Code Red for the NHS

Good Thursday morning. This is Dan Bloom.
CODE RED: Keir Starmer will today try to persuade an impatient public why he needs two terms in power to fix the NHS — and that he can do it without spending a truckload of extra cash. Handily for the prime minister, he comes armed with a shiny new report this morning that eviscerates the state of Britain’s health service after 14 years of Conservative rule. Stick this in the same pile as the “£22 billion” black hole and the prisoner release scheme … it’s another day in Labour’s big ol’ “blame our inheritance” grid.
Ward round: Starmer will give a speech and Q&A on the state of the NHS to health journalists and think tank wonks in London at 10 a.m. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has a morning broadcast round getting underway right now, and which includes the Today program interview at 8.10 a.m. Brace yourselves for many more tedious medical analogies after Starmer overnight promised “major surgery, not sticking plaster solutions.” Badum tsch.
The consultant will see you now: Today’s 159-page quick review by surgeon and independent peer Ara Darzi (a Labour politician until he quit over antisemitism in 2019) makes grim reading, and it’s no surprise that it splashes the Mail, Times, i, Independent, Telegraph, Guardian, Mirror and Express. With an aging population, a dejected workforce and poor productivity, the question of whether the NHS can get any better in the coming years will become a defining one for the Labour government. 
Test results: Darzi’s report says NHS productivity has dropped despite a big rise in staff numbers since 2019, thanks to a lack of beds and diagnostics …  “no progress whatsoever” was made in early cancer diagnosis in 2013-21 … tech is 15 years behind the private sector … and long waiting lists may have caused 14,000 extra deaths a year. Darzi has a Mirror op-ed saying it’s “heartbreaking,” while the Mirror’s Martin Bagot, Times’ Eleanor Hayward and Sky have decent round-ups of the key points. 
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Health record: Darzi blames three factors — the 2010s funding slowdown, Covid-19, and Cameron-era minister Andrew Lansley’s reforms (a “calamity without international precedent”). The PM’s speech is peppered with emotive words like “unforgivable,” “angry” and “fear” to connect the dry technical stuff to public anger. So that’s the diagnosis (sorry) — what about the prescription?
LIFE SUPPORT: Starmer will say the NHS must “reform or die” because he can’t raise taxes on “working people” to give it more money — a line that catches many of the headline-writers’ attention. We don’t yet know what this reform will look like, exactly. No specific new policy announcements are expected today, and the government’s terms of reference didn’t let Darzi recommend any. But when they come, they could be controversial. How, for example, will Streeting deal with the suggestion that a boost in staff hasn’t helped productivity? That’s one the unions will watch closely.
Never mind “24 hours to save the NHS” … the findings will “inform” a 10-year NHS plan that Streeting hopes to publish early next year. Starmer will spell out a little of how he wants the destination to look — with better digital records, more care moved from hospitals to communities and a focus on prevention — and Streeting has a Sun op-ed promising to shift scans to high streets. It’ll likely be tied into wider public sector reform. But the details will have to wait.
Untested medicine: The Times’ Chris Smyth hears Streeting’s aides are discussing phasing out GPs’ independent contractor status (as reported in the past), while the i’s Will Hazell reckons weight loss drugs such as Ozempic could have a “significant role” in prevention.
Second opinion: Reaction from the unions and the think tanks is pretty warm but the Nuffield Trust sums up the skeptical angle: “The big question now is what happens next.”
Code blue: Shadow Health Secretary Victoria Atkins didn’t give the report a total kicking overnight but said “it appears that Labour have missed an opportunity to put together meaningful plans for reform,” and “they need to move from rhetoric to action.” The Times’ Chris Smyth writes (not yet online) that Darzi hesitated before agreeing to write a report that would be used so politically, and makes no party political points himself, so at least it’s not being derided as some put-up job.
Misdiagnosis: The PM will no doubt be asked how he can square the circle of achieving meaningful NHS reform without tax rises when so many politicians have failed before. It’s only five years since the last 10-year plan, after all.
