Fascinating insight into the Starmer-Burnham relationship from @jessicaelgot.bsky.social and @pippacrerar.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-...

Great story this morning by @rowenamason.bsky.social. Reform has taken £100,000 from an interior design company which had no contact details on its website and used stock images to illustrate its projects. HMRC has tried to wind it up. Very odd. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Very interesting revelation in @kitty-donaldson.bsky.social's evening newsletter: Andrew Gwynne, one of the MPs rumoured to be thinking of standing down to make way for Andy Burnham, has applied to the Commons authorities to retire on medical grounds.

NEW: Labour’s recently-departed comms chief helped write the party’s manifesto - while he was still working for TikTok. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

BREAKING: Angela Rayner's conveyancer issues this statement: "My firm does not deal with trusts or offer tax advice. The Stamp Duty Land Tax as calculated using the HMRC calculator and was strictly based on the facts and information provided to us."

EXC: Angela Rayner used a small family conveyancing firm based in Kent to buy her flat in Hove. Though she also consulted two trust law specialists before underpaying her stamp duty. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Yes it's this week's Politics Weekly UK, with me, @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social & @kiranstacey.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/politics/aud...

This is the essential problem with Angela Rayner's tax affairs. In a way, it's not actually that complicated: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Confused by the Angela Rayner tax saga? Don't worry we've got you covered: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

After our overnight story saying Angela Rayner might still have to pay additional stamp duty on her £800,000 Hove flat, she confirmed that that is indeed the case: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

EXC: Angela Rayner could still have to pay more stamp duty on her Hove flat if HMRC decides it is a second home. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Top scoop by @annaisaac.bsky.social and @peterwalker99.bsky.social: Rachel Reeves is looking at scrapping stamp duty and replacing it with a property sales tax just on homes worth over £500,000. www.theguardian.com/money/2025/a...

New job alert: Very pleased to say I’m now the Guardian’s Policy Editor. Still working from Westminster as part of our great politics team. Am here for any politics and policy stories you feel we should be covering.

Angela Rayner: No 10 officials guilty of ‘self-harm’ by briefing against ministers

BREAKING: The Home Office is going to start using AI to decide whether young asylum seekers are children or not. This is after widespread criticism of their existing age verification process. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Wondering how two governments managed to cover up a massive data breach, an injunction and several hundred million pounds in Afghan resettlement costs? The full gory timeline is all set out here: www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Britain should consider a ban on crypto political donations, says one of the ministers closest to Keir Starmer. Just as Reform encourages people to donate in Bitcoin... Story with @rowenamason.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Always nice to get a shout out at the start of a cabinet minister’s speech!

If you’re anywhere near Sheffield tomorrow, come see a live version of Guardian Politics Weekly and watch me interview @jonashworth.bsky.social and @marietidball.bsky.social on stage. FREE TICKETS crossedwires.live/podcast/guar...

Very important clarification just now from Liz Kendall: the 4-point process for disability payments (the thing that has caused most of the backlash) *WILL* be implemented next November. Any changes to the system will take longer to implement.

As the government is forced to make 'major concessions' on its planned welfare bill changes, @pippacrerar.bsky.social and @kiranstacey.bsky.social talk through what went wrong in Number 10, and, if it'll be enough to stave off a further rebellion... www.theguardian.com/politics/aud...

Loads of great insider details on what has happened during the welfare rebellion on this week’s pod. Listen here: www.theguardian.com/politics/aud...

Important clarification from DWP: Existing Pip claimants who are reassessed will be assessed under the old rules. New claimants after Nov 2026 - including people who previously claimed it but then stopped for a period of time - will be assessed under the new ones.

Getting your head round the welfare changes announced last night? The Guardian has you covered: - The No 10 climbdown in full theguardian.com/politics/202... - What it means for Keir Starmer theguardian.com/politics/202... - What it means for benefits claimants theguardian.com/politics/202...

BREAKING: Full details of those welfare bill concessions: 1) Only cut benefits for new claimants 2) Spend billions more on employment support 3) Consultation on PIP cuts, with changes to be made at committee stage Full story here: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

EXC: Keir Starmer has offered "massive concessions" on the welfare bill which look to have won the support of key rebels and could save him from his first defeat as PM. theguardian.com/politics/202... By @pippacrerar.bsky.social and me.

Punchy quote on the Welfare Bill from Imran Hussain, a Labour MP who was once on Starmer's front bench: “We risk walking straight into a political disaster — one that could become Labour’s poll tax moment."

EXC - No10 is set to offer concessions to Labour rebels on welfare. Talks are ongoing but changes could be made to Pip reforms. A number of cabinet ministers are now said to believe the bill has no chance of passing in its current form With @kiranstacey.bsky.social @pippacrerar.bsky.social

The Spending Review: was this Labour's relaunch? @johnharris1969.bsky.social @pippacrerar.bsky.social and @kiranstacey.bsky.social talk through what it all means... www.theguardian.com/politics/aud...

Breaking news overnight: affordable housing looks like a big winner from the spending review. Government funding is doubling to nearly *£4bn* a year, and social rents will go up for the next 10 years. Everything affordable housebuilders wanted. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

New - No 10 blocked nature concessions in planning bill amid Labour rebellion Row erupts between pro-housing MPs and those who wanted more mitigation on potential environmental harm Campaigners thought an amendment was coming but No10 said no way www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

EXC w/ @kiranstacey.bsky.social: Plans to regulate artificial intelligence have been delayed by at least a year Ministers are planning a bumper bill in the next king's speech to regulate the technology and its use of copyrighted material www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Labour’s growth agenda used to be almost entirely green infrastructure. Then it was housing for a bit. Now it is clearly defence manufacturing. Listen to me and @pippacrerar.bsky.social break down what today’s defence review means here: t.co/dVHQ8UxAma

EXC: Rachel Reeves said the govt was "within touching distance" of its target of 1.5m new homes over the parliament. But it seems that's not true. And now she's at war with Angela Rayner over whether the pledge needs more funding. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Pop quiz. Which party went into the 2015 election promising this, and who was their leader?

On @instituteforgovernment.org.uk podcast @kiranstacey.bsky.social thought the absence of Farage was deliberate and Conservatives misjudged positioning.. Listen in www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/podcast/insi...

Lead opinion piece in the venerable Bezos-owned Washington Post tonight.

EXC: Britain’s military will be increasingly powered by AI after the upcoming defence review, John Healey tells me. The govt is again looking to tech to solve its problems, meaning big opportunities for companies like Palantir. t.co/o9rMSz5RBV

The latest ‘Politics Weekly’ with @kiranstacey.bsky.social and @pippacrerar.bsky.social is well worth a listen - on Labour and immigration

Fascinating piece by @sarahoconnorft.ft.com - the minimum wage is now so high that even some professionals are being underpaid. on.ft.com/4dfeJkZ

Meet Varun Chandra - Keir Starmer's 40-year-old business adviser who may just have give the US trade deal the push it needed. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

EXC: More than a dozen senior Tories break ranks with their own party to call for immediate recognition of Palestine. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

One Labour MP: It's all very well saying we've got to keep delivering. The problem is that it's the stuff we've delivered that people hate.

EXC: Govt asks golf bosses whether they can host the 2028 Open at Trump’s Turnberry course in Ayrshire. www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/a...

This is surely the fastest a headline question has ever been answered.

EXC: Senior Tories in talks with landlords about how to thwart the govt's Renters' Rights bill. Options include: - Slowing it down with Lords amendments - Challenging it in the courts under human rights law www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

On the latest Politics Weekly UK, @johnharris1969.bsky.social , @pippacrerar.bsky.social and @kiranstacey.bsky.social unpick the chancellor's spring statement, and ask why a Labour government is making these choices... www.theguardian.com/politics/aud...

There are *a lot* of people who will lose *a lot* of money as a result of the welfare cuts confirmed today.

Fascinating profile of Rachael Maskell, Keir Starmer's unlikely critic-in-chief, by @alethaadu.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

BREAKING: Rachel Reeves will announce big cuts to parts of Whitehall next week after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit. Story with @pippacrerar.bsky.social and @jessicaelgot.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/politics/202...