Geri Scott
@geraldinescott.co.uk
Assistant political editor at The Times.
Excl: Keir Starmer under pressure from ministers to rethink North Sea drilling www.thetimes.com/article/cc56...
Keir Starmer under pressure from ministers to rethink North Sea drilling
Sir Tony Blair’s claim that Labour should rip up Ed Miliband’s green targets has found favour with some members of the cabinet
thetimes.com
New: Sir Tony Blair has warned that Labour risks consigning Britain to “relegation from the Premier League of nations” and cautioned the party against a leftward shift in the race to succeed Sir Keir Starmer. www.thetimes.com/article/0808...
Tony Blair wades into Labour’s battle to replace Keir Starmer
The former prime minister warns against lurch to the left or party infighting without a clear economic plan
thetimes.com
Excl: Left-wing Labour candidate ‘could stand against Andy Burnham’ www.thetimes.com/article/bed4...
Left-wing Labour candidate ‘could stand against Andy Burnham’
MPs on the left of the party are unhappy the Greater Manchester mayor is dropping progressive ideas on immigration, fiscal rules and rejoining the EU
thetimes.com
Single-sex spaces must be based on biological sex, guidance rules www.thetimes.com/article/7c1c...
Single-sex spaces must be based on biological sex, guidance rules
The government has approved statutory guidance allowing gyms, hospitals and leisure centres to legally restrict services based on a person’s birth sex
thetimes.com
Geri Scott@geraldinescott.co.uk · 3mo agoSo... The Times obtained a version of the original EHRC guidance submitted to the govt last year (that story from Nov here: thetimes.com/uk/politics/...) and it's interesting to compare and contrast with the final version published today, although I'm sure I've missed some...
So... The Times obtained a version of the original EHRC guidance submitted to the govt last year (that story from Nov here: thetimes.com/uk/politics/...) and it's interesting to compare and contrast with the final version published today, although I'm sure I've missed some...
Excl: Angela Rayner held private talks with Al Carns, the armed forces minister, to shore up her credentials on defence policy before a Labour leadership race. www.thetimes.com/article/36c3...
Angela Rayner ‘shoring up defence policy for Labour leadership run’
The former deputy prime minister is said to have spoken regularly with Al Carns, the armed forces minister, about how to improve the UK’s military readiness
thetimes.com
Excl: Angela Rayner’s allies are urging her to move against Starmer the moment local election results land - warning any delay hands Wes Streeting time to lock up MPs. www.thetimes.com/article/a9d3...
Angela Rayner weighs leadership challenge after local elections
Allies of the former deputy prime minister are urging her to ‘take advantage’ of the unprecedented losses predicted for Sir Keir Starmer next month
thetimes.com
EXCL: Angela Rayner will use a speech this week to call for “bolder action” from Sir Keir Starmer’s government, echoing a challenge from Labour MPs who have warned the prime minister’s “caution & incrementalism” is paving the way for a populist takeover of Britain. www.thetimes.com/article/4c74...
Keir Starmer’s caution ‘paves way for populist takeover’, say Labour MPs
Groups representing 200 Labour MPs say the country is moving in the wrong direction, while Angela Rayner calls for a bolder approach from the government
thetimes.com
Excl: Angela Rayner will back the government on controversial reforms to special educational needs as the former deputy prime minister seeks to put on a united front with Sir Keir Starmer before the local elections. www.thetimes.com/article/ee41...
Angela Rayner joins united Labour front on divisive Send reforms
The appearance by the former deputy prime minister was seen as an olive branch to Sir Keir Starmer, who is facing dire results in local elections
thetimes.com
Excl: AI apps such as Grok will be banned if they can be used to “nudify” women online, as part of a package of concessions designed to quell the anger of female Labour MPs www.thetimes.com/article/ccb6...
Elon Musk’s Grok and other apps face ‘nudifying’ ban
The government has widened a crackdown on deepfake AI images in a bill that will also formally make misogyny a hate crime
thetimes.com
Excl: Ministers have rejected calls for a new legal power that would allow the government to ban groups such as Palestine Action without designating them as terrorist organisations www.thetimes.com/article/fa4b...
Ministers reject calls for Palestine Action ban without terror label
Labour MPs have been told to vote down a Lords amendment, backed by Jewish groups, that would create a category of extreme criminal protest group
thetimes.com
Excl: Angela Rayner will show her strengths as a “political street fighter” before any challenge to Sir Keir Starmer, allies have said, as she spends the next month campaigning around the country in the run-up to the local elections. www.thetimes.com/article/70eb...
‘Street fighter’ Angela Rayner launches UK tour before elections
The former Labour deputy leader is expected to go on a campaigning blitz. She could have the backing of 80 MPs if she decides to take on Keir Starmer
thetimes.com
Excl: Dame Antonia Romeo has tightened her grip on No 10 and Whitehall as she became the first cabinet secretary in a decade to publish her personal objectives. www.thetimes.com/article/fa65...
