Downing Street has denied having received a written report from Blue Labour’s Lord Glasman warning against Mandelson’s appointment. Back in September as the Mandelson scandal was kicking off, Politics Home reported:
“It is understood that after visiting the US and meeting people around Trump who raised concerns about Mandelson’s appointment, Glasman sent a memo to No 10 warning about the appointment
…’The brutal truth is that the vast majority of people I met… consider our Labour government to be a front organisation for paedophiles and Pakistani rape gangs.'”
Glasman additionally told Sky News in February:
“They asked me to send a report and I sent a report… I did say when I got back, I would think again about this publicly…. Then I did get a discreet suggestion to basically shut up about that, and I did.”
Tory MP Ben Obese-Jecty last month asked the Cabinet Office:
“On what date did his Department receive a written report from Lord Glassman regarding the nature of the relationship between Lord Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein.”
The reply yesterday, from Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas Symonds:
“There is no record of receipt of Lord Glasman’s report in the Prime Minister’s Office.”
Some wires are crossed here…
‘Chief Secretary to the PM’ Darren Jones briefed to the Times that he was creating a ‘Command Unit’ nerve centre in the Cabinet Office to monitor various situations. So laughable was the proposal that the piece only appeared in print…
The unit – or rearranged desks – sits in the rooms previously occupied by Rayner’s Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which David Lammy didn’t get to keep hold of. Some ideas were presented for how to spend ‘command centre’ redesign budget…
Guido hears Jones was given £500,000 to play with to design his unit. Government sources say one of the primary proposals for how to spend that cash was for £300,000 to go on raising the ceiling. This is the guy who wants to cut waste…
Individuals inside the building report that the layout is as set out above but the unit itself is wasting away. When do we get to see the results of all that delivery?
UPDATE: Starmer announces RAF to send four more Typhoons to Al-Udeid airbase in Qatar. The first charter flight to evacuate British citizens took off from Oman this afternoon. He also admitted he hasn’t spoken to Donald Trump since Saturday…
Starmer said online:
“I know that the situation in the Middle East is worrying for people across the UK and in the region… I’ll be giving an update on the action we continue to take to protect lives and bring British nationals back home.”
An attempt to wrest back some narrative control…
Kemi Badenoch is miles ahead of her shadow cabinet colleagues in ConHome’s latest shadow cabinet league table, with a net satisfaction level of +81.6. Tory members are buying what she’s selling…
Shadow cabinet newcomer Nick Timothy takes the silver medal with +59.6. Bottom of the pile is Stuart Andrew, though even he keeps his head above water at +7.6. To have your say on Reform’s power rankings, click here. Fill in the survey and get the first month of your Guido membership on the house…
See the full league table below…
Continue reading “Badenoch Tops Shadow Cabinet Rankings as Nick Timothy Takes Second”
Starmer has suggested that ousted No10 Chief of Staff (and creator of the Starmer project) Morgan McSweeney could return to government in future. Will be news to some…
At McSweeney’s leaving drinks in the Walkers of Whitehall pub Starmer lathered on the praise, calling Morgan one of the best political strategists in the world and praising his “plan, strategy and foresight.” Not enough foresight to see the Mandelson-shaped boulder hurtling down the mountain towards his office…
Guido hears Starmer spoke about the need for the “journey” to continue and added to Morgan: “we will need you again.” Sources tell Guido that McSweeney has been working out what he wants to do since leaving No10, speaking to journalists and so on. No shields left for Starmer…
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood introduced her speech on migration reforms at the IPPR:
“There’s no denying we meet at a difficult time for my party.”
