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Good Thursday morning. This is Dan Bloom.
CHOPPY WATERS AHEAD: Rishi Sunak is setting sail for a battle with campaign groups, the Lords and European Court of Human Rights after sealing a deal with his own MPs to harden up the Illegal Migration Bill. With “stop the boats” his defining test, the PM has either calmed Tory disquiet by compromising to make his bill watertight … Or caved in to right-wingers to avoid an embarrassing revolt, depending on your view.
NOT PLAIN SAILING: This may be another party management problem checked off (for now), but there’s no time to enjoy it. Sunak flew back from Belfast on Wednesday night knowing he must decide in the coming days whether to sack his deputy over bullying claims. More on that below.
THE DEAL EXPLAINED: The government will today (or possibly Friday) lay two amendments that significantly harden the bill, the abortive rebel camp says. The first gives ministers legal authority to ignore ECHR “Rule 39” orders that stop a deportation flight — dubbed “pyjama injunctions” by the critics. The second says U.K. courts can only stop deportations that would lead to “serious or irreversible harm.” Merely breaching the Human Rights Act would be insufficient.
In return: The MPs — led by Bill Cash, Danny Kruger, Jonathan Gullis, John Hayes and Simon Clarke — will jettison their most hardline amendments, including one that would have disregarded all international legal judgments when applying any part of the bill. Kruger said the British public “are fed up with London lawyers and Strasbourg judges getting in the way of a sensible migration policy.”
How it happened: The MPs had about half a dozen meetings since Easter recess with No. 10, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick and others including the PM. The i’s Arj Singh got wind of movement and the Sun’s Harry Cole soon followed with full details. The attorney general is yet to approve the wording and Playbook hears the Cabinet write-around was still happening overnight. Claims by some Tory MPs that Home Secretary Suella Braverman was super-relaxed about letting the rebels build up steam — in order to harden her own bill — continue to be denied.
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TIMING UPDATE: The bill’s final Commons stages are scheduled for next Tuesday, but this is due to be switched to Wednesday in today’s Business Statement, several people tell your author. Government insiders insist this was long-planned. That means today’s 5.30 p.m. deadline to put forward amendments to the bill becomes 3 p.m. on Friday — so there’s a chance they might not all be published until then.
THE BIG QUESTION: Given a happy person in the rebel camp tells Playbook they got more than they expected, some Tory MPs wonder whether Sunak needed to do this deal. Labour would never conceivably vote with the Tory right on immigration, so a revolt, while causing ructions in party unity, would not have defeated the government. According to the Times splash, Chief Whip Simon Hart agrees — privately arguing Sunak should have faced the rebels down.
Another question: What will happen to the MPs’ calls for age checks, including X-rays on migrants’ collarbones? A person in the rebel camp said they have been assured these don’t need new legislation, but further details seemed unclear Wednesday night.
MEANWHILE, THE MODERATES: Sunak has been squeezed from his left by other MPs — who want safe and legal routes for refugees to enter the U.K. around the same time as the bill, not at some vague future point. Earlier, the Telegraph said ministers were preparing these for up to 20,000 refugees next year, and Playbook is told clarifications will be lain shortly. Could No. 10 be about to compromise with two very different groups of MPs at once?
BUT BUT BUT … Never mind when this gets to the courts: Let’s not forget a little thing called the House of Lords. Three MPs told Playbook they expect a fierce battle with peers over the harshest measures. A former Cabinet minister predicts: “The Lords are going to send it back in seven bits and the government is going to have to try to impose its will.”
WITH PERFECT TIMING: Braverman has written a broader piece in the Spectator, where she says: “You can’t please all of the people any of the time. But a core part of my job is ensuring that I don’t consistently displease a majority of them.” She also lavishes praise on TV comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm as a “work of art” and says she thought about ringing a radio phone-in to quote Margaret Thatcher.
CASE STUDY: The Independent splashes on a former marine commando praised by Prince Harry, who has backed its campaign to grant asylum to an Afghan war pilot facing deportation to Rwanda. Piers Morgan has backed it too. The paper notes that Home Office lawyers told the High Court they are “working on estimates of up to another 56,000 people arriving on small boats this year.”
THREATENING TO OVERSHADOW IT ALL: The rumor mill is in overdrive, with multiple people expecting the five-month probe by Adam Tolley KC into bullying claims against Dominic Raab will be handed to Downing Street today or Friday. Given it’s not expected to make a hard ruling on whether the deputy PM broke the ministerial code, Sunak will have to decide himself, with help from the independent adviser on ministers’ interests.
