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Good afternoon. This is Andrew McDonald.
— Keir Starmer is off to DC, after making a speech on NHS reform.
— Former Bank of England Chief Economist Andy Haldane had a pop at the government.
— The Tories are under fire for taking more money from Frank Hester.
— The new Commons modernization committee is planning a crackdown on MPs as TV presenters. Nigel Farage ain’t happy.
— Jacob Rees-Mogg launched a Substack.
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STARMER JETS OFF: Fresh from making a speech on reforming the NHS, Keir Starmer is currently in the sky on his way to Washington — as a busy few weeks of diplomacy begin for the new-ish PM.
On the agenda: Starmer holds talks with U.S. President Joe Biden tomorrow, focused on the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
And in case you’ve been living in a cave … the one thing looming over everything is whether Ukraine will be given permission to use Britain’s Storm Shadow missiles on targets in Russia.
Not biting: Asked at his NHS speech earlier if he now supports letting Ukraine use the missiles to strike inside Russia, Starmer didn’t say no — but he didn’t say yes either, or anything at all really. “These are strategic meetings to discuss Ukraine and to discuss the Middle East, and so it will be at that level of strategic discussion that we’ll be involved in tomorrow with the president,” came back the non-answer from the PM.
But but but: As this morning’s Playbook covered, the door is being left wide open for a change in policy. POLITICO in Washington reports that the White House is finalizing plans to ease some restrictions on how Ukraine can use U.S.-donated weapons, while the Guardian’s defense team heard that a decision on changing the policy has already been made in private.
Despite all that: Officials have been cautioning against any expectations of an announcement tomorrow or over the weekend.
Also confirmed: After returning to London in the early hours of Saturday morning, Starmer is off again shortly after — to Italy, where he will meet Italian PM Giorgia Meloni Monday. Starmer is also off to the UN General Assembly leaders’ summit in late September.
EARLIER IN THE DAY: Starmer promised a thrifty 10 year plan to fix the NHS, in a speech at the King’s Fund timed for the morning after peer Ara Darzi released a damning report into the state of the health service.
Playbook PM watched on from the back … as Starmer gave his address on what was absolutely home turf: a crowd of medical professionals and wonks connected to the health service, who outnumbered the hacks. There were plenty of supportive murmurs — if not acclaim — as Starmer set out the need for deep reform over deliveries of buckets of cash. Some in the audience even scoffed at fair questions from hacks at the end.
First, the shock: “Even Lord Darzi with all his years of experience, is shocked by what he discovered,” Starmer said, as he quietly laid out the worst bits of the report on the health service’s failings.
Then, the blame: Starmer then turned to the big-p political bit of his speech — hammering home his party’s argument that the state of the NHS is another example of the rotten inheritance left to his government by the Conservatives. “The Tories would have you believe that all of this is because of a once in a generation pandemic. But today’s report clearly shows that this is just not true,” he said.
Hitting back: Responding for the Conservatives in the Commons — as she faced Health Secretary Wes Streeting this morning — Shadow Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said there was still “much to be proud of” in the health service, and accused the government of “political posturing.” Streeting told her to apologize on behalf of her party.
Next, the key lines: As was briefed out overnight, Starmer said the NHS now has to “reform or die” and promised no more money for the health service without reform. “The NHS may be broken, but it’s not beaten,” Starmer said — a line leading many of the bulletins all day, as is his promise to face down “loud opposition” to his plans.
But it was all … short of detail on what that reform will actually look like, meaning opposition to the “reform” ain’t actually all that loud yet. There were some clues in the Q&A with hacks that followed, with Starmer talking up the importance of using tech to change outcomes and of prevention — with a hint that more smoking ban-style measures may come on junk food and other vices.
Right on cue: The government confirmed plans for a new 9 p.m. watershed on TV junk food advertising, to come into force from October next year. The Telegraph writes that and Starmer’s comments up as plans for a “vast expansion” of the nanny state.
