The No10 spokesman confirmed this afternoon that Starmer has agreed with Cabinet Secretary Antonia Romeo to allow access talks with ‘prospective candidates’ before nominations even open on 9th July:
“As per Cabinet talks, the Prime Minister wants smooth transition and is seeking to it make as easy as possible. So the Prime Minister has agreed with the Cabinet Secretary that access talks can take place with prospective candidates as soon as possible, and before nominations closed.”
He later confirmed this meant transition talks could begin before nominations had officially even opened, which produces a bizarre constitutional question over ‘what is a prospective candidate?’. Can Catherine West announce she’s standing just to waste the Cabinet Office’s time? Number 10 said it was a question for the Cabinet Office. As always…
Speaking at his speech on how to achieve “progressive capitalism” Wes Streeting fired a dig and Andy Burnham:
“Bond markets are not bond villains and fiscal rules matter.”