George Parker
@georgewparker.bsky.social
Political Editor Financial Times, former FT bureau chief in Brussels. Presenter R4 Week in Westminster. Crystal Palace and Somerset CCC supporter
New - Olly Robbins seeks judicial review over his sacking by Sir Keir Starmer in the Mandelson affair www.ft.com/content/c185...
Top civil servant seeks judicial review over sacking in Mandelson scandal
Olly Robbins was fired after PM said he was left in dark over red flags relating to Mandelson’s Washington appointment
ft.com
Morgan McSweeney spills all over Lunch with the FT in the form of @georgewparker.bsky.social as.ft.com/r/37fb90aa-7...
Morgan McSweeney: ‘I felt guilty about what I’d done to Keir’
The former chief adviser to Keir Starmer forced out of his job over the Mandelson scandal talks for the first time about what went wrong
as.ft.com
New: Morgan McSweeney is this week's Lunch with the FT. Loads of insights over a Mr Lava Lava pizza about his traumatic exit, moving too slowly, Treasury blunders, the winter fuel debacle and how he didn't urge Starmer not to quit in recent weeks. www.ft.com/content/3d0a...
Morgan McSweeney: ‘People thought we promised change and we got distracted’
Keir Starmer’s former chief adviser forced out of his job over the Mandelson scandal talks for the first time about what went wrong
ft.com
Ten years after Brexit: Can the UK deliver change? A Political Fix Q&A live special to round off a big week! Feat podcast regulars @georgewparker.bsky.social & @stephenkb.bsky.social Plus markets columnist @katie0martin.ft.com & economics corr Delphine Strauss podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/p...
Political Fix
Politics Podcast · Updated weekly · The Financial Times takes you into the corridors of power to unwrap, analyse and debate British politics with a regular lineup of FT correspondents and informed com...
podcasts.apple.com
as.ft.com/r/04eaab0f-3... Andy Burnham looking to create new “No10 in the North” in Manchester as part of radical devolution drive
Andy Burnham looking to move part of Number 10 operations to Manchester
Move marks radical attempt to shift power beyond Westminster
as.ft.com
Purnell's appointment as Burnham's chief of staff reunites the two old Demon Eyes football mates. My inside story of the North London team that shaped power in Britain for decades www.ft.com/content/ac54...
Power games
ft.com
With Andy Burnham set to take over as the seventh PM in a decade, join me and my colleagues on 25 June for an FT subscriber webinar on Ten Years after Brexit: can the UK deliver change. Register at ft.com/anniversary and send us your questions
Ten years after Brexit
Join leading Financial Times journalists for an exclusive subscriber webinar on 25 June at 12.30-13.30 UK on the state of the UK as political and economic turmoil marks the 10th anniversary of Brexit.
ft.com
Exit Starmer, enter Burnham A snap episode of Political Fix with @pickardje.bsky.social, @georgewparker.bsky.social and me on the PM’s resignation... and what lies ahead for the Labour party – and the country podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/e...
Exit Starmer, enter Burnham
Podcast Episode · Political Fix · 22 June · 24min
podcasts.apple.com
Breaking news: What it's like to play football with Andy Burnham and Keir Starmer and what it (might) tell us about what happens next at Westminster. #weekinwestminster x.com/BBCVickiYoun...
Vicki Young (@BBCVickiYoung) on X
What’s it like to play football with @AndyBurnhamGM & @Keir_Starmer? Do tactics on the pitch reflect their political style? We discuss on Week in Westminster https://t.co/ov5RkHkFxm
x.com
NEW - Cabinet unity starts to fracture as Heidi Alexander, transport secretary, urges Starmer to set timetable for departure. www.ft.com/content/095b...
Transport secretary Heidi Alexander calls on Keir Starmer to go
Latest cabinet member to urge prime minister to set timetable for departure after Andy Burnham’s victory in Makerfield
ft.com
New - Andy Burnham says 3.5m Waspi women “deserve” compensation and denounces politicians who back campaigns then do nothing when they get into power. Price tag £10bn or more. Expect some scrutiny of this in the coming days. @lucyfisher.ft.com and @pickardje.bsky.social as.ft.com/r/8cedb3c4-2...
Andy Burnham pledges to back pension campaigners claiming billions
Labour leadership hopeful says he’ll ‘stick by the Waspi women’, whose demands could exceed £10bn
as.ft.com
Stressing he wouldn’t ditch his longterm support for Waspi women, he said he felt “uncomfortable” that some politicians threw their support behind a cause but then went into government and “didn’t do anything” www.ft.com/content/1021...
Andy Burnham pledges to back pension campaigners claiming billions
Labour leadership hopeful says he’ll ‘stick by the Waspi women’, whose demands could exceed £10bn
ft.com
Earlier I attended a Makerfield hustings event hosted by @manchestereveningnews.co.uk, in which Burnham said: “I stick by campaigners that I support. I stuck by the Hillsborough families, I’ll stick by the Waspi women because they deserve some recompense for the unfairness.”
NEW: Andy Burnham has hinted at a new multibillion-pound spending commitment if he becomes PM, saying that more than 3.5mn women “deserve” compensation over what he regards as a pension scandal
New - Starmer raises stakes in leadership battle to come. Ministers to be told they must quit if they want to back Burnham, threatening potential chaos at top of govt. With @pickardje.bsky.social and @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/56ba...