It’s him or us: One official tells the Guardian anonymously: “If he stays in the department, senior people will want to walk.” Another says senior colleagues will “leave in the near future” once they’ve found a job to go to.
But but but … A Cabinet minister told TalkTV — also anonymously, natch — that they are standing by Raab, saying: “We can’t throw our own people to the dogs because the civil service says so.”
Tick tock: One person tells the FT the review is “devastating” while another says Raab is “toast.” But others expect it to be less clear cut. A No. 10 official was insisting on Wednesday night that they had not yet received the report nor seen any part of it.
Here we go: ITV Political Editor Robert Peston said on his show: “Officials are telling me they think Dominic Raab will be sacked probably [on Thursday] by the prime minister.”
Reshuffle time: If Raab — who continues to insist he behaved professionally throughout — is sacked it will trigger a mini-reshuffle, and not the first. Science and Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan is currently expecting to begin her 10 weeks’ maternity leave next Thursday.
Awaiting his fate: The Guardian and Times both say Raab’s ministerial diary is about as empty as Johnny Mercer’s red folder.
WHAT CAN GO WRONG? New SNP leader Humza Yousaf faces First Minister’s Questions at noon after a fortnight that has seen two key figures in his party arrested in a probe into SNP finances. Presumably he will repeat his statement to the BBC that “I certainly don’t believe” the party is being run in a “criminal way.” A statement to the Scottish parliament on the ill-fated bottle deposit return scheme follows at 2.20 p.m.
Now read this: “It’s one rolling disaster movie,” a party figure tells the Spectator’s Katy Balls, who points out the SNP is facing a “2024 general election nightmare” — because criminal cases take so long to investigate, the matter might still be under inquiry when voters go to the polls.
And this: Independent veteran Andrew Grice compares the party to an episode of The Thick of It and asks: “If the SNP cannot run the comparative whelk stall of a party, how on earth can it be trusted to run a government?” The infamous comedy would, of course, have also loved Labour frontbencher Peter Kyle’s “Mohammed Yousuf” mega-gaffe (via the Mirror).
FAREWELL TO BELFAST: Commemorations on the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement ended on a light-hearted note on Wednesday night, with jokey speeches by Sunak and ex-PM Tony Blair at a gala dinner in Hillsborough Castle. But the specter of an empty Stormont chamber loomed large.
Don’t quit the day job: Addressing an audience including Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, Sunak joked: “We’re here to mark a truly extraordinary achievement. After the long, complex negotiations, the months of difficult discussions, the old grudges held, the painstaking compromises, we got there — we finally agreed a seating plan.” Blair added: “Tonight is not a night for sound bites — and fortunately, the hand of history is firmly on someone else’s shoulder”
Diplomacy continues: Sunak and Irish PM Leo Varadkar “discussed their common goal of ensuring power sharing returns to Stormont as soon as possible,” said No. 10. Varadkar is at a Bloomberg event in Dublin being interviewed by Stephanie Flanders at 11.20 a.m. But DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson told reporters “I haven’t heard anyone come forward with a solution,” my colleague Shawn Pogatchnik emails to say.
Also in Belfast: Labour leader Keir Starmer, who attended the dinner, is meeting international dignitaries today before flying to the North East of England for a business reception tonight. He urged the government to be an “honest broker” bringing all sides together. Sunak is in internal meetings in No. 10.
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WHEN JEREMY TRIED CHATGPT: ChatGPT still thinks Rishi Sunak is the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt told our own Jack Blanchard at last night’s POLITICO Tech U.K. launch event. And he’s pretty relaxed about the rise of the robots, writes my colleague Matt Honeycombe-Foster. When Hunt asked if he was good at his job, ChatGPT replied: “As a large language model, I don’t have subjective opinions on everything. But Jeremy Hunt is not chancellor of the exchequer, that’s Rishi Sunak.”
This is fine: In a tech-focused interview, Hunt shrugged off warnings about middle-class jobs being decimated by AI, saying unemployment has halved since 2010 in “a period where every time there’s been a new technology, we’ve leaned right into it. We haven’t tried to protect legacy models.”
TikTok in the Hunt house: Bad news for anyone after dancing chancellor vids. Hunt said he’s staying off the social network after deleting his account (not before posting a few “very amateur and pathetic videos”) amid concern about its geolocation features. But he confirmed his kids still use it.