Antonia Romeo to set out civil service aims and rewrite code
The cabinet secretary, who took on the role on February, will set out her vision as Sir Keir Starmer’s ‘principal policy adviser’
thetimes.com
Breaking: Ministers have BANNED Kanye West from travelling to the UK. He applied yesterday for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) but the government has blocked his permission to travel on the grounds that his presence in the UK would not be conducive to the public good.
Freeze on income tax thresholds ‘will wipe out energy bill cut’ www.thetimes.com/article/9531...
Freeze on income tax thresholds ‘will wipe out energy bill cut’
New tax year changes 2026: hundreds of thousands of taxpayers will be dragged into higher bands, especially in London and the southeast
thetimes.com
Excl: A London council has been accused of “marginalising the Jewish community” after it quietly signed a twinning agreement with a Palestinian city whose officials have been accused of praising terrorists and celebrating the October 7 attacks on Israel. www.thetimes.com/article/e82d...
London council under fire for Palestinian twinning deal
Brent council has been accused of ‘marginalising the Jewish community’ by signing a deal with the West Bank city of Nablus after the October 7 attacks
thetimes.com
Excl: Small businesses face a £181 million hit from plans that require them to allow paid trade union recruitment meetings in the workplace. www.thetimes.com/article/67f1...
Mandatory trade union meetings could lose small businesses £181m
Labour’s latest tranche of workers’ reforms come into force on Monday but their financial implications could put enterprises at risk
thetimes.com
Trigger warning: lame, emotional and overdone. I don’t really do humble, but I do do grateful. All because of my nanny, my mum, and every woman who refused to believe where you start is where you have to end up. #WiW100
NEW: Britain will impose visa bans on four countries after ministers concluded that student and work visas were being systematically exploited to gain entry to the asylum system. www.thetimes.com/article/b1e2...
Mahmood bans visas for Afghans to halt asylum system exploitation
Students from Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan will also be refused entry as ministers say the system is being used as a backdoor to claim asylum in Britain
thetimes.com
Excl: Ban London march linked to Iranian regime, MPs demand www.thetimes.com/article/c238...
Ban London march linked to Iranian regime, MPs demand
Al Quds demonstrators have previously waved Hezbollah flags and called for the destruction of Israel
thetimes.com
Excl: Ministers will ban online pornography which depicts violent and degrading acts such as rape and incest, The Times understands. Websites will be held to the same standard as pornographic videos sold in sex shops, and will be forced to remove illegal, harmful or abusive content.
Excl: @Keir_Starmer writes how his late brother’s struggle “just to be seen, to count” inspired Send overhaul. The PM says his brother Nick, who died the Christmas before last, “belonged in mainstream society … these children also belong in mainstream schooling.” www.thetimes.com/article/0d3c...
I will make sure no child with special needs is left behind
I want this country to see and value the contribution every single person can make, starting with an education system grounded in those values
thetimes.com
Excl: Bosses could be forced by law to let employees work from home www.thetimes.com/article/e255...
Bosses could be forced by law to let employees work from home
Proposed government reforms would force employers to prove work-from-home requests are ‘unreasonable’ or face tribunal orders to reconsider
thetimes.com
Islamophobia definition ‘could stifle free speech’ www.thetimes.com/article/2315...
Islamophobia definition ‘could stifle free speech’
Campaigners have told ministers the wording is open to misuse
thetimes.com
Excl: Ministers ‘rely on secret note to approve Chinese mega-embassy’ www.thetimes.com/article/ff4c...
Ministers ‘rely on secret note to approve Chinese mega-embassy’
Campaigners query whether message from eight years ago on diplomatic status for Royal Mint Court site showed government had always intended to approve proposals
thetimes.com
Excl: Britain is facing “post-modern total warfare” as intimidation of politicians intensifies before the next general election, while hostile states, Islamist groups and activist movements are accused of exploiting weaknesses in the country’s democratic system. www.thetimes.com/article/358d...
Politicians warn of ‘total warfare’ as election intimidation intensifies
Cross-party group to investigate threats and abuse as hostile states and extremists exploit democracy and more parliamentarians need police protection
thetimes.com
Single-sex spaces guidance delayed as Phillipson waits for costings www.thetimes.com/article/6d5e...
Single-sex spaces guidance delayed as Phillipson waits for costings
Legal limbo for public bodies to continue as minister demands to know what it will cost businesses
thetimes.com
Excl: Taxpayers to be kept in dark over cost of public sector union duties www.thetimes.com/article/d4ae...
Taxpayers to be kept in dark over cost of public sector union duties
New employment law means public will not be told how much money is being spent so that union officials can have paid time off work
thetimes.com
Excl: Doctors’ strike left abused women in danger, says government adviser www.thetimes.com/article/48b7...
Doctors’ strike left abused women in danger, says government adviser
Domestic abuse victims could visit A&E 15 times before getting help, Jess Asato also said, adding there needed to be a cultural shift in the NHS
thetimes.com
Boiling live lobsters to be banned under animal rights reforms www.thetimes.com/article/c994...
Boiling live lobsters to be banned under animal rights reforms
Downing Street has published its welfare strategy, which sets out a series of new farming and food standards and banning trail hunting
thetimes.com