Briefings
South East Water's boss is gone but regulators still haven't fixed the company that left Tunbridge Wells without water for two weeks →
South East Water's chief executive and chair have both resigned. The company still has no credible plan. The government response follows the EFRA Committee's report, Failures at So…
Lords set to debate cohabitation rights and undercover policing this week: two accountability bills the Commons has stalled on for years →
Two accountability issues, long delayed, reach the House of Lords this week. Cohabitation rights, the conduct of undercover policing, and genocide determination are on the agenda i…
Labour nominations close this week and Burnham is on course to be PM by Sunday, but some of his own MPs say a coronation denies members their voice →
Andy Burnham is on course to become Britain's next Prime Minister this week, with almost no policy detail nailed down. Labour's MP nomination window closes on 16 July. If no other…
Burnham's Coronation Begins as Labour Nominations Open With No Serious Challenger Left →
No one now looks capable of stopping Andy Burnham. Nominations to replace Keir Starmer as Labour leader opened on 9 July. Burnham is the only heavyweight name in the race. His riva…
Burnham Was Briefed on Starmer's Defence Plan but Not Told About the £4.7bn Budget Requirement, Reports Say →
Keir Starmer announced an additional £15 billion of defence spending power on 30 June. The Treasury's financing table identified measures worth £10.3 billion. Multiple outlets reported the same account: Burnham had been briefed on the plan but had not been told about the £4.7 billion funding requirement before it emerged publicly.
96 Days After Saying Work Would Begin on the A38 and A46, Government Put Both at Risk to Fund Defence →
On 26 March, the government's Road Investment Strategy said work would begin on the A38 Derby Junctions and A46 Newark Bypass during the road period of five years. After 96 days, the Defence Investment Plan funding document named both as candidates for cancellation. Neither has entered its main construction contract. No final decision has been taken.
Immigration Attitudes Have Hardened. Recorded Race Hate Crime and NHS Racist Abuse Have Risen →
The latest comparable police figures show race hate crime up 6 per cent in a year. The Royal College of Nursing says reported racial abuse or discrimination involving nursing staff increased by 78 per cent between 2022 and 2025. Over roughly the same period, British Social Attitudes recorded a substantial fall in the proportion of people who thought migration was good for the economy or enriched British culture.