Foreign secretary Ed Miliband will travel to Washington tomorrow to discuss the Strait of Hormuz, Ukraine and Gaza with his US counterpart Marco Rubio, as he seeks to move beyond past criticism of Donald Trump and build ties with the president’s team www.ft.com/content/bea0...

‘Two very different characters’: Miliband and Rubio to meet in Washington

Foreign secretary to discuss Strait of Hormuz, Ukraine and Gaza with US counterpart

ft.com

Interesting - with contribution from @drbenpaxton.bsky.social

Lucy Fisher@lucyfisher.ft.com · 20h ago

EXC: UK govt is “stripping back” onerous public procurement rules in pro-growth shake up of system, Louise Haigh tells FT Overhaul will make job creation/skills development the only ‘social value’ requirement for biz competing for Whitehall contracts worth £90bn annually www.ft.com/content/9878...

EXC: UK govt is “stripping back” onerous public procurement rules in pro-growth shake up of system, Louise Haigh tells FT Overhaul will make job creation/skills development the only ‘social value’ requirement for biz competing for Whitehall contracts worth £90bn annually www.ft.com/content/9878...

UK to strip back procurement rules to focus on job creation, says Louise Haigh

Burnham’s de facto deputy PM says requirements for businesses vying for Whitehall contracts will be streamlined

ft.com

John Healey is under mounting pressure to raise taxes or find fresh savings as new spending commitments and Iran war threaten to shrink the new chx’s fiscal buffer to as little as £7bn Headroom has shrunk by more than two-thirds since March, when it was official forecast at £23.6bn

John Healey under pressure to raise taxes or cut UK spending as fiscal headroom shrinks

US-Iran war and new spending commitments threaten to cut buffer to as little as £7bn, economists estimate

ft.com

"IRAN WAR NARROWS HEALEY'S OPTIONS" #DelphineStrauss / @LucyFisher.FT.com / @IanKMSmith.FT.com for @FinancialTimes.com #IranWar pressures are shrinking Chancellor #JohnHealey’s fiscal options and squeezing the government’s buffer. #FTWeekend #TomorrowsPapersToday

Can ‘Brand Burnham’ survive the move to No 10? The new PM appears determined to break the mould of traditional political leaders - and there is freshness to his image... but could it wear thin over time?

How Andy Burnham’s rise to PM was helped by those axed by Starmer List of people sacked or cast out includes Louise Haigh, Lucy Powell and Anneliese Midgley, some of new PM’s most powerful allies www.ft.com/content/f46b...

How Andy Burnham’s rise to PM was helped by those axed by Starmer

List of people sacked or cast aside includes Louise Haigh, Lucy Powell and Anneliese Midgley, some of new premier’s most powerful allies

ft.com

Discussing Burnham, bus fares and prisoner release on Sky News With dream team @jayneseckersky.bsky.social & @breeallegretti.bsky.social

A new episode of Political Fix has dropped 🎙️ We fillet Burnham’s Cabinet picks and discuss his early policy blitz W/ @greenmirandahere.bsky.social, @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social & @robertshrimsley.bsky.social Pod is back on Friday too! podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/p...

Andy Burnham’s cabinet: who’s in, who’s out?

Podcast Episode · Political Fix · 21 July · 42min

podcasts.apple.com

Shares in UK defence groups rise on hopes John Healey will boost military spending New chx backed by investors to find billions extra that he previously said was required to keep country safe Via George Parker, Sylvia Pfeifer, Ian Smith & me 👇 www.ft.com/content/2260...

Shares in UK defence groups rise on hopes John Healey will boost military spending

New chancellor backed by investors to find cash he previously said was required to keep country safe

ft.com

How will UK foreign policy change under Ed Miliband? Ex-energy secretary vows to reinvigorate climate diplomacy, stand up for the rule of law under his new values-rooted approach, and ‘nurture’ relationship with US Read more 👇 www.ft.com/content/e0aa...

BREAKING: No 10 confirms… - Angela Rayner is housing sec - Jonathan Reynolds is business, innovation, science & trade sec - in retooled dept - Lucy Powell MP is education sec - Anneliese Midgley is chief whip - Bridget Phillipson remains in Cabinet as women and equalities minister

Chagos with Ed Milliband! [Am I doing this right?]

Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · 2w ago

Ed Miliband is foreign sec

BREAKING: Ed Miliband is foreign secretary Shabana Mahmood stays as home secretary Louise Haigh is Chx of the Duchy of Lancaster

John Healey’s elevation to chancellor comes with a hefty price tag: he quit govt last month arguing the UK needed to set out a deadline to reach military expenditure of 3% of GDP At present Britain is only on track to reach 2.7% of GDP by 2030...