We’ve also been here before … with lots of promises from prime ministers of Christmas past to fix the permanently crisis-hit health service. The BBC’s Nick Triggle has a really nice piece on the NHS reform deja-vu. Will we be back here in another decade talking about the next 10 year plan?
NOT HALDANE BACK: Former Bank of England chief economist has described Rachel Reeves’ July doom statement — on the black hole et al — as “unnecessary and probably unhelpful economically.” In an interview with Sky’s Sophy Ridge show, set to air at 7 p.m, he slammed the government for then leaving that black hole statement to “sit for three months,” arguing it would have made more sense to have stayed schtum until the government was ready to provide solutions. “That’s generated a fear and foreboding and uncertainty among consumers, among businesses, among investors in U.K. PLC,” he added.
Treasury hit-back: Response coming.
More economy news: Public debt is set to triple in the next 50 years, the OBR reckons — blaming an ageing and ill population plus climate change. Things can only get better, right?
HESTER ROW FESTERS ON: The Conservatives accepted another £5 million donation from Frank Hester days before the general election was called — and two months after the Guardian first reported his grim comments about Diane Abbott. Hester has donated more than £20 million since the start of 2023. CCHQ and Sunak’s team aren’t commenting.
But but but: The more interesting question concerns the next custodians of the party and what they’d do with Hester’s money, and Lib Dem Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper called on the four Conservative candidates to make clear they would refuse future cash from Hester. Playbook PM asked the four amigos‘ camps for a view — as this email hit your inbox, only Kemi Badenoch had responded.
A spokesperson for Badenoch said: “The issue is that the Conservative Party has had to rely on a decreasing number of donors for its funding. We need to attract a wider range of supporters by renewing the party and building a mass movement for a new era, that is what Kemi is focused on.” Which is an interesting point about the need to move on from donors such as Hester … but also not a commitment to refuse any money he does offer. Badenoch has in the past said that “forgiveness is the right response” and that Hester’s money shouldn’t be returned.
Reminder: Hester called Abbott to “try to apologize” when the story broke … but he also didn’t accept that his remarks had anything to do with her gender or skin color (reminder: he said “you just want to hate all Black women because she’s there” and that she “should be shot.”)
More Planet Tory news: The Sun’s Harry Cole hears that the Conservative Party board has agreed to grant the Tory candidates a Q&A session with Camilla Tominey and Christopher Hope — both of GB News — at Tory conference. That will be followed by 20 minute speeches from each of the rivals on the Wednesday, an upgrade from the initially promised 10 mins (as Playbook PM reported Tuesday).
Oh, and: LBC’s Helen Hoddinott asked members of the public if they recognized the Tory contenders, with obvious results.
OOFT: Policing Minister Diana Johnson had her purse stolen at an annual conference for senior police officers on Tuesday, the FT reports. That sentence kinda says it all really.
THE LAST COMMITTEE ELECTION: Patricia Ferguson this morning won the race to become Scottish Affairs Committee chair, in the last of the committee races to declare (this morning’s Playbook has the rest.) Ferguson defeated fellow Scottish Labour MP Gregor Poynton by two votes following a recount.
Which means: We do have one newbie MP coming in as a committee chair after all the grumblings from veterans — though that was always going to happen with this one, since the chair role was allocated to Labour and all its Scottish MPs are new barring ministers Ian Murray and Michael Shanks.
ANOTHER ONE GONE: Scotland’s only oil refinery, Grangemouth, will close by summer next year, it was finally confirmed today. The BBC has a write-up.
THE GUY IS PRACTICALLY GOVING THIS STUFF AWAY: The New Statesman‘s George Eaton and PoliticsHome‘s Zoe Crowther have write-ups of Michael Gove’s otherwise little-noticed comments at an IPPR panel last night, where he said Labour was giving off “too gloomy” vibes and that he reckons the new government could go further on prison and justice reform than the Tories ever did.