Sunlit uplands: Hunt also insisted the U.K. can still become the next Silicon Valley, despite fierce competition from other global capitals vying for the tech cash. Britain, he says, has “two great things” that France doesn’t, including its whopping financial services and higher education sectors. But he added: “We’ve got the ingredients but we haven’t yet baked the cake. And I’m gonna make damn sure we do.” Full write-up here.
Speaking of robots: Security Minister Tom Tugendhat is speaking at the Cyber U.K. conference at 9.30 a.m. and will highlight the threats that advanced AI could pose in the hands of the U.K.’s enemies.
ALSO IN HUNT’S IN-TRAY: The i splashes on fears that interest rates will climb from 4.25 percent to 5 percent after inflation remained stubbornly in double figures. The Times points out cheddar cheese is up 49 percent, milk 40 percent and sliced white bread 21 percent, but food prices should start to fall back later this year. IFS Director Paul Johnson tells the i “I honestly struggle to think of anything” Hunt can do to seriously change the course of inflation this year.
Arithmetic hour: More in Common polling for Peston found 39 percent of people think Sunak’s pledge to “halve inflation” will mean the price of milk is frozen, or actually falls. Maybe the PM had a point about math (sorry) to 18.
PENSION PERILS: Today’s workers face a miserable retirement as 3.5 million of them don’t save into a pension — and 10 percent of those born in the 1960s are set to still be living in private rented homes when they turn 65, an IFS report argues. The think tank is launching a multi-year review.
But don’t do this: The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association has warned Jeremy Hunt against forcing pension funds to invest in riskier schemes for a higher return, according to the FT.
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IT NEVER ENDS: Strikes continue to be a headache for the government after a string of new announcements late on Wednesday. The biggest political problem is health, where Health Secretary Steve Barclay is cold on BMA calls to go to the arbitration service Acas, unless the union drops its opening demand of a 35-percent pay rise. Instead, he is considering falling back to simply working on the doctors’ pay review body for next year, the Times reports.
Nurses: The Times has a big read on “fractures” in the Royal College of Nursing — and messages from inside a junior doctors’ web forum debating whether to coordinate strikes at the same time as nurses. Former NHS boss Simon Stevens writes in the Spectator: “The nuclear option of withdrawing cover for emergency services and urgent cancer care would be unconscionable.”
Here’s an idea: Former Tory Chairman Jake Berry told Peston: “We should be televising these negotiations … so people can watch them, to see who is actually being reasonable.”
Civil service: The PCS union announced members in all passport offices will strike on May 2-6, widening the net of those already walking out. The FDA union is separately launching a ballot over pay, saying it is the first approved by its executive committee in four decades.
Postal workers: The Communication Workers’ Union is still locked in talks over a negotiators’ agreement with Royal Mail after a near-yearlong dispute. Insiders are hopeful a deal can go to a ballot soon.
Airport: Unite said 1,400 security officers employed at Heathrow Airport will strike on May 4, 5, 6, 9 and 10 and then again on May 25, 26 and 27.
Schools: There still appears to be no movement between teaching unions that rejected a pay offer and the Department for Education — with the NEU striking on April 27. The DfE is now going ahead with the pay review body process for 2023/24, leaving the offer for 2022/23 hanging and unresolved.
And even: Parking wardens have voted to strike on the day of the king’s coronation, says PoliticsJoe’s Ava Evans.
WATER DANGER: Russian spy “ghost ships” are mapping communication cables and wind farms off the U.K.’s coast as part of plans to scupper national infrastructure, says the Telegraph splash, which cites a joint investigation by the public broadcasters of Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland.
LABOUR’S PAIN: A police source tells the Mail a Jamaican-born rapist is still living in Britain — three years after a blocked deportation flight which Labour leader Keir Starmer opposed. The paper splashes on its story about Fabian Henry, jailed in 2013 but among a group taken off a plane in February 2020 after legal challenges. It highlights that Starmer was one of more than 150 parliamentarians to sign a February 2020 letter which urged “all further deportations” to be canceled until a Windrush review was published.
Return of the attack ads: Starmer allies will of course say the opposition MP had no bearing on a Home Office deportation … just like Sunak’s allies said the PM could not influence the jailing rates of child sex offenders in 2010, when he wasn’t even an MP. A Tory aide tells Playbook: “Starmer brought this on himself with that crap ad.”
