On the face of it, it looks like our Prime Minister can’t help himself. Officials in Number 10 spent the start of their weeks scrambling to “clarify” the Government’s position on freedom of movement after Andy Burnham yet again gave a weekend interview sounding like a Brexit re-run was on the cards. Our straight-talking, no-filter PM seems unwilling to be constrained by silly things like manifesto pledges or promises to voters to not “go there” again with the European Union.
But don’t be fooled – this political game of cat and mouse being played between Burnham and his spads is not as accidental as it looks. Burnham’s desire to show a little ankle to Remainers by talking about “a closer relationship” goes far enough to get Europhiles hot under the collar, but is then safely checked by civil servants with assurances and careful backpedaling. It’s a tiresome routine that many in the Labour Party have been playing since the 2016 vote to leave the European Union was announced: a wink and a nudge to Brexit haters to keep them on side. The difference is that, this time, it all feels a bit more concrete.
The problem Burnham faces is that he has, in part, built his identity around a caricature of the “ordinary man” politician – the one who understands the disaffected of the North and the disgruntled of the Red Wall. But a great many of these people left Labour over their sneering and betrayal of the Brexit vote. In fact, he explicitly promised voters that he would not “re-run” the Brexit referendum. But what’s a few electoral pledges between friends, eh?
Channel 4 to bring its shows to Disney+ – what we know
Channel 4 and the Walt Disney Company have struck a deal that will bring the British broadcaster’s shows to Disney+ in the UK and Ireland next year.
What you need to know
The agreement includes multiple Channel 4 shows being made available on-demand each year on Disney+, at the same time as their release on the station.
These include drama starring Bella Ramsey, comedy featuring Denise Welch, and reality show Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins – along with Channel 4’s main TV channel and additional on-demand content.
How will it work?
When can you watch?
From 2027, Disney+ customers will be able to watch Channel 4’s linear HD channel, plus scripted and unscripted content at no extra cost.
What will be featured?
Channel 4 shows available “day and date” on Disney+, and access to new Channel 4 shows each year.
Where can you find it?
There will be a dedicated Channel 4-branded section intergrated into Disney +.
Why Putin will welcome Trump’s post-midterms mayhem
Even while Vladimir Putin does what he can to help Donald Trump salvage something from this month’s midterm elections, the Russian President is working on the assumption that the Republicans will lose badly.
The Kremlin’s goal
The Kremlin’s goal is to see the West paralysed by internal division and dispute, and it sees a humiliated Trump as a disruptive one.
Mired in a badly conceived and legally questionable war in the Gulf, with petrol and other prices rising and his erratic personal style increasingly counting against him, Trump has looked to Moscow for help.
Putin’s token efforts to aid Trump
- 1Trump’s deal to buy Russian diesel gave Putin the opportunity to pit Kyiv against the White House.
- 2Last week, Putin also freed Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old US citizen who had been given seven years in prison on charges of being a mercenary fighting for Ukraine.
- 3The Kremlin has also made much of the fact that a ceasefire it has agreed with Kyiv to allow residents of the beleaguered town of Oleshky to receive aid or simply flee the fighting, was driven by the First Lady, Melania.
Why Russia doesn’t care about Trump’s losses
Russians themselves have long regarded Trump as periodically useful, but never reliable.
“We’ve always known that [Trump] was self-indulgent and self-destructive,” a Russian political commentator told The i Paper. “The only question was when he was going to sink his own ship.”
- Moscow has had to see its Venezuelan client toppled and seen European countries ramp up their defence spending at Trump’s behest.
- Trump may press for a peace process as a last chance to secure his legacy and the Nobel Peace Prize.
All the supermarket staples having import tariffs removed
The Chancellor will soon cut tariffs among other cuts to give families “breathing space”.
Budget announcements
Making higher tax-free mileage rates permanent and removing import taxes on some food items are among the measures being announced ahead of Wednesday’s Budget.
The announcements are part of Chancellor John Healey’s pledge to give families what he is calling “breathing space” with the cost of living.
Which foods will have their tariffs cut?
Citrus jams, marmalades and pastes (20% + £19 per 100kg)
Cough drops, boiled sweets, toffees and caramels (8%)
Baked beans (16%)
Other measures announced
- A 55p per mile tax-free mileage rate for those driving up to 10,000 miles for work, with the rate rising from 25p per mile
- Allowing carers to earn more than an existing earnings limit without losing their entire allowance
- Giving two weeks of paternity pay to self-employed fathers
- Rolling out hundreds of additional Post Office drop boxes to make sending parcels easier
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A minimum wage rise
Healey will also announce the new National Minimum Wage for 18 to 20-year-olds on Wednesday as well as the National Living Wage for those aged 21 and over.
has reported that the National Minimum Wage is likely to rise by 3.9% from £10.85 an hour to around £11.27.
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Why Jimmy Carr thinks comedy should be taught in school
Stand up comedian Jimmy Carr has said comedy should be taught in schools.
Here is everything we know.
