Clive Lewis backs Andy Burnham? Remarks delivered at the 2025 Robin Cook Memorial Lecture

“Reform UK have spotted what you could call a ‘gap in the market’, and it's not a good one”, writes Labour MP Dr @simonforstroud.bsky.social 🗣️ Reform UK’s vaccine crankery is a dangerous threat to our national security www.politics.co.uk/mp-comment/2...

“I absolutely will insist that you are not discarded as collateral damage in a rush to worship the god of unfettered autonomy for an articulate few”, writes @timfarron.bsky.social 🗣️ My opposition to assisted dying is rooted in liberalism and Christianity www.politics.co.uk/mp-comment/2...

🚨 Zarah Sultana confirms she has been frozen out of ‘Your Party’ — Hits out at “sexist boys’ club” — Accuses Corbyn statement of having “misrepresented the situation” — Calls for a meeting with Corbyn — Party is “more important than any one person”

All is not well in ‘Your Party’. Note the absence of Zarah Sultana’s name at the bottom of this statement

“Early and accurate diagnosis is the foundation for everything that follows – and we must act urgently to make it a reality for everyone, in every community”, writes @douglasmcallister.bsky.social 🗣️ A dementia diagnosis should be a right, not a waiting game www.politics.co.uk/mp-comment/2...

No defection will surpass Carswell’s in its political meaning until the defector calls a by-election, and wins it. No competition until then

More bad news for No 10: The commons speaker has granted a Conservative request for a three-hour emergency debate on the Lord Mandelson debacle under Standing Order 24 — it will be the first such debate since January 2023 Badenoch statement 👇

🚨 Foreign affairs committee calls for hearing on Mandelson appointment and dismissal The committee is calling on the FCDO and Cabinet Office to give evidence on the vetting and security processes behind Mandelson’s appointment Chair Emily Thornberry comments:

I have written before about an inflection point in British politics: when Conservative MPs interpret Reform UK's continued rise and consumption of the incumbent opposition as, effectively, inevitable. At that point, the incentive structure realigns: pointing ambitious, able Tories into Farage's arms

A significant defection. Danny Kruger, appointed by Badenoch to serve on the Tory frontbench, is Reform UK's latest MP

“In a move that will dismay working people, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have got the old coalition band back together”, writes Labour's @mwheelermp.bsky.social 🗣️ We must not let a Tory-Lib Dem alliance weaken the workers’ rights bill www.politics.co.uk/mp-comment/2...

“Starmer is not a career politician — a fact he is apparently proud of. But that does not absolve him of the responsibilities and intricacies of politics.” www.politics.co.uk/week-in-revi...

Some thoughts on the Lord Mandelson scandal, the crisis facing Keir Starmer’s premiership, the deputy leadership contest — and the Andy Burnham factor Long-read for @politics.co.uk on where we are now, and what’s next: www.politics.co.uk/week-in-revi...

“…a pattern emerges from No 10’s management: the adoption of an untenable line, the strained defence of it, the unequivocal denunciations of alternative approaches, the stubbornness — then the slow acquiescence to political pressure in the days leading up to a brittle about-face.”

“Starmer, once again, did not spot the obvious danger. Not for the first time, the politics of the moment looked to have passed him by.” www.politics.co.uk/week-in-revi...

Mandelson scandal exposes fragility of Starmer’s standing www.politics.co.uk/week-in-revi...

“The British public deserves answers”, writes Conservative MP Gavin Williamson 🗣️ Appointing Mandelson was a grave error – Starmer must be held accountable www.politics.co.uk/mp-comment/2...

Liz Lloyd, who left No 10 in the reshuffle last week, is made a peer and a minister She will serve jointly in the science, innovation and technology + business and trade depts, as well as a whip in the Lords No 10 press notice:

Paula Barker is the latest to withdraw from the Labour deputy leadership race. Thornberry suspended her candidacy earlier this morning Looking like a Phillipson-Powell final two

“Fracking isn’t the answer. It doesn’t stack up at any level in the UK. Want energy security? Go for clean energy”, writes Labour MP @billesterson.bsky.social 🗣️ Reform UK’s fracking stance shows it is not serious www.politics.co.uk/mp-comment/2...

UQ coming up on Mandelson

“It is a message designed to resonate with both the financial markets and the electorate, and it sets the tone for a potentially transformative period in politics”, writes Jim Murphy 🗣️ More growth, fewer boats: Starmer’s reshuffle signals determination to deliver www.politics.co.uk/comment/2025...

🚨 Louise Haigh not standing

The events of today have only reinforced me in my view that a Labour deputy leadership election will be a difficult experience indeed for the government, as per my weekend article: “Labour is about to spend the autumn holding a mirror up to its divisions.” www.politics.co.uk/week-in-revi...

Emerging divergence between Polanski’s Greens and the fledgling Your Party is that the former has shown a consistent determination to speak to Reform’s target voters. It looks to be crucial to the new leadership’s electoral and media strategy

“It is the Labour ‘soft left’ that has most to gain from a deputy leadership contest. And there is no shortage of potential standard-bearers.” www.politics.co.uk/week-in-revi...