Fever dream: Then there’s the question of how Starmer will make sure his reforms, which one aide calls a “proper top-to-bottom shake-up,” don’t repeat the mistakes of Lansley’s top-to-bottom shake–up. Or make new mistakes of his own. Now there’s a thought to keep our new ministers awake at night …
WHEELS UP: After the small matter of repairing the NHS … Keir Starmer flies to the U.S. tonight for talks about *checks notes* ending the war in Ukraine. The PM’s Friday meeting with President Joe Biden looks increasingly like a diplomatic drumbeat, whose crescendo will be the U.S. letting Kyiv use British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles in Russia.
Last night in Kyiv: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken once again left the door wide open to a change of policy. In a triple press conference with Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Ukraine’s new Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha‎, Blinken said Starmer and Biden will “no doubt” discuss the matter on Friday and the risk of escalation is “not the only factor” … while Lammy suggested it was Moscow that was escalating by taking Iranian missiles. The pair will feed Ukraine’s pleas back to their bosses. Hint, hint.
Getting the hint: A small number of White House officials are finalizing a plan to expand the area inside Russia which Ukraine can hit with American and British-made weapons, my POLITICO colleagues in Washington report. British government sources even indicate to the Guardian’s Luke Harding and Dan Sabbagh that a decision has already been made in private — a story rapidly picked up by media in the region overnight.
But but but … The Guardian adds nothing will be publicly announced on Friday as talks with European leaders will need to follow over the weekend. Likewise, four government officials tell Playbook not to expect a big bang moment on Friday, and Downing Street has been trying furiously to downplay expectations. Yet it feels like this could be the moment the way forward becomes clear, at least behind closed doors. U.K. officials are hopeful an announcement will come at the U.N. General Assembly later this month.
From the horse’s mouth: Lammy told hacks: “We look forward to discussions … I suspect that will go on over the next few weeks as we head also to the U.N. General Assembly.” Stick Sept. 24 in your diary, then.
Hold up: The BBC’s Frank Gardner has a great explainer on what Storm Shadow missiles are, and why the U.S. has been hesitant. TL;DR: Cost, escalation and the risk they might not turn the tide.
Ruff job: Ukrainian military dog handlers are being trained in the U.K. this week to search for explosives, the MoD said overnight. PA has a cute pic.
WHAT AMERICA ACTUALLY WANTS TO TALK ABOUT: The fallout in Republican land from Tuesday night’s wild presidential debate, in which Donald Trump talked about Haitians eating dogs. The New York Times has a great insider read on just how unhappy Trump’s aides are: “Few share his purported view of his performance against [Kamala] Harris, though it is unclear how honest they have been with him so far.” Good thing he doesn’t read the NYT.
Other grumbles from Trump allies … are echoed in coverage on both sides of the Atlantic, despite Wednesday’s brief hiatus for Trump and Harris to remember 9/11. Check out NBC and POLITICO. Though it’s no Biden-level catastrophe, of course.
Compare and contrast: This week’s edition of POLITICO’s Power Play podcast includes an interview with John B. Emerson, a key Harris backer and former U.S. ambassador to Germany. He said if anyone had a question about how Harris would “deal with Vladimir Putin, they got to see it for 90 minutes there in terms of how she dealt with Donald Trump.”
The next question … will be whether Trump and Harris subject themselves to another TV debate before the election in November. Harris’ campaign has already said she’s up for it. Ready the popcorn. Just don’t eat your cat.
OUR NEW (OLD) OVERLORDS: Not a single newbie was elected as a select committee chair in Wednesday’s vote, with all wins going to more seasoned MPs. Namely Labour’s Liam Byrne for business and trade … Tan Dhesi for defense … Helen Hayes for education … Bill Esterson for energy security and net zero … Emily Thornberry for foreign affairs … Florence Eshalomi for housing, communities and local government … Sarah Champion for international development … Andy Slaughter for justice … Chi Onwurah for science, innovation and technology … Ruth Cadbury for transport … Sarah Owen for women and equalities … Debbie Abrahams for work and pensions … Toby Perkins for environmental audit … Cat Smith for procedure …
And in the blue corner: Conservatives Karen Bradley for home affairs … Geoffrey Clifton-Brown for public accounts … Simon Hoare for public administration and constitutional affairs … and Alberto Costa for standards.
Still to come this morning: The Labour chair of the Scottish affairs committee — and more importantly, all the breakdowns of votes. Those newbies will be poring over the stats to see if their hubris left them with a humiliatingly low tally … or if they were close, which would suggest their elders aren’t quite as esteemed as they think they are.