Speaking of ads: Starmer was slapped with a Twitter “context” warning for tweeting “Vote Labour on Thursday 4 May for an NHS that treats patients on time again,” as councils do not run the NHS. (H/t the Spectator’s James Heale.)
Lines to take: The Mail’s headline is: “Rapist who proves Starmer really is Sir Softy on crime.” A Labour spokesman tells the paper it’s the Home Office’s fault if they fail to “either deport a dangerous criminal or make sure proper protection measures were in place.” The Sun’s graphics desk has a can’t-unsee montage of Starmer’s head in a cone with whippy ice cream for hair, after Sunak deployed its “Sir Softie” headline at PMQs. Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves is visiting a hospital in Stoke with a pool clip at 11.30 a.m.
MEANWHILE IN THE REGISTERS: MailOnline spotted that Starmer took free football tickets worth £1,070 from a firm that was ordered to pay out over defective cladding … while Tory Health Minister Neil O’Brien’s wife works for a private firm that has been handed NHS contracts, writes the Mirror.
RIGHTS ROW: Labour MP Rosie Duffield and Tory MP Miriam Cates have given an unusual joint interview to the Express’ Sam Lister to say women’s rights could be “wiped out by stealth” and their stance is “not about being anti-trans.” In a separate piece, Duffield alleges LGBT Labour has “captured” her party, she has been “isolated,” and “the party machine is quite content” to let her be “harassed non-stop” by fellow members.
HOLD ON TO YOUR SEATS: OpenDemocracy has a big roll-call of left-wingers blocked from becoming candidates under Labour’s due diligence process, with one MP branding it “the most fundamental attempt to change the DNA of the Labour Party in its entire history.” Writer Ruby Lott-Lavigna says she has heard “claims about outsiders being asked to stand in seats they have no connection to, members’ contact details being given early to selected candidates, and direct instructions from Keir Starmer to tighten vetting processes.”
WITHOUT A PADDLE: Lib Dem leader Ed Davey is going canoeing in Watford today for a local elections visit, with a pool (geddit?) clip after 1 p.m. The party has research claiming police have failed to attend 4.3 million reports of anti-social behavior since 2019 (via PA).
AFRICA: Development Minister Andrew Mitchell speaks at the RUSI U.K.-Africa conference at 9.10 a.m. There’s a livestream — registration here.
WAITING GAME: Patients have waited up to six months to see a cancer doctor after being urgently referred by their GP, says a Labour release based on 74 FOI requests. The longest examples of a wait Labour could find in January were 262 days for a test or scan and 397 days to begin cancer treatment. A Tory spokesperson says the party is “investing an extra £45.6 billion into health and social care.”
CLIMATE OF SECRECY: Commons leader Penny Mordaunt and Tory MP Liam Fox each received £10,000 from companies owned by a director of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, DeSmog reports, describing the GWPF as “one of the U.K.’s leading climate science denial groups.”
LEST WE FORGET: The Museum of Homelessness is holding a vigil to remember homeless people’s deaths from 6 p.m. opposite the gates of Downing Street.
HOUSE OF COMMONS: Sits from 9.30 a.m. with transport questions followed by Commons leader Penny Mordaunt’s business statement … and then the main business is two backbench general debates on international trade and geopolitics (led by Labour’s Darren Jones) and human rights protections for Palestinians (headed by the SNP’s Chris Law). Tory MP Richard Fuller has the adjournment debate on freehold management and service charges.
WESTMINSTER HALL: Debates from 1.30 p.m. on topics including land mine awareness and mine action (led by the Tories’ Wendy Morton) and the economic contribution of medicinal cannabis (headed by Tory MP David Mundell).
On committee corridor: The public accounts committee hears from health experts including Permanent Secretary at Department of Health and Social Care Chris Wormald and NHS England Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard on progress improving mental health services (10 a.m.).
Written statements: Include a “safeguarding update” from Education Secretary Gillian Keegan and a “building safety update” from Leveling-Up Secretary Michael Gove, which is likely to be another intervention over firms he wants to fund cladding remediation.
HOUSE OF LORDS: Sits from 11 a.m. with oral questions on promoting financial literacy in schools, progress toward resolving the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and South Sudan and the enforcement of Ofgem’s new code of practice … and then the main business is the 10th day of the Leveling-Up and Regeneration Bill at committee stage.
THE SHAMING OF YOUR PLAYBOOK AUTHOR: Sport England is publishing the first official statistics on adults’ physical activity since COVID lockdowns at 9.30 a.m.
