NEW GIG SCOOP: The Mirror has promoted Lizzy Buchan to its interim political editor after incumbent John Stevens jumped ship to SpAd for Labour minister Pat McFadden. Buchan’s seven years in the Lobby have taken her via PA, the Independent and leading the Mirror’s campaign on free school meals — and now to one of the most well-connected journalist jobs under a Labour government.
Good Friday morning from Washington D.C. This is Dan Bloom.
DRIVING THE DAY
MISSILE DIPLOMACY: Keir Starmer awakes in Washington today to discuss the small matter of World War III. A visit to talk about (among other things) letting Ukraine use British-made missiles on targets deep in Russia — which Downing Street strenuously tried to play down — has had the bellows stuck under it by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Eyes will now be trained keenly on the Oval Office tonight for Starmer’s big moment with U.S. President Joe Biden.
Happy Friday the 13th! After days of diplomatic choreography around Ukraine’s request to use Storm Shadow missiles, Putin said on Thursday evening: “This would in a significant way change the very nature of the conflict … It would mean that NATO countries, the U.S., European countries, are at war with Russia.” Quotes via AFP.
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You started it! Starmer gave the traveling pack the line they wanted when he not quite channeled Basil Fawlty to face down Putin. “Russia started this conflict. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia can end this conflict straight away.” He did not rule out giving Storm Shadows the green light even in spite of Russia’s threats. It led the 10 O’Clock News, topped the BBC website and splashes the Guardian and Times.
Lame duck goes quack: After meeting business leaders (intriguingly, No. 10 hasn’t said whom), Starmer is due to break his Friday night off-the-clock ritual and hold a short one-to-one with Biden in the Oval Office around 9 p.m. U.K. time. Expect the usual shouted questions from the traveling pack to appear just in time for the News at 10. Watch from the pub.
The main event: There’ll then be a 90 minute-ish meeting with Starmer, Foreign Secretary David Lammy, U.K. Ambassador to the U.S. Karen Pierce and National Security Adviser Tim Barrow. My U.S. colleague Eli Stokols expects Secretary of State Antony Blinken to turn up too, along with Biden’s top national security aides such as NSA Jake Sullivan and Mike Carpenter, Biden’s National Security Council director for Europe.
But but but … As already reported, Downing Street has bent over backward to say there will be no announcement from the meeting. An overnight release didn’t even mention Storm Shadow, and Starmer is doing a mere pool clip around 10.50 p.m. U.K. time before jumping back on the plane to Blighty, then turning back round to Italy on the weekend to meet PM Giorgia Meloni. The Telegraph’s Charles Hymas has a preview of that.
Watch this space: Playbook (and many others) is told that U.K. officials are hopeful a Storm Shadow breakthrough will come at the U.N. General Assembly later this month. But it’s been confirmed the topic is up for discussion today and it looks like a pivotal moment. A U.K. government official tells my colleague Esther Webber: “We’re really in the last hard yards of diplomatic negotiations now.”
Eyes emoji: “There are really important developments likely in the next few weeks and months, both in Ukraine and the Middle East, and therefore a number of tactical decisions ought to be taken,” Starmer told journalists (including your author) on the plane. Britain has offered its capabilities to Kyiv, and “there are obviously further discussions to be had about the nature of that capability.”
Snubbed! Starmer confirmed to hacks that he will not be meeting presidential hopeful Kamala Harris while in Washington, despite what Playbook hears were strenuous efforts in No. 10 to make it happen. “No, because she will be in other parts of the U.S.,” he said. (i.e. swing states).
DETAILS GETTING CLOSER: Officials in multiple governments tell the Times’ Larisa Brown that D.C. may let Ukraine use British and French missiles in Russian territory, but not the U.S.’s own longer-range version of the ATACMS ballistic missile. One U.K. official tells Playbook that’s a result Britain could get on board with — but there are still many moving parts.
