Tag: Ukraine
-
Budget26: crunchtime for Burnhamism. Andy Burnham has tried to demonstrate that government can do things. On Tik-Tok at least. However, on Wednesday John Healey’s first Budget will demonstrate whether the government can deliver on anything that matters at scale. So far, “Burnhamism” has been characterised by what might be called the politics of trying. Loud…
-
Perhaps not the most critical issue facing the nation… but important to the PM nonetheless. The Commons was quieter this week as the government cleared the procedural decks for the Budget, which will be held next Wednesday, 28th October. Wednesday 21st October Outside the House Wednesday started with news of the government’s decision to accept…
-
Because, frankly, it is beyond embarrassing. After a week in which the American administration has once again managed to complicate the defence of Ukraine, the manoeuvrings of Westminster seem almost inconsequential. Almost. At home Andy Burnham has discovered Europe, the Chancellor has discovered another fiscal difficulty and the Conservatives have discovered that an improvement in…
-
Badenoch fails to land serious blows The Commons got back to work after its four week “Conference Season” recess. This seems incomprehensible to most voters who think it would be much more productive if all the conferences were held (in different places) in the same week. This (short) week’s conclusion from the Commons is that…
-
Welcome to Governmenting. Parliament returned this week, which was inconvenient for almost everybody. For Andy Burnham, it meant the end of the forgiving period in which a new Prime Minister can talk principally about what his government intends to become (for the length of which he has surely earned some sort of UK and All-comers…
-
Burnham goes off the boil After a month of frenetic activity, this was the week when Andy Burnham’s new government began to encounter something rather less exciting than political momentum: governing. Reform UK returned to the polling lead with the YouGov voting intention poll based on 16th-17th August data, which placed Reform UK on 24%,…
-
“Everything is Just Fine” said absolutely no-one Despite the imminent arrival of the King of the North, the tendency for politicians of all stripes to insist on their easily disproved “successes” simply increases the palpable sense of disgust with the entire political class the world over. One imagines precipitately dropping approval ratings for King Andy…
-
John Healey’s resignation is a seismic moment in the collapse of Keir Starmer’s government. HM Treasury’s “victory” of reducing financial commitment to upgrading the nation’s defence is at the expense of the Prime Minister’s continuing “leadership”, such as it was. Healey’s resignation is terminal for Starmer and must be the most serious ministerial resignation since…
-
This last week has provided several reminders that trust, once lost, is difficult to recover. While President Zelensky launched audacious drone attacks on St Petersburg, HMS Prince of Wales returned to port in Norway for more repairs (Navy Lookout, 30th May 2026.) While the Government insisted that all relevant documents relating to Lord Mandelson’s appointment…
-
A heatwave, a war in the Gulf driven by bluff and braggadocio and a war in Ukraine seeing the slip of the Russian mask. A local TWOP correspondent visiting Kew Gardens reported temperatures of 35C (95F.) The country was awash in a public conversation about climate change. Welcome to our future. This week was also…
-
There have been a number of developments that should have been positive for the Government this week: – immigration numbers fell sharply (thanks Rishi)– inflation fell faster than expected (but it will be back up next month)– the IMF upgraded UK growth forecasts (if only by 0.2%)– fuel duty rises were postponed (a U-Turn, if…
-
There has, technically, been some political news outside the accelerating collapse of Labour authority. Whether anyone noticed is another matter. Ebola, Ukraine, Iran and strategic distractions A fresh Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo briefly reintroduced the possibility of an international public health emergency (James Gallagher, BBC News, 17th May 2026, “How worrying…