sit back and lie there. I didn’t have to do anything at all…”