What's driving the day in Westminster. Politics and policymaking in the UK capital.
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What’s driving the day in Westminster. Politics and policymaking in the UK capital.
By SAM FRANCIS
with BETHANY DAWSON
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Good Friday morning. This is Sam Francis, with Sam Blewett delivering a fresh dispatch from Makerfield.
UPPING THE ANDY: Andy Burnham cleared another hurdle on his road back to Westminster, getting through his first proper national grilling during a special edition of Question Time largely unscathed … while Reform UK’s Robert Kenyon had a rougher ride, both from the other candidates and some members of the audience.
More importantly: The coy act is over. Burnham finally admitted he would “seek to join” any Labour leadership race if elected, after weeks of dodging the question. Westminster still has no clue what that contest looks like (more on that later). Which leaves Keir Starmer, who has been in the middle of a policy blitz as he seeks to secure his legacy, with just a fortnight to make it count before the whole show gets taken over.
Fight! Fight! Fight! Burnham’s comments drew an immediate, spiky response from No. 10, with a spokesperson warning the government would not be “distracted by Westminster debates” and remains focused on delivering for working people. Downing Street stressed Labour’s leadership rules had “not been triggered,” but added the prime minister “will not walk away” from the fight. The Labour civil war is very much on.
About last night: Front-runner Burnham was the most polished politician on the panel, with decades of experience on Question Time. But he also had the most to lose. Polling released by Survation as the debate finished gave him a clear lead, on 49 percent, 10 percentage points ahead of Kenyon; Restore’s candidate was on 8 percent and everyone else way behind. The usual caveats apply: The polling was done by a phone survey of just 518 people. But Labour activists will be waking up feeling pretty chirpy this morning.
Burnham if you got ’em: The most charged exchange of the night came when Burnham reached past Kenyon and went straight for Nigel Farage, linking the Reform leader’s response to the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak with Tuesday’s violence in Southampton, claiming “the ringleaders of that violence used exactly the same words” as Farage.
Cuts both ways: The same exchange produced Burnham’s most uncomfortable moments of the evening. Pressed on whether Britain has a “two-tier” justice system, Burnham deflected — retreating instead to his policing record in Greater Manchester, where he backed Chief Constable Stephen Watson, who wanted to phase out rainbow police cars and refused to take the knee during the Black Lives Matter campaign. After being put on the spot by an audience member, Burnham also said he believed there was “a case” to revisit the religious exemption that allows Sikhs to carry the kirpan ceremonial knife.
RUH-ROH: Reform’s core claim — repeated by Kenyon on QT — that Nowak’s death points to the existence of a “two-tier” policing system landed an extraordinary endorsement hours later, when the U.S. State Department demanded an end to two-tier policing in the wake of Henry Nowak’s murder. The Telegraph has a write-up. Given the actions of ICE agents in the U.S. in recent months, the intervention will likely raise more than a few eyebrows.
More Novak fallout: The Nowak case continues to dominate the papers this morning. The Times’ Steven Swinford and Matt Dathan report that Labour MPs are griping that a slow response from Starmer let Farage set the pace, after police footage of the student’s mistaken arrest was published. One MP said the episode “sums up this government,” which does not “seem to smell danger.”The Times also reports one in seven Hampshire officers felt “pressured” to take part in mandatory equality and inclusion training program, in response to a previous racism scandal.
Tense meeting: Meanwhile, the Guardian’s front page story by Vikram Dodd adds that Hampshire Police data appears to cut against claims of anti-white bias, showing Black people are more than five times likelier than white people to be stopped and searched. Also in the Guardian is a scoop by Kiran Stacey who reports that Reform’s Andrea Jenkyns stormed out of yesterday’s mayors meeting in Downing Street when the Nowak case was raised and Steve Reed said “hostile foreign actors” were stoking division online. Jenkyns said she refused to sit through “hypocrisy” and “identity politics.”
KENYON IN THE SPOTLIGHT: While Burnham may be the front-runner, it was Kenyon in the Question Time sights. The candidate spent large chunks of the debate fielding questions from the panel and audience over controversial old online comments — without offering a clear answer.
Voder-man down: In one of the night’s most awkward moments, Green Party candidate Sarah Wakefield asked whether Kenyon would apologize to Carol Vorderman for graphic sexual remarks about the broadcaster that he had previously endorsed online. Kenyon did not. He said some comments were 15 years old and “completely taken out of context.” He also rejected accusations of sexism saying: “I was brought up by women. I’ve got nothing but respect for women.” The two later clashed again, with Kenyon eventually getting Wakefield to concede immigration has an impact on housing supply in the U.K.
