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Labour figures uneasy about Healey’s ‘underpowered’ approach to budget
Source: The Guardian
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The Guardian
How success of Manchester City helped put Andy Burnham in power
Critics argue PM’s praise of Abu Dhabi group as ‘huge partner’ in reshaping Manchester ignores public cost of city’s transformation In July 2016, the Manchester City player Yaya Touré ambled into a small bar near Beijing’s Workers’ Stadium and offered a bemused smile as dozens of Chinese fans rushed towards him. Manchester City had just won their sixth trophy under the big-spending ownership of Sheikh Mansour’s Abu Dhabi United Group and the blues were international megastars. They were also magnets for investment. Continue reading...
The Guardian
Key disability benefit for young people may be axed under major welfare changes
Exclusive: Plan under discussion involves intensive support to help young people into employment Ministers are working up sweeping plans for welfare changes including scrapping a key disability benefit for under-25s and replacing it with a multibillion-pound package of support to get into work, the Guardian has learned. Whitehall sources said the package of changes under debate was much bigger than previously thought, as Andy Burnham’s government hopes to persuade more people on benefits back into work. Continue reading...
The Guardian
Welcome to the new Reform roadshow. Same as the last but more desperate | John Crace
Nige is not rattled that the UK likes its new PM. Or that Reform is second in the polls. Oh no. Because Nige believes in Nige Nearly 10 years ago, Nigel Farage told LBC he would leave the country if Brexit were not a stunning success. For reasons that no one can quite fathom, he is still here. Could it be that he is a man who can’t be trusted to keep his word? Surely not. Nige wants you to know he’s very much still around. He might have been a bit quiet over the past few weeks, as Reform had to deal with one or two unfortunate investigations into their funding, but now he’s very much back. And he’s definitely not rattled that Labour has a prime minister the country likes. Nor is he at all rattled that Reform has tumbled into second place in the polls . Oh, no. Because Nige believes in Nige. Now more than ever. The last creepy-crawly after the apocalypse. Lying on its back, gasping for ai
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A judge permanently dismisses former Olympian's Reflecting Pool charges
Citing "exceptional circumstances," a D.C. judge has ruled that the federal government cannot refile its Reflecting Pool charges against David Hearn, despite pressure from President Trump to do so.
The Guardian
‘Total class act’: Marie-France van Heel is poised to be a very different PM’s wife
The former marketing executive is expected to play a big role in promoting the UK and could be the most influential spouse in No 10 in years Sarah Brown called Gordon her hero , Samantha Cameron insisted David was “incredibly funny” , while Akshata Murty said Rishi was her best friend . When Marie-France van Heel spoke about her husband, Andy Burnham, in a rare public interview a decade ago, she joked that she had noticed his “good looks … and monobrow”. The spousal humanising of a party leader is a well-worn political tool, but van Heel is likely to be a very different prime ministerial partner. The former senior marketing executive is poised to play a more significant role in promoting Britain than any other spouse in the last two decades, stepping up her political engagements after stepping back from her own corporate career. Continue reading...
The Guardian
Flipping public opinion on the triple lock was Burnham magic – he’ll need more of it to see his social care plans through | Polly Toynbee
Rebuilding a complex and broken system into one that’s fair for all, and in the face of steely opposition: that will be the PM’s real challenge Here is rare clearcut proof of the power of political persuasion. Party conference speeches, the lifeblood of political obsessives, rarely reach the public beyond a brief news clip. But this time was different. Andy Burnham’s speech spun the dial on public opinion on several political hot potatoes, defining who he is. The pensions triple lock, which guarantees that pensions rise faster than average incomes, has been a no-go electoral minefield despite a groundswell of economists (and even a Times leader ) calling for reform to prevent pensions skyrocketing. Touching this live rail was an act of bravery – or recklessness. Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit