FT exclusive: “The US state department is set to fund Maga-aligned think-tanks and charities across Europe to disseminate Washington’s policy positions and challenge perceived threats to free speech.” via @annasophiegross.bsky.social and colleagues

NEW: Wes Streeting has issued a private ultimatum to pharmaceutical companies to accept the government’s latest offer on drug pricing by Friday or he will publicly end the talks, raising the stakes in negotiations over how much the NHS should pay for treatments. With @hannahkuchler.bsky.social

NEW: Several councils run by Reform UK have resisted efforts by the party’s Elon Musk-style “Doge” unit to access personal and commercially sensitive data, slowing the progress of the highly controversial cost-cutting drive. www.ft.com/content/2019...

A supercomputer at Edinburgh university is set to receive £750mn as part of Wednesday’s spending review, reversing a contentious decision to suspend funding made in the early days of Sir Keir Starmer’s government Scoop via @annasophiegross.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/b1e9...

SCOOP: A supercomputer at Edinburgh university is set to receive £750mn as part of Wednesday’s spending review, reversing a contentious decision to suspend funding made in the early days of Sir Keir Starmer’s government. www.ft.com/content/b1e9...

NEW: Ministers are considering a softening of their contentious welfare reforms that could allow up to 200,000 people to keep their disability benefits, as the government seeks to stave off a backbench rebellion.

NEW: England’s drug approval body has resisted pressure from pharmaceutical companies to loosen its process for recommending drugs and is pressing instead for the NHS to speed up the rollout of approved medicines. W/ @hannahkuchler.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/4aa1...

This is a great piece by @annasophiegross.bsky.social, who is dead right about Labour's messaging. But it would seem that the economic arrangements that have served politicians - and many voters - well for decades are no longer fit for purpose. But what comes next? on.ft.com/3ReNrRA

NEW: Border security tsar Martin Hewitt told me slashing small boat crossings by half over the next three years would count as a success. He said "there will always be people who seek to move" but denied that cracking down on people smuggling was as futile as the War on Drugs.

NEW: Senior figures around Reform UK have drawn up plans for a think-tank called RESOLUTE 1850 that aims to attract Maga donors from America, according to a 17-slide presentation leaked to me TWO SLIDES BELOW

Excellent piece by @annasophiegross.bsky.social and @amyborrett.ft.com:

It was great to chat about welfare, the NHS and whether Keir Starmer has betrayed the left on this episode of Political Fix!

great story by @annasophiegross.bsky.social

NEW: Elon Musk has expressed an interest in backing an alternative to Reform UK, following a spat that erupted last week between Nigel Farage and Rupert Lowe, sources tell me 1/5

Very reassuring to see traditional conservatives like Jeb Bush and David Cameron getting their priorities straight in these dangerous times. Oh wait. www.ft.com/content/9fab...

Lord Cameron of Greensill is becoming an adviser to Jeb Bush’s private equity firm Story from @annasophiegross.bsky.social, @cynthiao.bsky.social & @antoinegara.bsky.social on.ft.com/3QMvJVh

Superb chart.

So - I've actually led Ebola outbreak response at USAID. This is bunk from Elon. They have laid off most of the experts, they're bankrupting most of the partner orgs, have withdrawn from WHO, and muzzled CDC. What's left is a fig-leaf effort to cover their asses politically.

NEW: Nigel Farage’s personal media company made £1.25mn in profits last year bolstered by his lucrative gig on I'm a Celebrity. The MPs' register of interests shows that Farage has been paid £265,000 for his work presenting on GB News since July, roughly £38,000 a month. www.ft.com/content/42c5...

NEW: Wes Streeting plans to ask employers to invest in vaccinations and medical check-ups for staff as he looks to reduce ballooning government spending on hospital care. Full story : www.ft.com/content/8acd...

NEW: Nigel Farage has given up ownership of Reform UK and created a new structure for his rightwing political outfit, according to corporate filings, as he seeks to professionalise the party ahead of local elections in May. Full story here: www.ft.com/content/527b...

NEW: Two former employees of Reform UK party have filed legal complaints against the party in a row over money they say the party owes them. Reform flatly denies the money is owed, claiming the contracts were 'forged'. Full story here: www.ft.com/content/072e...

While as an all-purpose nerd, I became very angry reading @annasophiegross.bsky.social's excellent piece on what is IMO the biggest and most important two mistakes Labour has made in office thus far:

Labour MPs have set up an internal group to focus on the rising threat from Reform UK as Nigel Farage’s right-wing populist party this week took the lead in a major national opinion poll for the first time.  www.ft.com/content/ffde...

