Politics At Sam and Anne's

Rachel Reeves gets her moment in Liverpool, but Sam and Anne explain why the podium at Labour conference might be the second biggest thing of her week.  By Friday, the OBR will have put a number on the size of the black hole – the money she’s got to find to fund policy u-turns on policies such as winter fuel.  You’re not getting that number from anyone from government in Liverpool though.   Elsewhere, Andy Burnham is still in lots of the conversations – and we hear what members of the Cabinet are getting about him in their WhatsApps.

Sam and Anne have their Labour conference curtain-raiser - and wonder if Andy Burnham has gone a little bit into the rearview mirror as delegates turn up on the banks of the Mersey?There are already conference titbits to share - it sounds like Science and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall will get the job of implementing digital ID cards, fresh after overseeing welfare reform. And Yvette Cooper’s new Foreign Office team are apparently clamping down on the use of official government planes. Sam and Anne will have their usual morning episodes from conference - plus they will be in your feed on Tuesday afternoon to debrief Sir Keir Starmer's speech. 

Is Labour’s king of the north about to challenge the Prime Minister in Westminster?  After an explosive interview – the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, says MPs are urging him to challenge Keir Starmer.  The duo consider: What vision Mr Burnham has for the country? Can the PM match him and how could he respond? How much will it impact political and policy narrative ahead of Labour’s party conference in Liverpool next week?

Are we all in danger of missing the biggest story of the day? Sam ponders that as he links up with Anne to go over Westminster’s day.  One of the country’s biggest car producers is shut because of a cyber-attack. The problems at Jaguar Land Rover have been going on for weeks – we discuss why this might be more of a political story than it seems.  Elsewhere, the Tories continue to pile the pressure on the PM’s chief of staff - Morgan McSweeney - over leaked lawyer advice and a £700,000 “admin error.”  In response a Downing Street source said "everything was declared properly in relation to the leadership election".

Why was Ed Davey using so much of his Lib Dem conference speech to talk about Nigel Farage?And was threatening ‘Trump’s America’ becoming ‘Farage’s Britain’ a good way to get attention – especially with a claim that a Reform government could involve rolling back gun laws. Sam and Anne’s conference debrief go over what was in his Bournemouth speech (criticisms of the BBC) and what wasn’t (much on the economy). 

What can Sir Ed Davey achieve in 55 minutes? That’s how long his speech to Lib Dem conference delegates is coming in at.   Sam, who’s at the conference in Bournemouth, and Anne consider the behind-the-scenes tussles and where the Liberal Democrats are trying to position themselves ahead of the next set of elections.  Away from conference, the OECD will release its latest economic outlook, but will it be a good or bad result for Rachel Reeves?  Plus, we have our weekly look at the state of the parties in our voting intentions poll.  Sam and Anne will debrief Ed Davey’s speech in an extra episode late on Tuesday afternoon. 

Reform UK announce that they would scrap indefinite leave to remain within 100 days of government but what impact will this have?  Sam and Anne discuss the practicalities of the policy and whether Nigel Farage is trying to force the hand of other parties on immigration policy. Elsewhere, the UK follows other nations in formally recognising a Palestinian state, to the dismay of the Israeli Prime Minister. Anne has some intel on the whereabouts of Peter Mandelson and whether he got an invite to the state visit last week.Plus, Gatwick’s second runway gets the green light.

After yesterday’s pomp and pageantry at Windsor, today the U.S. President gets down to business, meeting with Prime Minister - Keir Starmer - at Chequers.  Sam and Anne look at what’s on the agenda and what the leaders might be forced to talk about, ranging from the recognition of a Palestinian state to their nation's associations with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.  Away from the state visit, Sam also has some intel on government exercises and more on the dynamics between the PM and his chief of staff. 

Donald Trump is here and his day is all about time with the King before dinner at Windsor Castle this evening. Away from the carriages and flypasts (and without any mention of Jeffrey Epstein) - there’s other business for Sam and Anne.Sam picks up that Keir Starmer did consider effectively demoting Morgan McSweeney. On that, we’re back on the softened rules to remove a Labour PM with your messages on it. Also - has the government failed to get to grips with the law which underpins its ‘one in, one out’ scheme? 

Are some Labour skeletons about to come crashing out of the closet?  Keir Starmer needs state visit week to go perfectly but it’s already had a rocky start with the resignation of one of his most trusted aides.Paul Ovenden quit after ‘inappropriate’ messages he sent about Diane Abbott in 2017 resurfaced.  Sam and Anne ponder if there are more messages which are about to cause trouble for other senior Labour staffers.  Also - the first ‘one in, one out’ migrant flights were cancelled after legal challenges.And the week hasn’t started brightly for the Tories either – as they lose one of their biggest thinkers, Danny Kruger, to Reform.