… And closer: Then there’s what feels like a key detail from Bloomberg’s Alex Wickham and Natalia Drozdiak — who look at the technical issue that Storm Shadow missiles may be British, but they are assisted by U.S. data to map terrain. (Former naval officer Lewis Page had a great Telegraph column explaining this the other week). This is one reason why U.S. buy-in is so important. Bloomberg reckons the U.S. and U.K. are talking about letting Ukraine use this data.
The other reason … is, obviously, that the U.K. is doing everything it can to project a sense of unity with the U.S. It’s worth remembering that Britain revealed its preferences under the previous government, when Lammy’s predecessor David Cameron said Ukraine “has that right” to strike targets inside Russia way back in May. You might notice things have been a little vaguer since then.
Hope building: “Things have changed in the light of the Russian acquiring of ballistic missiles from Iran,” one U.K. government official tells Playbook. “The fact that Blinken came over to the U.K. and chose to put on the record confirmation that Iranians are supplying Russia was a significant moment.” More on this in a big read by your Playbook author, plus my ace colleagues Esther Webber and Jamie Dettmer.
Getting impatient: Ukrainian President (and supremo of lobbying the West) Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Thursday that delaying a decision would allow Moscow to move “military targets deeper into … Russia.” Lammy, who met Zelenskyy this week, tries to assure him via Ben Riley-Smith for the Telegraph splash that people “are setting things up to stop Russia getting the advantage over winter.”
Watch this space too: Lammy also told the Tel it was a “mistake” for the U.K. to have stopped spending 2.5 percent of its GDP on defense, adding: “We need to get back there.” At some point, Starmer will say *when*.
THE LINE: No. 10 said the meeting would also focus on the situation in the Middle East, climate resilience and stability in the Indo-Pacific.
As for missiles … “This is not going for a discussion about a particular tactic or particular piece of kit,” says Starmer. Officials insist Friday’s discussions will be broader. One tells Playbook a key focus of the meeting will be how the war is likely to develop over the course of 2025. Britain is hoping Kyiv’s forces can show a broader strategy that goes beyond “heroic” pockets of fighting, they say.
VIEW FROM THE PLANE: Starmer sat with his legs tightly crossed, joked about bracing for Arsenal’s North London Derby clash with Tottenham this weekend, and half-chuckled at what he clearly viewed as the more unfair questions as he spent 25 minutes with the traveling pack (pic via PA’s Stefan Rousseau here). Up front his chief of staff Sue Gray settled near Tim Barrow.
Nobody FOI this: Take-off was delayed after a mix-up meant the airline had no food for the journalists crossing the Atlantic. Playbook hears a No. 10 digital aide was dispatched to the nearest Tesco to buy up a very large stack of sandwiches for the press before the problem was resolved after all.
MEANWHILE IN DOMESTIC MATTERS: The PM got into a bit of a to-and-fro with the traveling pack when he was asked repeatedly if his government had done an impact assessment on the cut to pensioners’ winter fuel payments. He repeatedly said “there isn’t a report on my desk” and insisted “you don’t have to do one for an exercise like this.” Moments earlier No. 10 had confirmed no specific impact assessment was carried out, via the Guardian. The abstainers (and even some of the loyal) will not be chuffed with that one bit …
Scoop — Having an effect? A More in Common poll shared with Playbook has Labour’s lead down to just 4 (!) points — with the party on 29 percent, Tories 25, Reform UK 18 and Lib Dems 14. An Ipsos tracker adds 46 percent of voters view Starmer unfavorably — up 8 points since August. He never could expect much of a honeymoon.
Is this perchance connected? Hacks asked Starmer if he’d read the stories suggesting his hair has got considerably grayer. “Erm, no … I haven’t actually see those, where do I find them?”
And now for the really important news: The first photo of Starmer’s new cat will be published “in due course,” the prime minister told a grateful nation. Prince can’t currently leave the No. 10 flat so hasn’t met Larry, who has a reputation for fighting. We all pray for his safety.