Speaking of which: Former government food czar Henry Dimbleby told an IFG event: “We need to get away from this nihilistic view that we are doomed forever to be sausage-roll eating fatties.” He said Britain should measure waists, not prescribe weight-loss drugs — more in the Times.
BEHIND THE NON-SOUNDPROOF DOOR: The Telegraph’s Christopher Hope has an entertaining feature on being the first journalist allowed into a meeting of the 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs … which, it seems, wasn’t all that exciting. The centenary gathering wrapped up after 20 minutes and “I was struck by the very ordinariness of the occasion,” he writes.
WESTMINSTER NEEDS CAFFEINE: Food Minister Mark Spencer is today signing an updated version of the International Coffee Agreement on imports and exports. For nominative determinism we’d have preferred his boss, Thérèse Coffey.
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‘FAILURE AT EVERY LEVEL’: The BBC released a grim story overnight about a report showing Ofsted was warned more than 100 times about incidents at children’s homes whose residents faced “horrific” abuse.
IT’S A TOUGH JOB BUT: James Cleverly is the first U.K. foreign secretary ever to visit the Solomon Islands in the Pacific today, where he will announce new support to the territory’s National University and speak to British-supported journalists. China hawks, mark your diaries: his big speech on the U.K.’s policy is pencilled in for Tuesday.
POLICE STATE: Beijing has been operating overseas police stations in cities around the world, including London, New York, Rome and Toronto, report POLITICO’s Phelim Kine, Cristina Gallardo and Joseph Gedeon in a top read. It shows the extent to which Beijing has managed to conduct influence campaigns inside Western countries and violate others’ sovereignty while mostly evading law enforcement, they write.
SUDAN UPDATE: The Sudanese army agreed to a 24-hour ceasefire on Wednesday following an attempt by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to seize the army’s headquarters, CNN reports. It was unclear if it will hold.
WHITE FLAG: POLITICO Europe’s paper splashes with the untold story behind Syria’s White Helmets, described as a tale of “love, war and Russian disinformation,” as told by Shannon Van Sant.
IN THE BLACK: Natural gas consumption in the EU fell almost 18 percent in the eight months to March, lessening fears of energy shortages because of cuts to Russian imports. The FT says a milder winter helped.
GERMANY REMEMBERS: The BBC reports German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has drawn parallels between the Nazi crackdown of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1943 and Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
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Shadow Minister for Social Care Liz Kendall broadcast round: GMB (6.30 a.m.) … BBC Breakfast (6.50 a.m.) … Times Radio (7.50 a.m.) … Sky News (8.05 a.m.) … LBC News (8.50 a.m.).
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey broadcast round: Times Radio (7.15 a.m.) … LBC News (7.40 a.m.).
Also on Good Morning Britain: Former government food czar Henry Dimbleby (8.20 a.m.).
Also on Times Radio Breakfast: Council for Disabled Children Director Christine Lenehan (7.35 a.m.) … Rear Admiral Chris Parry (8.50 a.m.).
Also on Sky News Breakfast: Former Deputy Chief of Defense Staff Simon Mayall (7.30 a.m.) … Former UUP leader Reginald Empey (7.45 a.m.).
Nick Ferrari at Breakfast: Unite the Union National Lead Officer Onay Kasab (7.05 a.m.) … Tory peer James Bethell (7.10 a.m.) … Former ONS Head of Health Analysis Jamie Jenkins (8.10 a.m.).
TalkTV Breakfast: Former UKIP MEP Steven Woolfe (7.30 a.m.) … Former Lib Dem leader Vince Cable (8.05 a.m.) … Tory MP Bob Seely (8.20 a.m.).
GB News Breakfast: Former Lib Dem Minister Norman Baker (9 a.m.).
Politics Live (BBC Two 12.15 p.m.): Tory MP Jake Berry … Labour’s James Murray … Lib Dem MP Munira Wilson … Non-affiliated peer Claire Fox.
(Click on the publication’s name to see its front page):
POLITICO UK: Elon Musk is wrong and West must ‘win AI race,’ says U.K. chancellor.
Daily Express: We must unite to protect women’s rights.
Daily Mail: Rapist who proves Starmer really is ‘Sir Softy’ on crime.
Daily Mirror: A living nightmare.
Daily Star: Flat-Earther: The Earth’s not as flat as we had hoped.
Financial Times: Inflation stuck in double digits offers little hope for end to living costs crisis.
i: U.K. faces five percent interest rates after failing to tame inflation.