Keir Starmer to tell ministers to quit if they back Andy Burnham
Supporters of Greater Manchester mayor say he already has enough MPs to launch a leadership challenge
ft.com
New - Starmer tells ministers in No10 he's going to fight and can beat Burnham. With @pickardje.bsky.social and @rachel-rees.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/cf5f...
Keir Starmer rallies ministers in attempt to build support against Andy Burnham
Prime minister insisted he would fight Greater Manchester mayor in any leadership contest
ft.com
The remarkable rise and rise of Cameron guru Steve Hilton www.ft.com/content/71bf...
Steve Hilton, Tory aide turned California’s would-be governor
The expat David Cameron adviser is seeking to follow in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s footsteps
ft.com
New - Bucket list policies, fatalism in Number 10, morale "shot"....a snapshot of a govt waiting for Andy Burnham. With @pickardje.bsky.social and @lucyfisher.ft.com www.ft.com/content/d14d...
Keir Starmer pushes ‘bucket list’ policies as fatalistic mood descends on Downing Street
UK prime minister could be ousted within weeks if Andy Burnham wins Makerfield by-election
ft.com
You won’t be able to keep Starmer out of Wigan during the Makerfield by-election, munching pies with Andy, knocking on doors, picture on every leaflet 🥊
New: Starmer's allies braced for full scale leadership battle kicking off within 24 hours. Streeting will move, but expectation a centre-left candidate will enter fray too...Miliband, Rayner, Powell? Will Starmer stand? "It's crazy," says one cab minister www.ft.com/content/4fd3...
Keir Starmer braced for leadership battle to begin on Thursday
Wes Streeting set to challenge prime minister and compete with at least one rival from centre-left
ft.com
Exc - Rachel Reeves has been surprisingly quiet since last week's elections. Her supporters think she might be able to stay on as chancellor after a leadership change to stabilise markets. www.ft.com/content/dda9...
Rachel Reeves’ allies say chancellor should stay in post if Keir Starmer is ousted
Fears growing that leadership contest could unleash chaos on already jittery bond markets
ft.com
🇪🇪📚 ADVANCE STOCK ALERT: ‘Estonian Lessons: What the World Can Learn from a Brilliant Baltic State’ by Ambassador @allenross.bsky.social is now available at 20% off w/code ESTONIAN20 ➡️ tinyurl.com/3pdhdkeb ‘Allen is one of Britain’s brightest diplomats.’ @georgewparker.bsky.social
New: Extraordinary take on the "special relationship" and Starmer's political future from...Britain's new US ambassador. @lucyfisher.ft.com www.ft.com/content/d4bf...
America’s special relationship is ‘probably Israel’, says UK ambassador to US
In leaked remarks, Christian Turner also says it is ‘extraordinary’ that Epstein scandal has not affected sex offender’s US associates
ft.com
This chart shows how politics has been turned on its head in the last two years: in 2024 Reform UK had a total of nine councillors, one fewer than the Basingstone and Deane Independents (10) opencouncildata.co.uk/councillors2...
Open Council Data UK - compositions councillors parties wards elections emails
opencouncildata.co.uk
This love letter to Canary Wharf by @stephenkb.bsky.social is only slightly marred by the line that states the tower is one year older than him. I sat in the Telegraph newsroom in South Quay watching from my window as it went up www.ft.com/content/362b...
Why I will always love Canary Wharf
The business district in London’s Docklands demonstrates what innovation and invention can achieve
ft.com
15 women were willing to come to testify in court on behalf of the FT. That included 3 whose allegations had not previously been reported.
Financial Times@financialtimes.com · 4mo agoCrispin Odey abandons £79mn libel case against the FT over sexual misconduct claims ft.trib.al/ltCxjpR
Plus an excellent turn from @georgewparker.bsky.social on the politics of the Bayeux Tapestry - spanning Calvinist mobs, Napoleon & the Nazis His FT Mag piece on the iconic embroidery is here. A must-read ahead of British Museum exhibition this year! www.ft.com/content/03dd...
The political power struggle behind the Bayeux Tapestry
Carted across seas and along perilous wartime trails, dodging Calvinist mobs, rebels and Nazis, the embroidery has a rich story. Its next chapter will be written in London
ft.com
Lucy Fisher@lucyfisher.ft.com · 4mo ago🎙️Squeezed Britain: student loans, salaries and strikes 📻🎧 On Political Fix this week, we discuss the cost of living fallout from the Iran war - and the govt’s struggle to respond Feat @stephenkb.bsky.social, @georgewparker.bsky.social & @chris-smyth.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/s...
Well this is an absolutely rollicking read, featuring multiple tapestry-cheats-death-and-destruction moments, by @georgewparker.bsky.social & Leila Abboud (gift link x 3)
The political power struggle behind the Bayeux Tapestry
Carted across seas and along perilous wartime trails, dodging Calvinist mobs, rebels and Nazis, the embroidery has a rich story. Its next chapter will be written in London
giftarticle.ft.com
New - First sign of potential Iran-related shortages. Govt to spend £100m on reopening mothballed Teesside plant making carbon dioxide, used in fizzy drinks, vaccines, stunning animals in abattoirs, food packaging etc etc www.ft.com/content/802d...
UK carbon dioxide plant to reopen over fears of shortages linked to Iran war
Business secretary has approved a £100mn plan to restart the Ensus plant in north-east England for three months initially
ft.com