LIB DEM LAND
AND IT WAS ALL YELLOW: MPs’ conference recess has begun, which means only one thing — many of the newly engorged bunch of 72 Lib Dems are packing their suitcases, sunglasses and *checks notes* winter coats for a four-day victory lap. The party conference, which kicks off in Brighton on Saturday, will see members focus on how they can maintain their general election momentum — and whether they need to broaden it beyond Tory-bashing and stunts, Playbook’s Noah Keate writes in.
Shoring up support: While the next election is far away, 72 seats is not the summit of their ambitions. “We need to finish the job,” Leader Ed Davey will be telling all and sundry. That means winning even more Tory seats in blue wall areas, like Shadow Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Godalming and Ash — the party missed out by 891 votes.
The other job … is to shore up the vote in marginal Lib Dem seats, making them safe next time. The party thinks this is achievable by putting local issues first in every aspect of their work in Westminster — to slowly rebuild trust after the coalition years and *that* tuition fees policy.
But but but … this raises the question of when the Lib Dems will define themselves in primary colors against Labour, like they did during the Iraq War, or remain an anti-Tory force alone. The answer to that seems to be … not yet. Though winning in university ex-strongholds like Cambridge and Sheffield would be nice for them, taking the fight to Labour-held constituencies isn’t an immediate priority. Instead, they want to occupy the middle ground as a constructive opposition. Good luck with that.
Strong message here: Unsurprisingly, that means the NHS and social care will be the No. 1 priority this weekend.
Keeping on keeping on: “We’re not going to chase the zeitgeist issues of the time — even if the Lobby gets bored. There’s a big space that has opened up to speak about the NHS, because the Tories can’t, and Labour will now have to actually deliver improvements,” a Lib Dem aide said. Davey will be in conversation discussing how to fix social care on Sunday evening from 6.15 p.m.
On the conference floor: The Lib Dems still differ from the two main parties by allowing members to decide policy and vote on every proposal. Expect sparks to fly if the membership endorses (or rejects) something which MPs or the leadership would rather they didn’t.
Plan of action: Motions on the agenda for Saturday include reforming Sunday trading laws, improving pregnancy outcomes and restoring links for young people in Europe (paging Keir Starmer) … while Sunday’s fun involves a motion on, that’s right, saving the NHS and a Q&A with Davey at 2.10 p.m.
TODAY IN WESTMINSTER
SCOOP — INDUSTRIAL SCALE QUANGO: The government is set to announce the formation of its new industrial strategy council in the coming weeks, according to Playbook’s Stefan Boscia. The quango (promised in Labour’s manifesto) will be a key part of the government’s industrial strategy, which aims to boost British manufacturing through the green transition.
CLOCK WATCHING: The forever-delayed refurbishment of the Palace of Westminster could consume the time of specialist craftworkers for 43 years (!), says a report by Historic England due out today. The Times has a preview.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: Ex-PM Tony Blair to the Times’ Alice Thomson on which governments he’ll give advice to: “Look, I prefer democracies, but I also understand that some countries aren’t, and the lessons are the same irrespective of whether you are a democracy, dictatorship or authoritarian.”
TEACHERS’ PETS: Twenty-seven MPs have been chosen as the government’s “mission champions,” according to a list handed over to the Times’ Patrick Maguire. One MP tells Playbook’s Bethany Dawson the roles were decided by party Chair Ellie Reeves after backbenchers registered their interest. Keep an eye on the goody-two-shoes.
The fine print: Each region has two MPs assigned to it, with five MPs given broad topic areas, Linsey Farnsworth for crime … Tom Hayes for energy … Dan Tomlinson for growth … Laura Kyrke-Smith for health … and Sarah Smith for opportunity. All champs are new to this parliament — aside from Nick Smith, assigned to Wales. Maguire reports those chosen will work with departments on their specific areas.
COUNTRY CLEV: Tory leadership candidate James Cleverly reckons he’s “outperformed all the other runners and riders by a country mile.” (Tell that to Robert Jenrick). The ex-foreign secretary also told BBC’s Political Thinking podcast that Tories should not blame the ECHR for the Rwanda scheme failing. “It was the U.K. Supreme Court. And we don’t get to quit that,” he said. Listen here.