Ask not for whom the buck stops: For a candidate who could be the MP for Makerfield in a fortnight, Kenyon spent a fair amount of the night passing questions to people who were not in the room. Asked how Reform would find 30,000 extra police officers, he said that would be “a problem” for whoever was recruiting them. Funding an immigration crackdown? “A complex one” — ultimately for the home secretary, he said. And Reform’s £5 million crypto donation row? “Beyond my control.” Kenyon argued he wanted to “focus on Makerfield, not national politics.
Boiler Room: Opposition reviews were (obviously) brutal. One Tory said Kenyon was “taken to the cleaners,” while a Labour MP texted that he “looked very small” and kept “distancing himself from Farage.” Reform saw it rather differently, plastering Kenyon clips all over social media last night. A Reform insider said their man was “the only panelist tonight who did not sound like a politician,” adding that Kenyon was “fitting boilers in Makerfield” three weeks ago and had now “held his own on BBC Question Time.” The Independent’s David Maddox also put Kenyon in his winners’ column alongside Burnham and Wakefield.
Wrong out to try: The Lib Dem and Tory candidates both used their QT slots to attack Burnham for triggering the contest. Lib Dem Jake Austin said it was “not the right way” to elect a potential prime minister, arguing that should happen through “a general election.” Tory Michael Winstanley asked why Burnham was returning to parliament after pledging to serve his full mayoral term, saying he was “disgusted” the by-election had been “foisted upon us.”
QT AND THE TWEETS: Social media star Rupert Lowe proved his online pull by landing one of the night’s viral Question Time posts, despite not being on the show. The Musk-boosted Restore man called Fiona Bruce a “disgrace” for leaving his party off the panel, and the post duly did big numbers.
BURNHAM NOTICE: The Greater Manchester mayor’s shock leadership announcement came hours after he gave an extensive interview to the Guardian’s Pippa Crerar setting out his priorities ahead of the Makerfield by-election. These include such Makerfield-based policies as: bringing forward Louise Casey’s review by two years to overhaul England’s social care system this year; defending his line that politicians should not be “in hock” to the bond markets; and praising Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood for “facing up” to the big questions on immigration. Josh Simons looks a shoo-in for a role in any future Burnham operation, after the would-be PM said he would like to work with the MP who stood aside to clear his path back to Westminster.
Brexit stage left: Burnham continued his Brexit balancing act, seeking to keep leave-voting Makerfield on side while pitching to Labour members down the line. He told Crerar it would be a mistake to rerun the Brexit referendum, even as he continued to insist he wants Britain back in the EU “in his lifetime.” Expect Reform to leap on that one — which came a day after suggesting to the New Statesman’s Ailbhe Rea that Remain might have won in 2016 had he been Labour leader.
Speaking of which: This week’s Westminster Insider podcast marks 10 years since the Brexit referendum campaign, taking you inside some of the biggest moments you probably hoped you’d never have to think about again. Rachel Johnson tells the pod her Thames flotilla with Boomtown Rat Bob Geldof may have come across as a touch patronizing to Leave voters — and could even have helped swing the results. After the result, she says she told her brother Boris he “should have given me a damehood for services to Brexit … Bob and I won it for him.”
THE ROAD TO WIGAN KEIR: Piled high at the bottom of a cul-de-sac on the edge of the Makerfield constituency is one of Britain’s largest illegal rubbish tips, writes Sam Blewett from the campaign trail. The 25,000 metric tons of debris dumped in Bickershaw are so bedded in that they’ve spawned their own ecosystem, complete with rat infestations and sporadic outbreaks of fire. Andy Burnham hopes that siding with the locals on the issue in this Wigan suburb will help him beat Reform — and then Keir Starmer.
Taking out the trash: Exasperated locals’ worst suspicions that the south is getting preferential treatment have been fueled by news a similar waste mountain in Oxfordshire is being cleaned up. Burnham is making clear he’s well up for the fight, promising to take on “feudal land arrangements” that benefit the Duchy of Lancaster estate that part-owns the land.
The King of the North vs. the actual king: The owner of said Duchy is, of course, one King Charles III. “Andy will take that fight all the way to the top because he believes no community should have to scream this loud just to be heard,” Burnham’s spokesperson tells Playbook.