NEW: Steve Reed will spend an extra £200mn on England’s flood defences to shore up crumbling infrastructure. The move follows intense wrangling last year over funding allocated to flood defences in the October budget w/ @pickardje.bsky.social @pmdfoster.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/4d8a...

NEW: Ofsted is pressing ahead with plans for a colour-coded scorecard to assess school performance that critics have compared to a Nando’s spice chart. Single-word judgments will be replaced with one- or two-word judgments across eight main areas. 1/2 www.ft.com/content/32e4...

NEW: AstraZeneca has ditched plans to build a new vaccine manufacturing plant in Merseyside, less than a year after it was first announced by Jeremy Hunt. The pharma giant blamed a low offer of state support from the new gov. W/⁦‪ @hannahkuchler.bsky.social on.ft.com/4hDRdPv

latest FT political podcast in which we discuss Trump’s second presidency - with @lucyfisher.bsky.social @edwardluce.bsky.social @annasophiegross.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/p...

NEW: X has refused to remove a video that Axel Rudakubana watched minutes before murdering three young children, despite numerous requests from authorities in Australia and the UK who have appealed to Elon Musk about the dangers of keeping it online. www.ft.com/content/3c89...

NEW: Elon Musk has privately downplayed the chances of donating to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, telling an associate it would not be easy after he joined the US gov. But there's no law blocking a donation, and he still may decide to make one. W/ @joemillerjr.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/634e...

NEW: Officials have discussed funding a supercomputer at Edinburgh Uni, just six months after axing the major "Exascale" project there. One official told me the gov has been searching for ways to reverse their decision to pull the plug 1/2

Why is Musk fixated with Britain? Could his online hostility spill over into the offline world? & how should UK/European govts respond? The tech billionaire is our focus on Political Fix this week, feat @pickardje.bsky.social, @joemillerjr.bsky.social, @annasophiegross.bsky.social & Miranda Green

Important story from @annasophiegross.bsky.social:

Terrific piece by @georgewparker.bsky.social and @annasophiegross.bsky.social on Reform’s ambitions:

NEW: Nigel Farage has momentum, but can he turn a start-up party into a serious vehicle for power? Reform aims to raise at least £10mn a year outside of elections. It also plans to field candidates in 90% of 2,200 council elections next year - and win at least 200 of them

Nigel Farage’s biggest backer asked an associate to donate £50,000 on his behalf so that it would appear that the Brexit party had a broader donor base, according to messages seen by the Financial Times scoop via @annasophiegross.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/8977...

Great scoop by @annasophiegross.bsky.social

NEW: Nigel Farage’s biggest backer Christopher Harborne asked an associate to donate £50,000 on his behalf so that it would appear that the Brexit party had a broader donor base, according to messages seen by the FT. www.ft.com/content/8977...

some of you may not know that FT does a political podcast but here it is really enjoyed chatting to @annasophiegross.bsky.social and host @lucyfisher.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/p...

NEW: The head of the £800mn 'Exascale' project cancelled by the Labour government has warned it would be a national "disaster" not to invest in supercompute capacity very soon. Data yday showed the UK no longer has a supercomputer in the global top 50 www.ft.com/content/a8be...

NEW: Ofsted wants to replace one-word assessments of schools’ overall performance with similarly brief judgments in 10 areas of evaluation, according to documents seen by the FT. Senior education figures are already very unhappy, saying this system will be equally punitive!

NEW: NEW: Lord Anthony Bamford paid for an £8,000 helicopter flight for Nigel Farage, in the same week the billionaire Conservative megadonor urged the Tory party to strike a deal with the Reform UK leader www.ft.com/content/425a...

A tale of two platforms: BlueSky user numbers have hit a new record high in recent days, while the number of people deleting their accounts on X/Twitter has rocketed 🚀

NEW: The UK should reduce the cost and complexity of visas for people with expertise AI and create special investment zones for data centres, Matt Clifford's gov-commissioned report is expected to say www.ft.com/content/4ec7...

NEW: The Lib Dems are tacking to the right of Labour on a number of policy areas — including taxing employers, inheritance and VAT on private schools — in an apparent bid to appeal to formerly Conservative voters. Makes sense, looking at the demographics in their seats.

Councils have essentially become social and children's care funding agencies, which, as most people don't use those services, means they don't really understand where all their council tax is going...

NEW: Home Office ministers were “shocked” by the profits being made by outsourcers Serco, Mears and Clearsprings Ready Homes on multiyear contracts signed in 2019 and hope to use break clauses in 2026 either to revise the original terms or terminate www.ft.com/content/27aa...

NEW: The UK government is set to consult on a scheme that would allow AI companies to scrape content from publishers and artists unless they “opt out”, in a move that will rile the creative industry. W/ @DanielThomasLDN www.ft.com/content/26bc...