KEIR ADVICE: There is no need for Kamala Harris to take on the left like Starmer did — as the Democrats are much more popular than Labour was four years ago, the PM’s former strategist Deborah Mattinson — who met Harris recently to pass on tips on Labour’s election win — suggests today. Mattinson tells my colleague Alex Burns in a big Friday interview: “I think the Democrats looking united in the way that they do is very important, and probably matters more.”
BOO TO NANNY: Some of the right-wing dailies go big on Starmer’s call to ban junk food advertising on telly before 9 p.m. and on social media completely, with the announcement making the front of the Mail and Times this morning. The Mail’s leader column says Starmer’s ambitions are “further proof of socialism’s desire to micromanage everyone in Britain.” Playbook awaits the verdict of the Mail’s star columnist Boris Johnson, who proposed similar measures a few years back. No doubt he’ll be fully in support.
DATA DEBACLE: Data around the controversial census question “Is the gender you identify with the same as your sex registered at birth?” has been downgraded. The ONS requested a reclassification of its 2021 gender identity estimates from “official statistics” to “official statistics in development,” saying there was “potential for bias.” Data from the 2021 census showed respondents whose first language was not English were four times more likely to say they were transgender. The Times has the story.
KA-CHING: Labour raised £26 million in the run-up to the general election — over 50 percent more than the Conservative Party — with significant help from green backers, the Times reports. Hedge fund Quadrature Capital donated £4 million and £2 million came from campaigner Dale Vince’s company Ecotricity.
NOT AGAIN! The government is considering proposals from the Future Governance Forum think tank to use (controversial) private finance deals to fund new infrastructure projects such as new schools and hospitals, the Times’ Patrick Maguire reports.
WORKING ON IT: Post Office Minister Gareth Thomas said “we know there is more to be done,” for wronged subpostmasters, after Jo Hamilton criticized the government at the National Television Awards saying “nothing has changed.”
CRACKDOWN ON REVENGE PORN: The government today announces the most significant change to the Online Safety Act since its passage into law last year by adding the sharing of “revenge porn” and non-consensual intimate images to the list of priority offenses under the act, my tech and trade colleagues report.
Don’t say we didn’t warn ya: POLITICO’s Laurie Clarke and Joseph Bambridge first reported that DSIT was undertaking an “urgent review” into exactly this issue back in May, after campaigners warned the legislation included a loophole for hosting non-consensual intimate images.
HOUSE OF COMMONS: Chilling out.
HOUSE OF LORDS: Sits from 10 a.m. with a debate on Sudan (led by Labour peer Raymond Collins).
BEYOND THE M25
TRAIN DRAIN: Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker will launch a joint report recommending a new Midlands-North West Rail Link in Manchester at 9 a.m.
UNDERSTAYING HIS WELCOME: Scotland’s ex-First Minister Alex Salmond says he’d have stayed in his job if he knew independence would still be a distant dream now. And what fun we would have all had. Via PA.
KEYBOARD WARS: Berlin has doubled down on its jeering of Donald Trump after the former president claimed during the U.S. presidential debate that Germany’s shift away from fossil fuels had failed. Responding to Trump’s “disinformation” with “facts and humor” was the “right answer,” Anna Lührman, Germany’s Europe minister, said Thursday. The German foreign ministry had earlier written on X, “Like it or not: Germany’s energy system is fully operational, with more than 50 percent renewables,” and closed with “PS: We also don’t eat cats and dogs.” Meow.
GOING WELL, THEN: Trump wrote on Truth Social “THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!” after Kamala Harris’ team suggested that there should be another head-to-head between the candidates. My Stateside colleagues have more.
ABORTION BAN LIFTED: A Dakota district judge has ruled that the state’s abortion ban violates its constitution, saying women have a “fundamental right” to abortion before foetal viability. Read more on the BBC.