After years of rubbish … many of the residents of Bickershaw are sick to the back teeth with the powers that be. Conspiracy theories are readily aired on the doorsteps. One guy says he’d never vote Burnham because of fluoride in the water … a retired electrician-cum-spiritualist says he’ll be voting Reform because of his communions with the dead. Here, and elsewhere in Makerfield, two alternative voices are being weighed up: Nigel Farage’s Reform or Rupert Lowe’s Restore.
Fright on the right: Denise — who says she’s from “a very staunch Labour family” — mock spits on the floor when Keir Starmer’s “out of touch” party is mentioned. The retired businesswoman says: “I’m undecided between Restore and Reform.” That should worry Farage too in this knife-edge contest.
For whom the poll tolls: Burnham’s camp reckons Restore really is on around 7 percent, as the first constituency level poll suggested. The Labour mayor’s team suspects a chunk of that support comes from those who don’t usually vote, rather than Kenyon’s support. All the same, it will be a bitter blow to Farage if his old-ally-turned-nemesis screws this up for Reform.
Taking the trash out: Whether they are voting for him or not, people tend to have a good impression of Burnham. From Bickershaw to Ashton, plenty of voters says they respect Burnham for what he’s done — whether it’s on the rubbish heap, the Hillsborough campaign or his Covid crusading.
The hype is (fairly) real: It isn’t uncommon to hear voters bad-mouth Labour in one breath and praise Burnham in the next. The Greater Manchester mayor’s team claims his position as an “outsider” means he stands a “fighting chance” of winning. But for all the man-of-the-people schtick, even in Makerfield Burnham can’t escape his past as a “career politician” — a CV voters typically despise.
And yet … most people who brought up Burnham’s rich past in Westminster before his break for the North still often speak of him with admiration, suggesting they feel like they know the fella. Even some of Burnham’s biggest cheerleaders in parliament acknowledge there is a “cold-hearted lizard of a politician” there, even if he has honed a down-to-earth communication style.
Always-here-Andy: Those plotting his path to No. 10 are trying to work out how he can maintain his “outside status” if he does succeed in usurping Keir Starmer. Burnham plans to be “totally focused on the domestic as much as possible” and wants to minimize his foreign travel. Bad news for the jet-setters in the Lobby pack.
Blocker or backer? The current prime minister insists he is “not going to walk away.” But Burnham’s camp hopes Starmer “might want to speak to Andy” in the event of a by-election victory and make way. If Starmer digs in … there is no indication Burnham would make the first move. His team still doubts former Health Secretary Wes Streeting really has the numbers to trigger the contest. “There’s any number of scenarios,” as a close ally put it.
CIVIL WARNING: Kemi Badenoch has warned that Britain’s battles over identity politics could, in the long term, lead to civil war. In a BBC Radio 4 documentary, “England’s Identity Crisis,” the Tory leader said groups on the left and right are directing “more and more hostility” at people of every ethnicity. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told the documentary the idea that nationality has to be tied to ancestry was “a bit offensive, to be honest.”
BUILDING WEALTH: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor charged his staff to live at his Windsor estate, despite only paying a nominal “peppercorn” rent himself, a bombshell report by the National Audit Office finds. The former Duke of York sub-letted three cottages within the grounds of Royal Lodge, and continued to collect payments even after he had moved out in disgrace. The story splashes the Telegraph, the Times, the Sun and the Mirror — all of them featuring a photo of the former prince with an unexplained, massive shiner.
TEXT APPEAL: Playbook has picked up a ripple of paranoia spreading across government as more private messages to Peter Mandelson mysteriously appear in the press, and it looks like ministers could be in for a nervy weekend checking to see if their texts to Mandelson might end up in the Sunday newspapers. The i Paper’s Caroline Wheeler reports Jonathan Reynolds could be in the firing line over messages saying he fancied becoming chancellor, while the Daily Mail’s James Tapsfield hears ministers are being warned to brace for an “unpleasant surprise” as Mandelson goes “scorched earth.”
Are you alright, mate? Anyone keen to relive the heady joy of *checks notes* sifting through the 1,500 Mandelson vetting files released Monday now has a new toy. Liam McLoughlin, senior lecturer in politics at Edge Hill University, has built an interactive tool presenting the disclosures as a mock-up of Mandelson’s email inbox and WhatsApp chats. Your Playbook author found it a lot of fun, so it should probably be avoided.