Sad trombone: Those upstart MPs who lost out were Marie Tidball … Shaun Davies … Alice Macdonald … Mike Tapp … Patricia Ferguson … Gregor Poynton … Catherine Atkinson … David Pinto-Duschinsky … and returning ex-MP Melanie Onn. Playbook is sure they’ll go far.
The next battle … will be in the week after conference season, when all the members of committees start being chosen. Labour, the Tories and Lib Dems will all have elections within their parliamentary parties if they have more candidates than places — so Labour’s PLP will be busy. One MP predicts it’ll be a “massive row.”
But the biggest question … is who will chair the Liaison Committee supergroup of MPs that gets to question the prime minister. Will the government go back to letting committee chairs choose among themselves … or will it impose someone it wants, like Boris Johnson’s team did with Tory Bernard Jenkin in 2020? Surely not.And here’s that row! Nigel Farage says Reform UK’s five MPs boycotted the chair election — after not being granted a single seat on any of the committees.
SCOOP — A ROW: One group where the class of 2024 *did* manage a clean sweep was the BAME Parliamentary Labour Party, which had its AGM on Wednesday afternoon. Calvin Bailey and Uma Kumaran were elected co-chairs and Kirith Entwistle a vice chair. Playbook hears disquiet about the meeting among some members had been rumbling since last week after it was announced to all MPs without the say-so of the previous co-chairs, Rupa Huq and Kate Osamor. MPs were assured this was normal practice as PLP groups have to be re-constituted after an election. But one MP tells Playbook: “It was a 2024 takeover.”
SCOOP — NO ROW: While on the topic of jockeying for position … Keir Starmer is not planning to change Labour leadership rules at this year’s party conference, despite recent speculation. Playbook’s Stefan Boscia is told NEC members mulled a conference ballot to take away leadership voting rights from members, but Starmer’s allies chose to avoid a fresh bust-up with the left. 
They’re already smashed: One Labour figure with knowledge of the decision told Stefan that the party’s top brass think the current rules are strong enough to stop a hard left candidate from prevailing again anyway. “People just don’t think it’s worth the conference fight just after winning the election,” they said. 
SPAD VIBES: Playbook has meanwhile caught wind of more detail about SpAds’ well-documented woes (they’re unionizing, per the New Statesman … their pay scale will finally be reviewed, via the Times … and they still haven’t signed their contracts, via Guido). Your author is told some aides are on sums much lower than they earned in their previous jobs — after they were brought in on lower pay bands to start them off, but still haven’t been moved up the scale. Some SpAds have jumped to higher bands but others are still in negotiations. “It’s been very badly handled,” one person tells Playbook.
WINTER OF NOT CONTENTS: Keir Starmer suffered the first parliamentary defeat of his government last night when peers backed a non-binding “regret” motion against his cuts to winter fuel payment. The Express writes up the 164-132 vote as a “humiliation.” Though it was so resolutely split along Labour-Tory lines (and there are more blue peers than red ones) that Labour could use it as justification to appoint more of its own peers.
Meanwhile: Former Pensions Minister Ros Altmann failed in her bid to *actually* kill off the cut after most peers abstained. The 30 peers voting to annul included former judge Elizabeth Butler-Sloss and barrister David Pannick, while the only Tory who backed the government was tank-driving hereditary peer John Attlee — grandson of Labour PM Clement. Perhaps politics runs in your genes after all. 
Over in the Commons: We’ve still yet to find out what punishment will be meted out to sole rebel Jon Trickett. One Labour wag tells Playbook a formal suspension feels unlikely because it wasn’t a king’s speech vote and Trickett would become a martyr. But Trickett and deliberate abstainers could be frozen out in other ways: “You know that nice foreign delegation you wanted to go on? It turns out you can’t be on that any more …”
And out in the world: The i’s Jane Merrick has analysis that will make the hairs stick up on some Labour MPs’ necks — nearly 400,000 pensioners in the party’s 25 most marginal seats will lose their winter fuel payments. An anonymous Playbook reader who volunteers at a food bank emails to say managers have warned donations could drop — because wealthier pensioners used to give their £200-300 winter fuel payments to the charity. No longer.