Comedy is a ‘teachable skill’
54-year-old Carr is known for hosting 8 Out Of 10 Cats and as well as performing his own stand-up comedy shows.
Carr said he thinks no one is born funny and that comedy is a “teachable skill” that can help young people find their “authentic voice”.
Comedy is a ‘valuable skill’
Speaking on the podcast, he said: “I think comedy should be taught in schools, well drama more generally, but comedy specifically.
“It is a teachable skill. Is it an innate ability? Are you born funny? I don’t think so.
He added: “You will write down and order your thoughts. You’ll learn to communicate them and you will speak in your own authentic voice.
“It’s a valuable skill to learn.”
Everything you need to know about Israel’s election
Today, Israel is due to hold its first elections since the 7 October Hamas attacks in 2023.
What you need to know
Many Israelis have described the upcoming election as the most important one in their country’s history.
Polls show current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu trailing in the race behind his main challenger, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot.
However, it may take weeks or months before it’s clear who will be designated the winner.
More about the key players
Netanyahu has led Israel for 19 of the last 30 years at the head of a far-right coalition. He is currently on trial for corruption, so losing power could risk jail time for him.
Gadi Eisenkot is the former head of the Israeli military. He’s positioned himself as the opposite of Netanyahu, naming his party Yashar, or “Honesty”.
What are the polls saying?
Netanyahu in decline
Most polls show Netanyahu’s Likud and his current coalition parters losing their majority.
Anti-Netanyahu majority
Polls also show a clear anti-Netanyahu majority, but opposition seats are divided.
Palestine parties
Palestinian politicians have indicated they might support a minority government to unseat Netanyahu.
Voters disenfranchised
In the occupied West Bank, more than 500,000 Israeli settlers can vote.
In occupied East Jerusalem more than 230,000 Israelis with voting rights live among 350,000 Palestinians who cannot vote.
Two million Palestinians in Gaza, who live under Israeli military occupation, according to the international court of justice, also have no vote.
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What the result could mean
Neither Netanyahu nor Eisenkot supports the establishment of a Palestinian state in the foreseeable future. Their most significant differences concern democratic institutions, the West Bank and Israel’s relationship with the rest of the world.
- Netanyahu has governed with ultra-Orthodox parties that support settlement expansion in the West Bank. Eisenkot presents himself as a more pragmatic alternative. He has also taken a tougher position against violence by Israeli settlers.
The key detail Spotify is asking family plan users to prove
Spotify has outlined a new verification process for family plan users to prove they live in the same household.
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The process
What has changed?
Spotify will now ask family plan users to verify their address using a QR code.
How will it work?
The plan manager opens the QR code which needs to be scanned. All users on the plan need to be in the same place to scan.
What if you don’t?
If verification isn’t completed in seven days, the member can’t join a different Family or Duo plan for 12 months.
As part of our ongoing efforts to improve the quality and value of Premium we implement measures to ensure appropriate use of Spotify accounts. This includes reviewing Household Plans to ensure they are used only by primary account holders and those living at the same address, as stated in our terms and conditions.
a spotify spokesperson told sky news
Burnham might be playacting as salt-of-the-earth, but his political allegiance is squarely rooted in the political establishment, one which, let’s remember, was almost completely united in its hatred and regret of the vote to Leave. In opening the prospect of a second referendum – even some kind of soft return with pacts made in Brussels – Burnham risks showing his true face.
Take it from a die-hard Brexiteer Burnham, this might not be the play you think it is. Reopening the Brexit wars is not the easy win some deluded Lib Dems and salivating podcast hosts imagine it to be. Support for Reform might have stumbled in the last few months, but only because the party seems to have lost its focus. A fight for the spirit of Brexit Britain could be all Nigel Farage needs to regain order and position Reform as the only party that can defend the largest and most consequential vote in recent British political history. And that’s not even taking into account the millions of reasonable, sensible Remain voters out there who understand the democratic implications of a Brexit betrayal.
No, support on X or among the chattering classes for a “re-framing” – what a disingenuous term – of our relationship with the EU does not translate into support out in the polling booth for another bitter fight. Perhaps most importantly, Burnham’s desire to turn back the clock reveals how little of Labour’s plans for the economy are future-oriented. Is the only solution our government has to solve our problems with the economy to rejoin the EU, if only a little bit here and there? Do the pre-Brexit issues of the economic crash, years of austerity, stagnation and the deliberate growth-squashing of green policies not factor in, or will signing back up for freedom of movement wave a magic wand and wish away all those underlying factors?
In one way, many dread the prospect of a re-run of the Brexit battle. The years following the Brexit vote were vicious, revealing a shocking class hatred at the heart of polite British society who were willing to talk about their fellow citizens in the lowest of terms. It wasn’t pleasant to be a part of.
But, in another way, perhaps Burnham is right – there is unfinished business when it comes to Brexit. The 2016 referendum vote has been denied, delayed and discredited for the 10 short years of its life, and yet its very existence stirred up the moribund state of British politics, creating new opportunities for different thinking. So keep showing ankle Burnham, but you risk getting it bitten.