**A message from SSE: Party conference season is underway and the transition to a cleaner power system represents an historic opportunity for the UK. Not only will clean power be the platform on which we decarbonise our economy, but it will also unlock investment in new infrastructure, reduce our dependence on imported fossil fuels, and create thousands of good jobs in communities across the country. But with the clock ticking, we urgently need to pick up the pace. SSE is already investing over £20bn in mission-critical energy infrastructure, but with the right policies in place, is ready to unleash billions more to accelerate renewables, transform our networks and build the flexible power needed to back-up the system when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining. Actions, not ambitions will secure Britain’s energy future. SSE. We Power Change. Find out more.**
MEDIA ROUND
Science Secretary Peter Kyle broadcast round: Good Morning Britain (6.45 a.m.) … Sky (7.15 a.m.), among others t.b.c.
Also on Sky News Breakfast: Former Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield (8.30 a.m.).
Times Radio breakfast: Allie Renison, former adviser to the business and trade secretary and former head of trade and EU policy at the Institute of Directors (7 a.m.) … Revenge porn survivor and former Love Island contestant Georgia Harrison (7.15 a.m.).
BBC Breakfast: Liverpool’s Director of Public Health Matt Ashton (7.30 a.m.).
Nick Ferrari at Breakfast: Former Conservative Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street (7.20 a.m.).
**A global emergency: Tackling antimicrobial resistance. As microbes become more resistant to drugs, reversing medical gains, global leaders are negotiating an ambitious plan. Explore this report to learn about the growing threats and efforts to combat antimicrobial resistance.**
TODAY’S FRONT PAGES
POLITICO UK: Putin threatens war as Western allies near deal on missile strikes in Russia.
Daily Express: Esther’s hope as key vote backs law change on assisted dying.
Daily Mail: Nanny Starmer’s ban on junk food ads ‘to save NHS.’
Daily Mirror: Final insult.
Daily Star: Keep calm and stroke a chair.
Financial Times: State finances on ‘unsustainable’ path of overspending, fiscal watchdog says.
i: Junk food TV ad ban before 9pm — with total ban online in 2025.
Metro: Guitar hero!
The Daily Telegraph: Lammy — UK missiles are vital to stop Putin.
The Guardian: Starmer tells Putin — you started this war, you can end it any time.
The Independent: Starmer takes on NHS — no new cash without reforms.
The Times: Long-range missile deal means war, warns Putin.
THANK POD IT’S FRIDAY
Westminster Insider: Host Jack Blanchard talks to journalists about U.S. election coverage over the years, including former BBC U.S. Editor Jon Sopel, the BBC’s Henry Zeffman on his year in the States with the Times, and POLITICO legends Jonathan Martin, Rosa Prince and Eli Stokols consider how political reporting in the U.S. has changed.
Power Play: Host Anne McElvoy talks to POLITICO’s Global Editor-in-Chief John Harris and California Democrat John B. Emerson, who has raised funds for Kamala Harris.
EU Confidential: Host Sarah Wheaton talks to POLITICO’s Carlo Martuscelli and Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING Think, about why the EU is falling so far behind big competitors like the U.S. and China.
Plus 6 of the other best political podcasts to listen to this weekend:
Women with Balls: The Spectator’s Katy Balls interviews Leader of the House of Commons Lucy Powell.
The Rundown: New Labour MPs Jeevun Sandher and Julia Buckley chat maiden speeches with host Alain Tolhurst.
Political Thinking: Conservative leadership candidate James Cleverly talks to Nick Robinson.
The Political Party: Matt Forde talks to Scottish Conservative leadership candidate Murdo Fraser about his vision for Scotland.
Today: Hosts Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson talk to doctor John Bell — who has advised successive governments on health care — about the state of the NHS.
Chopper’s Political Podcast: Tory leadership candidate Robert Jenrick tells Chris Hope he would aim to cut net migration to the “tens of thousands or lower.”
LONDON CALLING
WESTMINSTER WEATHER: The sun has come out and the risk of rain is low. TGIF. High 18C, low 10C.