How’s that diplomacy going? Diplomats in Brussels are already growing weary of Starmer’s big promises to “reset” relations with Europe, top colleague Jon Stone reports today. “People are starting to think it’s a bit of a facade,” one EU official tells him. The general mood music is positive, they note, but then “when you move onto specific portfolios — whether that’s youth mobility or Erasmus — the answer is always ‘no.’”
IT’S GONNA BE MAY: Ex-PM Theresa May and Rishi Sunak’s former chief of staff Liam Booth Smith are both introduced to the Lords after 11 a.m. Leather biker jackets are presumably banned.
JUDGMENT ON AISLE 4: The Supreme Court is due to rule on the Tesco fire and rehire case at 9.45 a.m. 
CLEGGACY: Chatham House is holding an “in conversation” event with former deputy PM-turned-Meta exec Nick Clegg at 3 p.m. It’s about the “tension between democracy and technology.” Newsy.
SIGN OF THE TIMES: Data centers storing NHS, financial and phone logs will be labeled “critical national infrastructure” today, giving them the sort of support offered to water and energy firms if there’s a cyberattack. A written statement is out later and the FT and BBC are among those writing it up.
ON HIS CASE: Downing Street wants to start recruiting a new Cabinet secretary within the next month, the Guardian’s Rowena Mason reports. Officials are said to be frustrated that Simon Case still hasn’t named a date nearly three months after his looming departure was reported in the press.
GOING POSTAL: Former subpostmaster Jo Hamilton — immortalized in ITV drama “Mr Bates vs the Post Office” — took a pop at the new government during last night’s National Television Awards. Speaking while accepting a gong, Hamilton said “I went to Westminster a couple of weeks back and saw the new minister. And trust me, nothing has changed.”
BUDGET CORNER: Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey will meet City lenders today at No. 11, the FT reports — a day after Starmer (at PMQs) refused to rule out reversing Tory cuts to the bank levy. The Telegraph, Mail and Times all pick up on Starmer’s and No. 10’s refusals to rule out scrapping the council tax single-person discount, which would affect 4 million pensioners. Expect this stuff to run and run.
One to watch: The OBR budget watchdog will publish its fiscal risks and sustainability report this morning, ahead of a drumbeat of pre-budget updates to the Treasury. Reeves will respond in a WMS.
I CBI with all this gloom: Confederation of British Industry CEO Rain Newton-Smith will tonight tell the group’s annual dinner in Glasgow: “The more we focus on that difficult inheritance, the harder it is in global boardrooms to make the pitch to invest.”
RUH-ROH: The Treasury has refused an FOI request by the FT asking for a full breakdown of *that* £22 billion “black hole.” The pink paper points out there was £8.6 billion grouped together for “normal reserve claims” that isn’t entirely spelt out. Perhaps they’ll get a chance to ask Reeves directly if she turns up at the pink paper’s swanky annual party tonight.
HOYLE’S WAR: Speaker Lindsay Hoyle will chair a new committee to recommend ways to take on threats against MPs, today’s order paper confirms. The Speaker’s Conference was recommended by MPs in 2021.
RED HEAT: The deadline to apply for Labour general secretary is today. Ahead of a swift appointment next Tuesday. Playbook had the lowdown last week on the process and the briefing war between backers of frontrunners Hollie Ridley and John Lehal.
GROUNDHOG DAY: Jails will run out of space again in nine months — half the window that was expected before the summer riots — a “senior justice source” told the Telegraph, despite thousands being released early.
SAFE AS HOUSES: London Mayor Sadiq Khan wants an “honest conversation” about letting some prisoners jump the queue for housing to cut reoffending. His words at a Times conference get written up.
NOBEL ROT: Seven British Nobel laureates including Dolly the sheep creator John Gurdon have criticized the government for shelving a law on free speech in universities, the Times’ Oliver Wright reports.
SW1 EVENTS: Green Alliance hosts Mission Control for Clean Power Head Chris Stark and Nature Minister Mary Creagh to discuss the government’s goals at 9 a.m. … former Labour Business Secretary John Hutton speaks with the Future Governance Forum online at 12.30 p.m. (details here) … and the FDA launches its new report on the experiences of CPS staff with Lib Dem MP Alex Brewer at 10 a.m. in Committee Room 8. 
