Number 10 has refused to say it has confidence in the FCDO as an institution in light of the Mandelson saga. It insists not a single minister, including Starmer, Lammy, or Cooper, knew he had failed vetting. Even though David Maddox spoke to then-Comms chief Tim Allan about the story back in September…
Asked directly at the Lobby briefing of press hacks just now if the PM still had confidence in the Foreign Office, the spokesman said:
“[We] couldn’t be stronger in fact that it is both staggering and unbelievable that he was not told… it is clearly a staggering failure… and that is why he has asked for an urgent investigation.”
Asked why Mandelson was pictured wearing a green-striped DV pass despite failing, the spokesman said it was “one for the Foreign Office“. Downing Street is trying to throw the entire department under the bus to save Starmer’s skin…
Number 10’s spokesman today, asked if Starmer supports Wes Streeting’s call to slash welfare spending to fund defence:
“The best way to get the welfare bill down in the long term is to support more people into work and I’ve set out a number of ways in which we’re doing that… we are committed to reforming the welfare system… we make no apologies for lifting children out of poverty, but in terms of the overall welfare system we are committed to making it fairer for the taxpayer.”
Asked what ‘fairer’ for the taxpayer actually means, the spokesman said:
“It means reforming the system and supporting more people into work… it’s not a zero sum game when it comes to defence and welfare.”
Back in your box, Wes. 63,000 more people signed up to universal credit in a single month, according to the latest figures. Is anyone in Number 10 concerned about this? Or is placating useless backbenchers more important?
Guido’s FOI Unit has obtained the full set of purchases Starmer made for his flat of residence on Downing Street. Totalling over £15,000…
Downing Street says the “Government is legally required to maintain the Downing Street buildings to the high standards appropriate to its Grade 1 and 2 listed status in consultation with Historic England. The listed status, as well as security and other relevant factors, significantly add to the cost of maintenance and repairs, compared to normal properties.” Limbering up…
£14,319.20 was spent on refurbishment alone. Prime Ministers have an annual allowance of “up to £30,000 a year from the public purse to contribute towards the costs associated with maintaining and furnishing of the residency within the Downing Street estate.” Nice. For. Some.
For Starmer the Cabinet Office “offers to furnish the Prime Minister’s residence upon entering office, which was empty, on a modest basis in which case the items are permanently retained by Government. The total figure spent is proactively published in the Cabinet Office’s annual reports and accounts… The items came under budget and do not belong to the Prime Minister.” A £750 armchair, a £1,395 TV and a £363 ottoman walk into a bar…
Here’s the taxpayer’s receipt:
Representatives of prominent AI firm Anthropic have held meetings in No10 this morning. Along with other AI specialists…
Anthropic’s latest AI model Mythos can identify critical vulnerabilities in a vast array of security systems (including national ones). It can do so with software that is more than 30 years old. Anthropic is keeping the model private for now while it arranges a consortium of firms and partners to shore up security systems before any wider release – this is called Project Glasswing. So far the Russians and Chinese are still behind – No10 should get into those meetings ASAP…
The British government is also attempting to court Anthropic amid its clash with the Pentagon in the US, exploring options for expansion and even a dual-listing in London. Separate AI firm and key Anthropic rival OpenAI has paused a major UK infrastructure project today citing energy costs and regulation. Labour at risk of shooting itself in the foot here…
Danny Kruger has written to the government urging them to get ahead of the Mythos risks by engaging with Anthropic. To fend off “catastrophic cybersecurity risks to the UK”…
Downing Street is out hiring for communications staff. There is still no Director of Communications following the departure of Tim Allan…
Two job ads have appeared overnight for two roles:
There have been recent departures at the mid-ranking level from the communications team in Downing Street. Some title inflation going on…
Any applicants need to demonstrate “confidence and expertise to brief the Prime Minister and their senior advisers.” For a salary of £68,558 could you bear speaking to Starmer every day (apart from Friday evenings and most of the weekend)?
Starmer spoke to Nick Robinson for the Today Programme on Polanski’s criticism of the Golders Green police officers:
“I want everybody just to imagine what it might be like. You’re trying to arrest someone who has already attacked two people and has no regard for life. We know that tasers were fired. I know from my own experience with the police, that there are only two shots in a taser, and once you’ve shot them, there’s nothing left. There’s a guy on the ground, he’s got a rucksack on. And I don’t know what was going through the mind of those officers, but if I was there, I’d be thinking, he’s going to detonate something. He’s going to blow me up and everybody around here. In those circumstances, I think you can quite see why what could have gone through their mind is, we need to do whatever we can to disable this guy…
Now, when I then see Zack Polanski come out and retweet or support a criticism of that, I think it’s disgraceful… He’s not fit to lead any political party.”