SPOTTED … at the FT’s annual party at 180 Studios on the Strand with green plants, pink lighting and gift bags: Chancellor Rachel Reeves … Home Secretary Yvette Cooper … Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds … Tory peers Jo Johnson and David Willetts … broadcaster and former Labour frontbencher Ed Balls … High Commissioner of India Vikram Doraiswami … Irish Ambassador Martin Fraser … Italian Ambassador Inigo Lambertini … Japanese Ambassador Hajime Hayashi … Onward Director Sebastian Payne … Chatham House CEO Bronwen Maddox … lawyer and Labour adviser Marina Wheeler … the U.S. Embassy’s Matthew Palmer … British Chambers of Commerce Director General Shevaun Haviland … RSA CEO Andy Haldane … British Academy CEO Hetan Shah … Met Police Director of Communications Ray Tang … artist and writer Grayson Perry … BBC Director General Tim Davie … Institute for Government Director Hannah White … Today program presenter Nick Robinson … the New Statesman’s Jason Cowley and George Eaton … the Economist’s Rosie Blau … and the FT’s Roula Khalaf, George Parker, Peter Foster, Miranda Green, Lucy Fisher, Mark Staniland, Alex Barker, Claer Barrett and Camilla Cavendish.
CONGRATS TO: All the winners of Press Gazette’s Future of Media Awards, including Sky for winning best podcast with Patient 11 and the Financial Times for wining best newsletter for Stephen Bush‘s Inside Politics. Any suggestion that our smiles are through gritted teeth, because Playbook was up for the latter award, is unfounded — genuinely well deserved.
HOT CHOCOLATE AND PANINI TO GOVE: Michael Gove refused to say who he wants to be next Tory leader, but instead compared frontrunner Robert Jenrick to, erm, Stormzy. When asked whom he was backing, he also told Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast that Tom Tugendhat was like James Blunt, James Cleverly was like Ed Sheeran and Kemi Badenoch was like Beyoncé. Take what you will from all that.
HAPPY WEEKEND: Congratulations to The House Deputy Editor Sienna Rodgers, who is getting married to partner James Calmus over the weekend in Highgate.
BREAKING NEW GROUND: The Liberal Democrats’ surge means they get the first-ever FA-organized conference football match against the Lobby XI team of parliamentary journalists. It’s at Brighton & Hove Albion FC’s training ground Sunday. Lobby XI team skipper Rob Merrick tells Playbook everyone is waiting to see if Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey will play. Seems unlikely. The bloke hates photo stunts.
NEW GIG: Labour NEC member (who is running for reelection) Abdi Duale has been elected as the chair of the NEC equalities sub-committee.
NOW READ: The Economist’s piece on what happens if Donald Trump contests the 2024 election results, which includes back-up plans, health checks for voting machines, poll workers equipped with panic buttons and election offices being stocked with an antidote to opioid overdoses.
WRITING PLAYBOOK PM: Andrew McDonald.
WRITING PLAYBOOK MONDAY MORNING: Stefan Boscia.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: Brigg and Immingham MP Martin Vickers … Tory peer Colin Moynihan … Reform UK MP Richard Tice turns 60 … former SNP MP Alison Thewliss … Prime Minister of Fiji Sitiveni Rabuka … President of the Philippines Bongbong Marcos.
Celebrating over the weekend: Former Defence Secretary Grant Shapps … Foreign Minister Catherine West … former Brighton Kemptown MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle … POLITICO’s Christina Gennet and Molly Fluet … former Prime Minister of Greece Kostas Karamanlis … former Shadow Energy Minister Alan Whitehead … Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Debbie Abrahams … Former SNP MP Alyn Smith … Tory peer Philip Harris … UK in a Changing Europe Director Anand Menon … Duke of Sussex Prince Harry.
PLAYBOOK COULDN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT: My editors Zoya Sheftalovich and Jack Blanchard, diary reporter Bethany Dawson and producer Dean Southwell.
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