HOUSE OF COMMONS: Sits from 9.30 a.m. with environment, food and rural affairs questions … then questions to the solicitor general … business questions to the leader of the house … and the David Amess adjournment debate. Labour MP Lauren Edwards has the adjournment debate on the future of the U.K. shared prosperity fund.
WESTMINSTER HALL: Debates from 1.30 p.m. on short-term lets (led by Labour MP Rachel Blake) … and eco standards for new housing (led by Green Party MP Ellie Chowns).
HOUSE OF LORDS: Sits from 11 a.m. with the introductions of former Prime Minister Theresa May and former Downing Street chief of staff Liam Booth-Smith … then oral questions on disinformation, rejoining Erasmus and military support for Ukraine … then it’s debates on bicycle safety (led by crossbench peer Bernard Hogan-Howe) … prison capacity (Lib Dem peer Lorely Burt) … and higher education funding (crossbench peer John Krebs).
NEW CABINET KLAXON: Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan has selected her Cabinet, with Huw Irranca-Davies made deputy first minister … ex-First Minister Mark Drakeford will head up finance … and Jeremy Miles is in charge of health after helping force his leadership rival Vaughan Gething to resign. Full list here. 
SCHOOL STASH: The SNP-run Scottish government said school uniforms should be “flexible and inclusive,” scrapping blazers and adopting only “generic,” non branded items. The Mail has more. 
GRAY AREA: The Mail’s Claire Ellicott has spoken to Tory and DUP figures who question whether No. 10 chief of staff Sue Gray was involved in the decision to launch an inquiry into the 1989 killing of lawyer Patrick Finucane in Belfast. POLITICO’s Ireland correspondent Shawn Pogatchnik had a good potted history of the case in Playbook PM.
CHARI-HAZARD: An official in Belarus’ defense ministry accused the mobile game Pokémon Go of being … an instrument of Western intelligence. Read more on POLITICO. 
GAZA LATEST: U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said the lack of accountability for the death of nearly 300 humanitarian aid workers, mostly U.N. staff, in Gaza is “totally unacceptable” and requires “serious reflection.” 
**A message from SSE: Change of the scale and nature needed to achieve net zero will impact people – employees, consumers, communities, suppliers, and wider society – in different ways. Companies such as SSE have a responsibility to shape the transition so that opportunities to create shared value and economic prosperity are realised and potentially negative impacts are minimised. SSE was the first company in the world to publish a Just Transition strategy, designed to guide decisions and actions as SSE transitions from high-carbon activity to net zero. We expect to deliver 1000s of good jobs across the country as part of this transition, ensuring the benefits are shared by workers and no one is left behind.SSE. We Power Change. Find out more.**
Health Secretary Wes Streeting broadcast round: GB News (6.30 a.m.) … 5 Live (6.45 a.m.) … 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 (8.30 a.m.).
Shadow Health Secretary Victoria Atkins broadcast round: Times Radio (7.35 a.m.) … Sky News (8.15 a.m.) … LBC (8.50 a.m.) … GB News (9.05 a.m.). 
Also on Nick Ferrari at Breakfast: Former Health SpAd Richard Sloggett (7.05 a.m.) …  GMB senior organizer Tom Hoyles (7.40 a.m.).
Also on Times Radio Breakfast: Royal College of GPs President Clare Gerada (8.05 a.m.).
Also on Sky News Breakfast: Former Justice Secretary Rory Stewart (9.30 a.m.). 
Politics Live (BBC Two 12.15 p.m.): Labour MP Jeevun Sandher … Conservative MP Alex Burghart … Daily Mirror’s Fleet Street Fox Susie Boniface … LBC’s Iain Dale.
POLITICO UK: Brussels questions if Starmer really wants a Brexit reset.
Daily Express: No more sticking plasters! 
Daily Mail: NHS must reform or die, says PM.
Daily Mirror: A decade to fix our broken NHS.
Daily Star: Nurse!
Financial Times: Trump camp fights to regain footing after Harris delivers blows in debate.
i: NHS shake-up biggest since 1948, Starmer promises UK.
Metro: After 33 years, I’m innocent.
The Daily Telegraph: NHS does less despite record funding. 
The Guardian: Thousands dying due to NHS delays, inquiry finds.
The Independent: Starmer warned ailing NHS is in critical condition.
