Penny Mordaunt, Angela Rayner, Stephen Flynn, Daisy Cooper, Carla Denyer, Rhun ap Iorwerth and Nigel Farage will tonight be representing their parties in the first seven-way debate of the General Election campaign from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on BBC. After today’s fallout over Sunak’s grovelling apology following his D-Day ditching, Penny will be facing a tough crowd. Considering she posted a photo of her meeting veterans in five years ago, the assumption is that the sword carrier didn’t go to Normandy off her own back. No doubt Nigel, who was in France all day yesterday, will crucify her and Sunak over that…

All eyes will be on Rayner, who’s clearly courting the left wing to balance Starmer’s centrist approach. She’s been pushing Starmer’s buttons all campaign – first defying him on Abbott, then doubling down on her anti-Trident stance from 2016. Look out for her to stray from the leader’s script again when she goes head to head with Farage…

Labour’s nervous about losing votes to Reform, so Rayner will hammer home that only Labour can boot the Tories out. Mordaunt will likely hit back, accusing Labour of plotting the infamous £2,000 tax hike and pointing to Rachel Reeves’ rumoured tax increases. The possible outcome for Penny Mordaunt is that it crucifies her leadership campaign before the starting gun has been fired…

LibDem Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper was struggling to spin party victory this morning. Speaking on Sky News about the local election results, Sam Coates noted that it doesn’t feel like the LibDems are on course for 125 net gains considering they have only 18 so far. Cooper tried the best she could to paint party success, pointing to a “surprise win” in overtaking the Tories in Hampshire…by one seat. Coates prodded: “Your big success was taking one seat?” Cooper replied, “It’s just one example.” When asked if she had a better example, the short answer was no. The Coates bull****detector strikes again…

As sure as night follows day, the Liberal Democrats have interrupted recess to demand Parliament be recalled. This time, focus is on the women’s World Cup Final. Their speculative effort would involve blowing the final whistle on recess to bring forward the time when pubs can serve alcohol, so punters can enjoy pints for kick-off. Daisy Cooper said:

“MPs should get down to Westminster tomorrow and score a last minute winner for our pubs and the Lionesses. The Liberal Democrats are calling for MPs to be recalled to pass a last-minute Statutory Instrument bringing forward the time all pubs across the country are allowed to serve alcohol, to 10am.”

To be fair, it’s a solid attack…

However, based on recent form, the play is only likely to end in another own goal. The party could now field a 11-a-side football team with all of their (failed) attempts to recall parliament:

1. August 2019 – Jo Swinson wants parliament to be recalled to debate the possibility of a no-deal Brexit. She was left disappointed.
2. April 2020 – The LibDems join calls for Parliament to be recalled in a virtual form in the context of the pandemic. It wasn’t.
3. July 2021 – Ed Davey calls for a recall to debate vaccine passports. His pleas fell on deaf ears.
4. April 2022 – They called for a recall to debate a motion of no confidence in Boris Johnson after he received a Partygate fine. Still no luck.
5. August 2022 – Scottish LibDems call for a Holyrood recall to discuss disruption to ferry services. Nope.
6. August 2022 – Recall parliament to discuss rising energy bills. Recess went undisturbed.
7. September 2022 – Debate the fallout from the mini-budget. No chance.
8. January 2023 – Their next effort was over A&E delays. It had the same outcome.
9. February 2023 – The Liberal Democrats’ number nine was when Daisy Cooper called for a recall over junior doctors’ strikes. She shot wide of the mark.
10. August 2023 – The LibDems displayed rare self awareness and joined in on the joke, calling for a recall to end the “bored journalist crisis”. You get the picture.
11. August 2023 – Their last-minute pub opening time intervention. You never know…

Hat-tip: Politico

The Government has recovered £18 million from fraudulent PPE contracts. Co-conspirators can be forgiven for thinking this, found in response to a written question, is good news. However put in the broader context of fraudulent PPE, which The Guardian puts at £630 million, this represents just under 3%. The Guardian quotes Daisy Cooper, calling these attempts “pitiful”. In this instance, Guido is inclined to agree…

The figures are based on estimates that 5% of the £12.6 billion in government contracts were fraudulent. Though, figures used by the TPA put an upper estimate for PPE fraud at a staggering £4 billion.  In that case, the government has recovered just 0.45%…