Metro: Putin cyber blitz on U.K.
The Daily Telegraph: Russian ‘spy ships’ threaten to sabotage U.K. energy supply.
The Guardian: Senior MoJ officials ‘ready to quit’ if Raab survives bullying inquiry.
The Independent: Harry’s wounded hero marine — Don’t deport pilot who fought with U.K. forces to Rwanda.
The Times: Judges lose power to block migrant flights.
POLITICO Europe: Death in Istanbul — The untold story behind Syria’s White Helmets.
The New Statesman: Axis of Autocrats — Katie Stallard on what Putin and Xi are planning next.
The Spectator: Womb service — Louise Perry and Paul Morgan-Bentley on the politics of surrogacy.
WESTMINSTER WEATHER: Light rain with a moderate breeze. Highs of 15C.
SCOOP — NEW GIG: Playbook’s Eleni Courea hears that John Lehal is the latest New Labour-era figure to be joining Labour HQ. He is taking up the newly created role of chief operating officer, reporting to gen sec David Evans and starting immediately. Labour staff were emailed about his appointment on Wednesday. He has already been working with the party on its diversity and inclusion board — and ran Andy Burnham’s campaign for the Labour leadership in 2015.
TINY FEET: The Guardian’s Jess Elgot has her last day today before maternity leave, in which Peter Walker will cover her role as deputy political editor … and congrats to former No. 10 Press Secretary Rob Oxley and Stephanie Mann of the Serious Fraud Office, whose son Charlie was born on April 10. Mother and baby are doing well.
OUTGOING: DWP Special Adviser Isabel Bruce is leaving government this week after three years, to become head of communications for the Telegraph Media Group in June.
INCOMING: James Aspden, a consultant at CT Group, starts this week as a SpAd in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero focusing on digital comms. Fans of corny Grant Shapps videos have something to look forward to.
SPOTTED … at POLITICO’s Tech UK launch at St Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square … Chancellor Jeremy Hunt … Google’s U.K. and Ireland boss Debbie Weinstein … the chancellor’s SpAd Cameron Brown and private secretary Delia Leonte … DSIT SpAds Sam Hamilton and Laura Wright … DSIT’s Nitarshan Rajkumar, Tim Allison, Oliver Evenden, Safi O’Shea, Robin Polding, Abigail Morris, Calum Grant and Luke Holland … DCMS’ Isabelle De Pauw, Declan Shaw and Ben Hemington … Commons media officer Gina Degtyareva … TechUK’s Neil Ross and Daniel Clarke … Coadec’s Dom Hallas … Labour for the Long Term’s James Baker … Labour Women in Tech’s Samantha Niblett and Lella Halloum … the i’s Richard Vaughan … City A.M.’s Abby Wallace … Sky News’ Emily Hulme … comms supremo Salma Shah … Milltown’s Rebecca Fitchett … Headland’s Tom Bage … Open Banking’s Clare Ambrosino … Flint Global’s Pierre Andrews … Dropbox’s Charlene Brennan … Dealroom’s Orla Browne … Airbnb’s Madeleine Gorman … Full Fact’s Glen Tarman … Tony Blair Institute’s Andre Weisser … Strand Partners’ Jessica Seldon … and St Martin-in-the-Fields’ vicar Sam Wells.
ALSO SPOTTED … at Labour in Communications’ Q&A with political reporters Aletha Adu and Noa Hoffman at Field Consulting’s office near Trafalgar Square … the Jewish Labour Movement’s Mike Katz … Labour in Comms’ Nabhan Malik, Laura Cunliffe-Hall, Carolina Saludes, Alice Pleasants and Dan Julian … Best for Britain’s Jennifer Watson … PA Media’s Sophie Wingate … City A.M.’s Jess Frank-Keyes … the FT’s Rafe Uddin … Shell’s David Shaw … Lloyds Bank’s Erdoo Yongo … EasyJet’s Thom Rawlinson … Airport Operations Association’s Peter Campbell … Dropbox’s Charlene Brennan … NatWest’s Ruth Batten … Domino’s Pizza’s Julie Byers … and the Global Infrastructure Investment Association’s Matt Dickinson.
NEW GIGS: Daniel Thomas becomes the FT’s global media editor, having previously been its chief U.K. business correspondent … and Taj Ali joins Tribune as an industrial correspondent, with a new section devoted to labour issues in every print issue.