Jonesing for trouble: Darren Jones is discovering the Mandelson files have a nasty afterlife, with Sky News reporting two female Labour MPs are calling for him to go over his messages to the former ambassador on the day he was sacked. Sadly, Jones was not asked about his messages with Mandelson or his catty comments about Reynolds during a fireside chat with the CBI’s Cressida Hog.
NOT LOVING EU: Instead, Jones delivered a bit of a dig — a tiny one — at Wes Streeting and others who call for Britain to rejoin the EU. “We shouldn’t take the lazy answer and just say, well, we should just rejoin the EU and everything would be fine again, because I do actually think you would lose some competitive advantage if you did so,” Jones said, referencing EU tech and AI regulation. Playbook’s Andrew McDonald was amongst the business bigwigs enjoying wine and a two-course meal… alongside communications consultant Joe Dancey (Streeting’s partner) and Labour executive Claire Reynolds (Jonathan Reynolds’ partner).
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT WANT TO TALK ABOUT: Ministers have launched a consultation on giving the U.K.’s 3.5 million unmarried couples stronger rights when relationships end, including potential claims on property, automatic inheritance and better protection for domestic abuse survivors. Justice Secretary David Lammy is on the morning round to sell it — timings, as ever, below.
PLAN — WHAT PLAN? The government has “no clear sense” of what it’s trying to achieve in the asylum system and faces a “considerable risk of repeating past failures,” according to a scathing report from the Public Accounts Committee.
PUNCHY: Attorney General Richard Hermer told the BBC’s Political Thinking podcast that some people who want to leave the ECHR to stop small boat migrants seem to want to “let people drown in the water.” He told the podcast that the way to tackle the issue is through membership of the Council of Europe, the human rights organization.
And on that note: Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said international law is too often abused by activists who want to use it as a “cudgel against Western governments.” The comments come in an introduction to a Policy Exchange essay.
U.K. NUCLEAR: The British government has set up a new committee to scrutinize its nuclear defense programs and spending. The committee of MPs, appointed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, is meant to provide “the public with the confidence that taxpayer money is being spent wisely,” the government said on Thursday. Last year, the U.K. announced that it would purchase 12 F-35A jets which are capable of carrying nuclear weapons as part of NATO’s nuclear mission. Government officials insist the move is unrelated to cost‑cutting measures in the upcoming Defence Investment Plan, such as Treasury control over fighter jet procurement. Still, the timing is likely to raise eyebrows.
Speaking of defence: A pre-recorded interview with Chief of the Defence Staff Richard Knighton, who has been writing the Defence Investment Plan, is due out on the Today program this morning. The interview comes ahead of Knighton heading to Normandy alongside John Healy and Vernon Coaker to mark the 82nd anniversary of the Normandy Landings this Saturday.
SCHOOL IS IN SESSION: State schools lost 1.1 percent of teachers between the 2023-24 and 2025-26 academic years, despite the government’s pledge to boost numbers using VAT on private schools, the Telegraph reports.
SNUB CONCERNS: The king was unsure about Donald Trump’s state visit to the U.K. following the president’s argument with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the i Paper reports.
TICK TOCK: Tech bosses risk spending time in prison if they fail to block children from seeing naked images on their phones, the Times’ Max Kendix reports. The government will give technology companies a short timeline to introduce changes that would stop children from seeing these images, threatening to hit them with criminal offenses if they fail to comply.
THAT DOESN’T SOUND IDEAL: The UK Health Security Agency has urged doctors and nurses to check they have sufficient stocks of PPE and to be prepared to isolate patients as part of an NHS-wide national alert for Ebola, the i Paper’s Jane Merrick reports.
HOUSE OF COMMONS: Not sitting.
HOUSE OF LORDS: Sits from 10 a.m. with questions on the impact of AI on human relationships and society.
KEEPING COOL: The Pentagon is expected to cancel a plan to send Tomahawk missiles to Germany, partly because officials are concerned Russia will view it as an escalation, my POLITICO colleagues report. U.S. officials fear Moscow will retaliate if the Trump administration follows through on the effort to deploy precision missiles in the middle of the continent, according to two European officials and one American official.
TALK ABOUT IT: Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for a face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin, the BBC reports. The Ukrainian president said in an open letter that peace could only come “through direct engagement between” Ukraine and Russia and that it would be “wrong to simply wait” until the war in Europe becomes the focus of the U.S.’s attention again.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy broadcast round: Times Radio (7.05 a.m.) … Sky News (7.15 a.m.) … BBC Breakfast (7.30 a.m.) … LBC (7.50 a.m.) … Today (8.10 a.m.) … GMB (8.35 a.m.).
