Sometimes as a parent you think you will be in screaming soft plays forever but now suddenly every weekend my son demands to go the pub and watch the Premier League and it’s just… amazing.

Our weekend read - on the politics of trying. “The public think the only person that can reach those levers is you,” said a government insider. “They justifiably ask, can you do it or not? And if not, they’ll look for an alternative.” www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

‘If voters aren’t better off by the next election, we’re screwed’: Labour insiders voice fears over budget

Some say party risks ‘looking twee’ by focusing on small fixes amid growing nervousness that budget lacks ambition

theguardian.com

Excl with @jessicaelgot.bsky.social - bleak new forecasts from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation suggest soaring energy and housing costs mean Labour could be set to preside over the worst parliament for living standards in modern history: www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Labour could oversee worst parliament on record for living standards, study warns

Energy and housing costs threaten biggest decline in modern times unless bold action taken, says thinktank

theguardian.com

Soaring energy and housing costs mean Labour is on course to preside over the worst parliament for living standards in modern times, a stark analysis warns. The JRF predicts that, after housing costs, average household incomes will be between £440 and £770 lower in real terms in 2029-30.

NEW - Kemi Badeoch says there will be no inheritance tax to pay ever on a family home. Interested to know how this affects the housing market. Asset-rich pensioners just got a huge (extra) incentive not to downsize.

EXC - John Healey is planning a major intervention to cut energy bills for poorer households in this month’s budget. Chancellor is working on plans to spend more than £1bn to help energy consumers, increasing the discount given to households on certain benefits www.theguardian.com/money/2026/o...

Chancellor plans major intervention to help poorer UK households with rising energy bills

Exclusive: Officials working on further radical changes that would change how much energy companies could charge customers

theguardian.com

Badenoch says her air defence plan "is not going to be exactly like the Irone Dome. We haven’t called it an Iron Dome." Except this is what it said in the press release. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

“We are not where we need to be right now,” a candid Tory party chair Kevin Hollinrake tells the More in Common fringe event. “We don’t want an election right now, ideally.”

The Tory Bayeux Tapestry is very funny and a great skewering of most of the main characters, apart from Angela Rayner who looks absolutely iconic in every image

It's hard to see how the Green party's motion today will avoid an investigation by the EHRC, given Labour was previously found in breach.

It’s a closed door game in a low grade tournament and Bellingham plays like it’s a World Cup final. What a player.

Quite an odd choice to brief this out

Senior Labour figures are uneasy about Healey’s ‘underpowered’ approach to budget Apart from Burnham's speech, this was the talk of conference... www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Labour figures uneasy about Healey’s ‘underpowered’ approach to budget

Chancellor faces global volatility and soaring energy costs as some insiders worry lack of clarity could trigger fresh market shock

theguardian.com

Can he bring yesterday back around? My long read today on the emotional business of Labour conference www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The Labour Party is having a moment My analysis of the speech, the most radical from a prime minister in more than a decade www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Well, he certainly knows how to give us copy

Well, he certainly knows how to give us copy

‘You were right’: Ed Miliband tells critics Labour was wrong on Gaza Foreign secretary tells party’s conference ‘we are not here to accept the status quo but to change it’ www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

‘You were right’: Ed Miliband tells critics Labour was wrong on Gaza

Foreign secretary will tell party’s conference ‘we are not here to accept the status quo but to change it’

theguardian.com

EXC - Shabana Mahmood will announce a new legal route for refugees that prioritises Afghan women and girls and Palestinians, unfreezing a scheme that will put the most vulnerable refugees on a faster path to permanent status. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

My Labour conference read Burnham, who was once spectre at the feast, now hopes to banish the ghosts of Starmerism Details on the big strategic talk which No10’s “hype man” Hayden Munro gave to cabinet Stay for the ex minister comparing himself to Declan Rice www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

‘We will get stuff done’: Burnham seeks to banish ghosts of Starmerism at Labour conference

The PM returns to Liverpool, where he was mocked last year, with a promise that no one will be left wondering what he’s trying to do

theguardian.com

My Labour conference read Burnham, who was once spectre at the feast, now hopes to banish the ghosts of Starmerism Details on the big strategic talk which No10’s “hype man” Hayden Munro gave to cabinet Stay for the ex minister comparing himself to Declan Rice www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

‘We will get stuff done’: Burnham seeks to banish ghosts of Starmerism at Labour conference

The PM returns to Liverpool, where he was mocked last year, with a promise that no one will be left wondering what he’s trying to do

theguardian.com

🔜

EXC - We *also* have an MRP out today - which has some very striking findings. Progressives who vote tactically to stop Nigel Farage’s Reform UK could push his party into FOURTH place. The poll also shows Burnham’s Labour is winning back left-leaning voters. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

BREAKING: Daniel Thomas, aka Danny Tommo, has been arrested by Hampshire police over boat slashing incident in the Channel.

Andy Burnham has signalled he may lift the ban on drinking alcohol in the stands at football matches, suggesting it is ‘unfair’ for fans to be singled out when it is permitted for other sports. Story: @pippacrerar.bsky.social and @tomjgarry.bsky.social

Andy Burnham signals he may lift ban on alcohol in football stands

Prime minister says measure is discriminatory when fans of other sports are not similarly restricted

theguardian.com

Started watching Sky’s War Game last night where Michael Gove is the PM during the Russian attack and I’m afraid it is just very difficult to watch it without thinking of this, one of the great cartoons ever published

Look on my works, ye mighty

Exc - @andyburnham.bsky.social sets out his stall on net zero - and concludes that yes, we do want to live on a liveable planet www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Andy Burnham: UK must fully commit to reaching net zero by 2050

Exclusive: PM, who is facing pressure over whether to approve North Sea oil and gasfields, makes strongest comments yet on issue

theguardian.com

EXCL: The UK government’s EU reset summit could be delayed again unless Brussels agrees to include “Made in Europe” legislation on the agenda, government sources tell @lisaocarroll.bsky.social and me www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Andy Burnham: UK must fully commit to reaching net zero by 2050

Exclusive: PM, who is facing pressure over whether to approve North Sea oil and gasfields, makes strongest comments yet on issue

theguardian.com

NEW - Joint statement agreed by the trade unions at TUC Congress, but stops short of calls for a cap on donations.