MEA CULPA: Speaker Lindsay Hoyle’s office phoned (not wrote to) the parties (not individual MPs) before PMQs, to remind them not to comment on ongoing matters under consideration by the standards commissioner. Sorry for any confusion.
IN MEMORIAM: Tory MP Paul Holmes’ office manager Sue Hall died a couple of weeks ago. Holmes described her as “my friend, confidante and public servant,” with his office closed today to celebrate her “wonderful life.”
DIARY NOTE: Groups including Best for Britain and the British Chambers of Commerce have announced a one-day conference at Birmingham’s NEC on June 20, in a bid to help firms influence manifestos ahead of the general election.
AUDIO TREAT: The audiobook of Matt Hancock’s pandemic diaries — read by, yes, Matt Hancock himself — is out today. What are you waiting for?
LISTEN TO: Former Times columnist David Aaronovitch discusses Rishi Sunak’s numeracy plans on “The Briefing Room” at 8 p.m. on Radio 4 — the panel includes IFS Director Paul Johnson.
CULTURE FIX: An exhibition of work by artists Hilma af Klint and Piet Mondrian opens at the Tate Modern until September 3 … The National Gallery holds a creative workshop allowing individuals to re-create a portrait like a post-impressionist from 4 p.m. … and Handel’s opera “Arminio” opens at the Royal Opera House at 7.15 p.m., showing until May 6.
JOB ADS: The Department for Business and Trade is looking for an EdTech, schools and early years specialist … The Government Legal Department would like a media officer … and the Foreign Office wants five media engagement officers — but only existing civil servants are allowed to apply.
NOW READ: In the Guardian, Jane Martinson argues Rupert Murdoch’s humiliation won’t lead Fox News to change its ways … while the Spectator’s leader says we will miss Rupert Murdoch when he is gone.
BIRTHDAYS: U.K. Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues Eric Pickles … Former Chief Brexit Negotiator Olly Robbins … Deputy Lords Speaker, Tory peer and the party’s official historian Alistair Cooke … Former BBC Newsnight presenter Peter Snow … Lib Dem peer Alan Beith turns 80 … Crossbench peer Robert Mair … Labour peer Christine Blower … Crossbench peer Merlin Hay.
PLAYBOOK COULDN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT: My editor Zoya Sheftalovich, reporter Noah Keate and producer Grace Stranger.
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The poppies sold by the Royal British Legion to commemorate Remembrance Sunday each year will in future be made entirely from paper.
In the biggest shake-up to the emblem’s design for 28 years, the stem and centre of the poppies will now be recyclable in household waste collections.
Each year in November, some British people wear a poppy to show respect for military personnel who died in the first world war, or as a show of support for the armed forces more generally.
The new poppy is made entirely of paper, with a black centre embossed with ‘Poppy Appeal’, and a leaf with a crease. It can be fastened with a pin in the stem, worn in a buttonhole, or a stick-on version is available.
The Royal British Legion had previously faced criticism over the amount of plastic waste created by the commemorative poppies. The flower will now be made of “upcycled fibre”, made from offcuts from paper cup production, and the fresh fibre is wood pulp from FSC certified forestry sources. The Royal British Legion says the new poppy’s carbon footprint is 40% lower than the previous design owing to the increase in recycled paper used.
Andy Taylor-Whyte, poppy appeal director at the Royal British Legion, said: “After years of work and collaboration with our partners designing a new poppy, creating new paper and machinery and road-testing it for durability and colour-fastness, we have been able to eliminate single-use plastic and create a poppy that is an enduring symbol of respect and remembrance as well as being more planet-friendly.
Prof Paola Lettieri, from University College London’s department of chemical engineering, which was involved with the redesign, said: “We looked at its carbon footprint and factors like how much water and resources go into making it, in what’s called a life-cycle assessment. By replacing the single-use plastic with a paper-based design, and increasing the amount of recycled paper used, UCL found that the new poppy design has a 40% smaller carbon footprint and a similar reduction in its overall impact on the environment.”
The plastic-free poppy, which was created in collaboration with designers Matter and with paper supplier James Cropper, will be available alongside remaining stocks of the current poppy to reduce any waste of poppies already produced.
The poppies raise money for the charity, which supports armed forces personnel, veterans, and their families on issues including homelessness, financial support and mental health.
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White “peace” poppies, which remember all victims of war, have been plastic free since last year. The poppies were originally made in 1933 by the Co-operative Women’s Guild.