Conservative MP Harriet Cross broadcast round: Times Radio (7.45 a.m.) … GB News (8 a.m.) … Talk (8.20 a.m.) … LBC News (8.45 a.m.) … Sky News (9.15 a.m.).
Also on Nick Ferrari at Breakfast: Green Party MP Siân Berry (8.35 a.m.).
Also on Sky News Mornings: Former Victims’ Commissioner Vera Baird (8.30 a.m.).
Also on LBC News: Public Accounts Committee Chair Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (9.20 a.m.).
POLITICO UK: How Andy Burnham is rebranding as Labour’s man of the people.
Daily Express: Kate shares in mum’s joy.
Daily Mirror: What a cheek.
Daily Star: Grand old bruise of York.
Financial Times: AI revenues must surge 100-fold for SpaceX to achieve $1.78tn valuation.
Metro: Fifa sucking fans dry.
The Daily Telegraph: Andrew cashed in with secret rent deals.
The Guardian: Burnham: I won’t flinch from need to fix the broken social care system.
The i Paper: Revealed: King’s private concerns over Trump state visit to UK.
The Independent: Europe: the way back.
The Sun: What a bloody cheek!
The Times: Andrew cashed in with Windsor cottage sub-lets.
The Economist: The rise of gen-z socialism.
Westminster Insider: Marking a decade since the Brexit referendum, Patrick Baker talks to the people who lived through its biggest moments, including former Vote Leave CEO Matthew Elliott, David Cameron’s former deputy chief of staff Kate Fall and former Labour MP Gisela Stuart.
Plus six of the best political podcasts to listen to this weekend …
Chopper’s Political Podcast: Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds speaks to GB News’ Christopher Hope, and says Nigel Farage’s response to the murder of Henry Nowak shows he is “completely unfit” to be PM.
Matt Forde’s Political Party: Labour Deputy Leader Lucy Powell joins the pod live on stage.
Oh God, What Now?: Polling guru John Curtice discusses the Reform UK vote.
The News Agents: Former Home Secretary David Blunkett discusses British policing.
The Rundown: Labour MPs Jade Botterill and Charlotte Nichols join Alain Tolhurst and Adam Payne to discuss the impact of rugby league on Andy Burnham’s politics.
Holyrood Sources: Former First Minister Jack McConnell, Scottish Lib Dem Leader Alex Cole-Hamilton and Cabinet Secretary for Public Service Reform Ivan McKee join live.
WESTMINSTER WEATHER: Sunny spells. High 19C, low 12C.
MINISTERS VS. MANOSPHERE: Justice Minister Jake Richards spoke to Cosmo about the manosphere and the dangers facing boys in online spaces.
LIGHTS, CAMERA: The Labour Party is advertising a short-form video creator program for Young Labour members (over the age of 18), where they will learn to “make content that cuts through.”
JOB AD: Total Politics is hiring for the Lord Cormack Fellowship, with two aspiring young journalists getting the chance to spend a couple of weeks with The House Magazine and PolHome teams this summer. The month-long gig is paid and accommodation is provided.
WRITING PLAYBOOK PM: Emilio Casalicchio.
WRITING PLAYBOOK MONDAY MORNING: Andrew McDonald.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: Tory peer and former Culture Minister Ed Vaizey … former Tory peer Alexander Scrymgeour … Lib Dem peer Barbara Janke … Labour peer Jeff Rooker … unaffiliated peer Claire Fox … British Ambassador to Spain Alex Ellis … Countryside Alliance’s Mo Metcalf-Fisher.
Celebrating over the weekend: Shadow Justice Minister Kieran Mullan … former Northern Ireland Minister Steve Baker … former Derby North MP Amanda Solloway … former Bracknell MP James Sunderland … Labour peer and former Home Secretary David Blunkett … Lib Dem peer James Palumbo … former Supreme Court Judge Jonathan Mance … Department for Education Permanent Secretary Susan Acland-Hood … Bradford East MP Imran Hussain … former Montgomeryshire MP Craig Williams … former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence … former Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray … Welsh Labour MS Vikki Howells … former Tory peer Ralph Palmer … former Solicitor General for Scotland Colin Boyd … former Reform UK Deputy Leader Ben Habib.
PLAYBOOK COULDN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT: My editors Matt Honeycombe-Foster, Alex Spence and James Panichi, diary reporter Bethany Dawson, and producers Dean Southwell and Hugh Kapernaros.
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