From another coalition relic: Top Meta exec and former British Deputy PM Nick Clegg tore into Elon Musk at a Chatham House event, saying the tech mogul had turned X into “a sort of one man, sort of, hyper-partisan and ideological hobby horse,” POLITICO’S tech expert Vincent Manancourt writes in to say. He also called X — a rival to his Meta — a “tiny platform” designed for “elites”. Meeow!
FREE THE BURGLARS: A Lib Dem conference motion in the next few days will call for a “presumption against short sentences of 12 months or less,” the Telegraph’s Dominic Penna noticed. Which would mean in practice even less jailing of burglars and shoplifters — among other crimes — and more use of community service. The Lib Dems argued in response that even the Tories “agreed in government that some short sentences were a waste of time.”
More pre Lib Dem conference action: In an interview with the Standard’s Nicholas Cecil, Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey said his party was aiming to “finish the job” by winning more Tory seats next election, rather than aiming at Labour strongholds.
HEEBIE GBs: MPs who moonlight as TV presenters could face a crackdown as part of a review being carried out by the Commons’ Modernization Committee. A memo published by the new committee today said it would consider conflicts of interest arising from MPs’ paid media appearances and journalism, (which was not part of the new restrictions on MPs’ second jobs introduced by Labour in July.)
Not taking “modernization” lying down: Reform boss and MP Nigel Farage — who earns great chunks of cash for his GB News show — told Playbook PM that “every attempt is being made to shut us out, and we will resist.” He’s promising to have a proper go on his GB News show this evening.
POWERS THAT BE: The government has scrapped devolution plans for Norfolk and Suffolk agreed under the last government, which would have allocated between £16 and £20 million to the two East Anglia counties each year to spend on infrastructure. Ministers said the deal was not ambitious enough and only proposed a directly elected leader rather than a mayor — more from the BBC.
STEERING CLEAR: The number of foreign workers and students moving to the U.K. fell by 35.6 percent from 766,800 to 493,700 in the first eight months of 2024, compared to the same period last year, Home Office figures found. The Telegraph has a writeup.
ARISE: Former PM Theresa May and former No. 10 Chief of Staff Liam Booth-Smith were introduced to the Lords in the usual ermine this morning. Watch the video of May here, and of Booth-Smith here.
PAYING TRIBUTE: Labour MP Andy Slaughter paid tribute in the Commons earlier to journalist David Knowles, who died last weekend aged 32. Watch the video here.
Separately: Counter-terror police from Scotland are supporting officers in Gibraltar investigating Knowles’ death. The Royal Gibraltar Police stressed that, despite the request for assistance from Scotland Yard, there were no specific concerns surrounding the death at this time. The Telegraph has more.
UKRAINE UPDATE: The International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed three staff were killed when shelling hit a planned aid distribution site in the eastern Donetsk region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of being behind the attacks — the Guardian has a live blog.
While in Russia: Moscow said its forces had recaptured 10 settlements in Russia’s Kursk border region seized by the Ukrainian army in a surprise incursion last month. Zelenskyy confirmed Russia had started “counter-offensive actions, which is going in line with our Ukrainian plan” — more from the BBC.
IN GERMANY: Outgoing NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg will be the next Munich Security Conference chair after its February 2025 edition, replacing Christoph Heusgen, a person familiar with the matter told my colleague Gordon Repinski exclusively.
SMALL WALK FOR MAN: American billionaire Jared Isaacman became the first person to take part in a private space walk after traveling in a SpaceX rocket which left Earth Tuesday. Floating 435 miles above the globe, Isaacman said: “It’s gorgeous,” adding “from here Earth sure looks like a perfect world.” Sky News has the remarkable footage.