The new white poppy design is plastic-free, biodegradable and recyclable in household recycling along with paper and cardboard. Those who wear the white poppies do so to highlight that about 90% of those killed in war are non-combatants, and to call for peace and an end to ongoing wars.
An SNP "battle bus" seized from the home of ex-party boss Peter Murrell's mother has been towed into a police yard in Glasgow. The £110,000 luxury motorhome is understood to have sat in the driveway of Margaret Murrell's Dunfermline home for two years before being removed by cops probing £600,000 of 'missing' party funds on April 5.
Peter Murrell had been arrested that same day in connection with the ongoing police investigation into Scottish National Party finances. It is unclear where the campervan was held before it arrived at the Police Scotland Logistics Department on Meiklewood Road in Govan on Tuesday morning.
Dog walker David Cardell, who spotted the motorhome arriving at the yard, told the Record
He said: "I noticed the motorhome on the big 911 truck. It's really top of the range and it sticks out. I then asked the driver if that was the one removed from Murrell's mum's home and he nodded his head.
"I was filming it and then I got into a heated discussion with two plain clothes police officers who told me I shouldn't be filming. They were being very secretive and weird about it. I wasn't doing anything wrong, I was on a public road and you can see into the compound through the fence."
It comes after SNP treasurer Colin Beattie was also arrested earlier on Tuesday in connection with the party's finance probe.
The 71-year-old MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, was taken into custody and is being questioned by detectives. He was later released without charge.
Last week the Record revealed the state-of-the-art Niesmann + Bischoff motorhome was delivered to the 92-year-old Margaret Murrell's property by two men in January 2021.
It had reportedly been bought as an SNP “battle bus” for the SNP's Holyrood election campaign in 2021, but was never deployed after Covid restrictions were lifted. An SNP source claimed the party planned to use the motorhome during the pandemic if restrictions were tight.
They said: “The campervan was about trying to have an ability to campaign while complying with the rules. It would have acted as a mobile campaign room. It would mean not having a need for hotels and minimise mixing.”
Peter Murrell was questioned by detectives for more than 11 hours on April 5 before being released without charge “pending further investigation”. Police officers raided the marital home he shares with wife and former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon over the course of two days.
The SNP head office in Edinburgh was also raided in connection with the finances probe. Police Scotland declined to comment on the motorhome.
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Fragments said to be from the cross on which Jesus was crucified will be included in a newly made Cross of Wales used at the head of the coronation procession in Westminster Abbey.
The relics of what is known as the True Cross were given to King Charles by Pope Francis, as a coronation gift.
The cross uses Welsh materials such as slate, reclaimed wood, and silver from the Royal Mint in Llantrisant.
King Charles hammered the hallmark onto the silver used in the cross.
The announcement about the new cross is a reminder that, alongside the pomp and pageantry, the coronation on 6 May will be a religious ceremony.
The cross, made by silversmith Michael Lloyd, is inscribed with the words of St David, patron saint of Wales. It is a gift from the King to the Church in Wales.
The coronation will be an Anglican service, but the prominent inclusion of a gift from the head of the Roman Catholic church reflects how other denominations and faiths will be represented.
Set into the silver cross will be two small wooden shards, originating from what is claimed to be the cross on which Jesus was crucified.
Such relics of the True Cross have been venerated for centuries, with pilgrimages made to churches where they are held.
There has also been long-standing scepticism about the volume and authenticity of such relics and whether they could all come from a single cross.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who is conducting the service on 6 May, has highlighted how the heart of the coronation is a religious ceremony, likening it to the ordination of a priest.
In a newly-published official souvenir programme, the archbishop says that in the middle of all the "magnificence and pomp" is a moment of "stillness and simplicity" when the King is anointed with holy oil.
The archbishop says the anointing will see the King in a simple white shirt, rather than "robes of status" and he says the King will be "in the full knowledge that the task is difficult and he needs help".
This is a moment not previously seen by the public, and did not form part of the television coverage at the coronation of the late Queen Elizabeth in 1953.
There has been speculation about whether or not it will be visible for next month's ceremony, but current expectations suggests it will remain a private moment in the coronation proceedings.
Alongside some opposition to the coronation from anti-monarchy groups, a survey on Tuesday raised questions about the level of support for public funding of the occasion.
The coronation is a state event, but a YouGov poll of 4,000 adults found that 51% were against the government paying for it, compared with 32% who supported state-funding, with the rest saying they "didn't know".
Among 18-24 year olds, 62% thought the government should not fund the coronation.
The amount that it will cost the government will not be revealed until after the event.