BREAKING: John Healey confirmed as chancellor

Gilt yields (which set UK borrowing costs) moved to day highs on a flurry of announcements, including Burnham’s wish to make use of "flexibility" within the fiscal rules around UK borrowing. Underperforming other markets now, but not by a lot. Follow latest live: www.ft.com/content/c35c...

Andy Burnham opens door to using ‘flexibility’ within fiscal rules

New PM to name cabinet after becoming UK’s seventh leader in past decade

ft.com

Only briefest mention of defence by Burnham, but nonetheless key He said his plan is to ‘bring the welfare bill down to meet our fiscal rules & to honour our commitments on defence to our intl partners’ UK govt’s commitment to Nato is to spend 3.5% of GDP on defence 2035... £25bn extra a year(!)

True to recent form, Burnham plumped for a hopey-changey finale He talked up “a new national sense of unity, of common purpose & positivity”... helping UK “to believe again”... to “bring back hope” Fascinated to see if he can pull off the left-wing version of Boris-esque optimism with the public

Seven minutes is pretty short for a first speech from a prime minister... particularly for an unelected ‘takeover’ PM to introduce themselves to the nation

Burnham aims to place people - and the left-behind in particular - at the heart of his goals for govt Vowed: “I will put the care of people at the heart of everything I do” Promised to end rough sleeping, build council houses, provide cost-of-living assistance, & help to get young people into work

It's official: Starmer has formally resigned The Palace has said: “The Rt. Hon. Sir Keir Starmer MP had an audience of The King this morning and tendered his resignation as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury which His Majesty was graciously pleased to accept.”

Can an ‘unelected’ prime minister succeed? Burnham will tomorrow become 11th out of the last 19 PMs who’s a ‘takeover’ leader Will he go on to win an election like Macmillan, Major & Johnson? Or flunk at the polls like Douglas-Home, Callaghan, Brown & Sunak? www.ft.com/content/6f00...

Can an ‘unelected’ prime minister succeed?

Andy Burnham will take power without winning an election. So have most other recent British prime ministers

ft.com

🎙️ The Burnham era begins On the Political Fix podcast this week, we parse Burnham’s coronation speech today and his key Cabinet picks Plus, Starmer’s farewell 📻🎧 With @pickardje.bsky.social & @georgewparker.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/1IkZ...

The Burnham era begins: Mahmood set for chancellor

Political Fix · Episode

open.spotify.com

Well, there was quite a lot in Burnham’s speech in the end! A promise to be “pro-business”... Dismissal of scepticism about his rushed plans for govt: “I am ready...  I have a plan” Stressed he wasn’t just about Manchester/north but would “definitely” visit the south in his UK-wide summer tour

Breaking: Keir Starmer makes Sadiq Khan a peer It's been on the cards for a while - I revealed in FT back in March that the PM was planning to ennoble the London mayor 👇 www.ft.com/content/6ea0...

Keir Starmer set to make Sadiq Khan a lord

Move would allow London mayor to take cabinet role, as prime minister tries to shore up position

ft.com

What to expect from a Shabana Mahmood chancellorship? One UK bank board member says her right-of-centre politics suggest “a Reeves continuity, which is the best we could hope for” But Lucy Powell says Mahmood is in favour of “big change” & a “radical platform” www.ft.com/content/fe73...

Shabana Mahmood is a migration hardliner & social conservative, who rejected Corbyn’s hard-left economic agenda in 2015 But on tax, spend & growth policies she’s been tight-lipped in recent years, leaving investors uncertain about what to expect if (as anticipated) she becomes chancellor next week

All in, I thought that was a v edifying spectacle: goodwill across parties for Starmer’s last PMQs & tributes to his service Some might protest it was a bit cosy, but MPs know better than anyone what it takes to be in politics at highest level, & risks, esp after horrifying murder of Ann Widdicombe

The ex-Britpop stalwart at the heart of Burnham’s machine Anneliese Midgley is one of the ‘strong Northern power women’ Burnham credited for his Makerfield win Now advising her third Labour leader, what's her secret to survival? My FT profile w/ @pickardje.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/ef28...

The former Britpop stalwart at the heart of Burnham’s machine

Anneliese Midgley, who previously advised Jeremy Corbyn and Sir Keir Starmer, has been credited as a key influence on the incoming PM

ft.com