The Times: Labour orders biggest NHS reform in history.
POLITICO EU: Inside the Russian prisoner swap. 
New Statesman: The Iron Chancellor’s gamble.
The Spectator: Game on.  
New European: Xtremist.
WESTMINSTER WEATHER: The sun will come out, at last! But there’s still a risk of drizzle in the afternoon. This is life now. High 16C, low 8C. 
NEW GIG SCOOP: Former Business Secretary Greg Clark has been named chair of the trustees at the Society of Chemical Industry after he stood down at the general election. He starts at the charity on Jan. 1.
NEW GIG II: Former Pensions Regulator Director of Communications Liz Hickey has joined the House of Commons as new DOC. She will start in November.
NEW GIG III: Catherine Bramwell, who used to run Labour’s talent and training team, is joining Strand Partners as a director.
SPOTTED … eating promotional Kent Crisps and Joe & Seph’s popcorn at the Department for Business and Trade’s press drinks overlooking Horseguards parade: Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds … Ministers Douglas Alexander, Sarah Jones and Justin Madders … SpAds Finn McGoldrick and Jack Glynn … Press spinners Rob McPherson, Briony Craber, Nicola Cutting and Felicity Cooke … and business-facing hacks galore including the FT’s Political Editor George Parker … the BBC’s Faisal Islam … PA’s Alan Jones … the Telegraph’s Matt Oliver … Sunday Times’ Jill Treanor … the Mail’s John-Paul Ford Rojas.
Also spotted … at the Labour Infrastructure Forum launch at Old Queen’s Street Cafe … Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones … Labour MPs Dan Tomlinson, Luke Murphy, Mike Reader, Steve Race and Bill Esterson celebrating his select committee win … former Labour MPs Ruth Kelly and Parmjit Dhanda … Labour peers Iain McNicol and Stewart Wood … Crossbench peer Julia King … No. 10 SpAds Nick Williams and Varun Chandra … former SpAd to Michael Gove, Tom Lees … Labour Infrastructure Forum Director Gerry McFall … Client Earth Chair Emma Howard Boyd … Spectator pol ed Katy Balls … and hacks Peter Cardwell, Tom Belger and Gill Plimmer. 
Also spotted … at the Welsh Office’s reception: Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens … Welsh Minister Nia Griffith … Labour MP Becky Gittins … SpAd Ryan Denston … WalesOnline Political Editor Ruth Mosalski … and hacks Kate Devlin, Chloe Chaplain, Adam Payne, Aubrey Allegretti, Shelley Phelps, Tali Fraser, Catrin Haf Jones, Bronwen Weatherby and Mike Hughes. 
CONGRATULATIONS … to Guardian political correspondent and Playbook alum Eleni Courea on her wedding to quantum physicist David Arvidsson Shukur in Cyprus. 
ANOTHER ELECTION: Former Culture Secretary Thangam Debbonaire has been made chair of Labour Women’s Network.
COUNTDOWN OVER: Broadcaster and prolific tweeter Carol Vorderman’s “part diary, part political manifesto” titled “Now What?: On a Mission to Fix Broken Britain” is out today. 
NOW READ: Andrew Kersley’s grim article for PoliticsHome looking inside the probation service. He reports every service across the country has recorded a failing grade in the last two and a half years, staff vacancies have increased by 50 percent and the remaining officers are having to do 200 percent their usual caseload.
AND NOW LISTEN: The latest daily edition of “Politics at Jack and Sam’s” should be landing in your podcast feeds at 7.30 a.m. sharp. Tune in to hear POLITICO’s Jack Blanchard and Sky News’ Sam Coates pick through the day ahead in politics — all in less than 20 minutes. Which should be perfect timing for your second bowl of cornflakes/Thursday commute. Here’s the link.
WRITING PLAYBOOK PM: Andrew McDonald.
WRITING PLAYBOOK FRIDAY MORNING: Dan Bloom. 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesperson Layla Moran … Tory peer James Dugdale … Crossbench peer Harold Carter … former Deputy SNP Westminster Leader Mhairi Black … Center for Countering Digital Hate boss Imran Ahmed … Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
PLAYBOOK COULDN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT: My editors Zoya Sheftalovich and Jack Blanchard, diary reporter Bethany Dawson and producer Catherine Bouris.
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