**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.**
LEADING THE NEWS BULLETINS: Channel 5 News (5 p.m.) leads on Ara Darzi’s NHS review … BBC News at Six leads on Jared Isaacman’s private spacewalk … Channel 4 News (7 p.m.) also leads on the NHS review and has an interview with Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
Tom Swarbrick at Drive (LBC, until 6 p.m.): Former Royal College of GPs President David Haslam (5.05 p.m.).
Drive with John Pienaar (Times Radio, until 7 p.m.): Data Protection Minister Chris Bryant … Lib Dem MP Marie Goldman … BMA England GP Committee Chair Katie Bramall-Stainer … NHS Confederation Chief Executive Matthew Taylor … Royal College of Emergency Medicine President Adrian Boyle … former Institute for Fiscal Studies Director Andrew Dilnot … More in Common’s U.K. Director Luke Tryl.
BBC PM (Radio 4, 5 p.m.): Care Minister Stephen Kinnock … Institute for Fiscal Studies Director Paul Johnson.
News Hour (Sky News, 5 p.m.): Matthew Taylor (5.30 p.m.) … Youth Endowment Fund Executive Director Jon Yates (5.45 p.m.) … former Royal College of Physicians President Jane Dacre (6.30 p.m.).
Tonight With Andrew Marr (LBC, 6 p.m.): Stephen Kinnock … National Institute of Economic and Social Research Director Jagjit Chadha … former Vladimir Putin adviser Sergei Markov.
Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge (Sky News, 7 p.m.): Stephen Kinnock … Labour peer Robert Winston … Royal Society of Arts Chief Executive Andy Haldane … former Labour MP Caroline Flint … commentator Tim Montgomerie.
Simon Marks (LBC, 7 p.m.): Former Justice Secretary Alex Chalk phone-in (8 p.m. until 9 p.m.).
Newsnight (BBC Two, 10.30 p.m.): RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch … former SNP MP Hannah Bardell.
TWEETING TOMORROW’S PAPERS TONIGHT: Allie Hodgkins-Brown.
REVIEWING THE PAPERS TONIGHT: Times Radio (10.30 p.m.): Former Tory MP Julie Kirkbride and HuffPost’s Kevin Schofield … Sky News (10.30 p.m. and 11.30 p.m.): Broadcaster Alex Andreou and former Tory SpAd Salma Shah.
PIMMS WITH THE PINK ‘UN: It’s the FT’s annual party this evening. Invites needed.
GET LASHED WITH THE LAWYERS: The Law Society has a media reception from 6.30 p.m. Invites needed.
IN DC: Keir Starmer is in Washington for a working day with Joe Biden.
COMMONS: In recess.
LORDS: A debate on Sudan.
PACKED LUNCH OR PALACE LUNCH: Subject to change, here are the lunch menus on the estate tomorrow: Terrace Cafeteria: Battered fish of the day with lemon and tartare sauce; Cajun roasted chicken breast with mixed peppers and BBQ beans; Black Bomber Cheddar and leek quiche … River Restaurant: Fish and chips with mushy peas, tartare sauce and lemon wedge; Tofu kebab with house salad, hummus and flatbread; Herbed marinated pork chop with potatoes, green vegetables and sauerkraut.
NEW GIG: Jacob Rees-Mogg has just launched a Substack — titled “Letters from an Englishman.” He’s promising weekly articles on “the current political situation.” You may as well unsubscribe from Playbook now.
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: Katy Balls has a great read in the Spectator on Rachel Reeves and how she compares to former chancellors — in which she reveals Gordon Brown visited the Treasury last week.
ON THIS DAY IN POLITICS: A cash for honors scandal engulfed Labour’s first PM Ramsay MacDonald on this day 100 years ago. David Torrance, Commons clerk and author of “Wild Men,” the story of that first Labour government, tweeted about it here.
WRITING PLAYBOOK TOMORROW MORNING: Dan Bloom.
THANKS TO: My editor Rosa Prince, reporter Noah Keate and the POLITICO production team for making it look nice.
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