“At this stage, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the membership is about to stick a thorn directly into Starmer’s side.” www.politics.co.uk/week-in-revi...

Starmer has every reason to fear a deputy leadership election The PM began the week projecting control. But now he must spectate as a deputy leadership contest puts his premiership on trial Long-read for @politics.co.uk on what's next after an extraordinary week👇 www.politics.co.uk/week-in-revi...

Health secretary Wes Streeting responds to Dr Aseem Malhotra’s comments on the main stage at Reform UK conference:

The soft left has most to gain from a deputy leadership contest. I can see one of Anneliese Dodds, Rosena Allin-Khan, Emily Thornberry, even Louise Haigh doing well Which, if you're Keir Starmer, is not great reading. All have had run-ins with the leadership

🚨Angela Rayner resigns govt roles and as deputy leader of the Labour Party "...I have therefore decided to resign as Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, as well as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party." Letter to the PM:

“Digital ID can also be a vital tool in halting the 'broken Britain' narrative felt throughout the country”, writes @plmr.co.uk CEO @kevincraig.co.uk 🗣️ Digital ID can be Labour’s path to smashing the gangs and fixing public services www.politics.co.uk/comment/2025...

🚨 Breaking: Cabinet reshuffle begins… Darren Jones becomes chief secretary (minister of state) to the prime minister and No10 — a new role James Murray takes his place as chief secretary to the Treasury Both are cabinet-attending roles, No 10 has said

“As Labour approaches the party conference season and what is shaping up to be a make-or-break budget, ministers have three main audiences in mind: party members, the voters, and the debt markets”, writes Hayden Munro of @ardenstrategies.bsky.social www.politics.co.uk/comment/2025...

🚨 NEW: Cross-party MPs publish ‘ready to go’ blueprint for electoral reform commission — FPTP “threatens to undermine the resilience and stability of our democratic system”, @appgfairelections.bsky.social MPs say — The group is calling on ministers to greenlight its plan Exclusive story 👇

“Reform UK has chosen the easy road of fear. We must have the courage to take the harder path: solutions rooted in decency, fairness, and the freedoms that make Britain worth defending”, writes Labour MP @bengoldsborough.bsky.social 🗣️ Nigel Farage would break what makes Britain strong

New piece from Labour MP @bengoldsborough.bsky.social for @politics.co.uk: “When Nigel Farage stood up this week and outlined his so-called 'plan' for immigration, he didn’t sound like a democrat. He sounded like Vladimir Putin” www.politics.co.uk/mp-comment/2...

EDMs as a populist campaigning tool? On Rupert Lowe's use of the early day motion (EDM) to forge ideological alliances in parliament — for an upcoming (and extremely nerdy) @politics.co.uk project:

Spending my Saturday evening writing MP profiles. Struck by grandfather of the House Sir Roger Gale's stance on death - Anti assisted dying - Pro capital punishment - Anti fox hunting

🚨 Breaking: Rushanara Ali resigns as homelessness minister

Tech sec Peter Kyle on Sky News: “If people like Jimmy Saville were alive today, he would be perpetrating his crimes online, and Nigel Farage is saying he is on their side “Farage is on the side of turning the clock back to the time when strangers can get in touch via messaging apps with children”

Labour Party spokesperson responds to Nigel Farage confirming he would scrap the Online Safety Act:

From No 10: A special reception for the Lionesses will take place at 10 Downing Street today, in celebration of England’s historic victory in the UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 final Starmer says:

“We now need to double-down on this successful model to deliver the real change people across the country are demanding”, writes Labour MP @sarahsmithlab.bsky.social 🗣️ Backing Institutes of Technology can help deliver Labour’s opportunity mission www.politics.co.uk/mp-comment/2...

“You want real justice? You want safer streets? You want a system that actually works? Then don’t fall for Reform’s con”, writes Labour MP @bengoldsborough.bsky.social 🗣️ Reform’s prison plan is a sick joke – and criminals are the ones laughing www.politics.co.uk/mp-comment/2...

A weird reshuffle with little to no internal logic Neither rewarding allies nor exiling antagonists. No sign of new blood. Ministers with exposed records slotted into new briefs. Some deadweight has been shifted, still more retained. Limits Badenoch’s room for manoeuvre in the medium term 1/…

Doing a project for the site, hence my general quiet, which involves digging into the backgrounds of MPs, and found the below blog post by James Cleverly from 2010. In it, he calls then-Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes a “dick”

“The CAN Bill may have been blocked this time, but the fight for climate and nature is far from over... We owe it to future generations – and we will keep going”, writes Lib Dem MP @rozsavage.bsky.social 🗣️ Why Britain needs legal guarantees on climate and nature www.politics.co.uk/mp-comment/2...

🚨 NEW: Farage urged to rule out Liz Truss joining Reform UK after ally’s defection “Reform is looking more like a Truss tribute act every day that goes by”, @libdems.org.uk deputy leader @libdemdaisy.bsky.social said Full story ⤵️ www.politics.co.uk/news/2025/07...