“Sir Keir Starmer is set to warn that “things will get worse” in the UK before they get better. In a speech on Tuesday, the prime minister is likely to say there are no quick fixes to remedy what he will call the “rubble and ruin” left by the Conservatives. He will also continue to argue that the last government concealed the true state of the public finances. But, the Conservatives have accused Labour of “fabricating” a financial black hole to clear the way for tax rises – and have called for Starmer to reverse his chancellor’s cuts to winter fuel payments”. – BBC News
“The Israeli military struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Sunday after claiming the group had been planning a “large-scale attack”. Iranian-backed Hezbollah replied with drone attacks and said it was responding to the killing of its top commander in a Beirut suburb last month. The group said it had completed the “first phase” of its retribution today and claimed it had hit 11 targets, fired more than 320 Katyusha rockets and sent drones into Israeli airspace. Hezbollah also denied Israel’s claims of disrupting its operation with this morning’s preemptive strikes in southern Lebanon and said its leader Hassan Nasrallah would make a statement later today.” – Sunday Telegraph
“A Labour donor at the centre of a cronyism row will not take the Civil Service role he had been awarded and will become a temporary unpaid adviser instead, it has emerged. Ian Corfield was made a director at the Treasury shortly after the general election, but his appointment became the subject of controversy after he was found to have previously donated £20,000 to Labour. Political donations made by the ex-banker, whose job was not subject to an open contest, included £5,000 to Rachel Reeves in 2023. Mr Corfield’s appointment had to be approved by the Civil Service Commission, a body that vets Whitehall appointments, which was not told about the donation.” – Sunday Telegraph
“Sir Keir Starmer’s biggest personal donor has a security pass to Downing Street. It gives Lord Alli, a millionaire TV mogul and former investment banker who led Labour’s fundraising for the general election, unrestricted access to No 10. He organised a post-election reception in the Downing Street garden with others who helped to bankroll its campaign. It is rare for anyone not formally employed as a political adviser or civil servant to be given a Downing Street pass, or to host events on the premises. The move has raised eyebrows among colleagues amid scrutiny of the party’s relationship with donors.” – Sunday Times
“Liz Truss has called for an investigation into the Bank of England (BoE) after a report by its own analysts found that the majority of the bond market crash under her short tenure was caused by dangerous practices in the pensions industry. The former prime minister said the report meant “the Bank of England itself acknowledge[d] the yield spike was not my government’s fault”. Ms Truss was in Downing Street for just 49 days before turmoil following her heavy-borrowing mini-Budget forced her out of office.” – Sunday Telegraph
“It’s Tom Scholar and his f***ing mates at the IMF who are responsible for all the fuss,” Truss told aides on Friday September 30. The Conservative Party’s annual conference in Birmingham was due to begin the following day. “The package is absolutely fine. It’s just a communications problem: we simply haven’t explained it clearly enough.” She was bouncing between two states of mind, from full-scale denial to believing all kinds of conspiracy theories (in this case blaming the ousted and highly respected permanent secretary to the Treasury for the International Monetary Fund’s highly unusual criticism of the radical mini-budget unveiled by Truss’s chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng the previous week). – Sunday Times
“Was the Conservative election defeat unavoidable? It is tricky to construct a campaign scenario which would have kept the Tories in power without having to rely on implausible developments in the race. The party was asking for a historic fifth term, stretching their rule to 19 years, when the political mood of the country tends to change on a shorter cycle. The baggage of a double prime minister switch in 2022, including a calamitous mini-Budget from Liz Truss that exploded Tory trust on the economy, was there long before election decisions were made. The result suggests a sea-change in voter sentiments not easily countered.” – Sunday Telegraph
“It was the end of a cold, gloomy day in late January at Westminster when Will Wragg logged on to the Grindr dating app and spotted the profile of a man named “Charlie”. Wragg was in his London flat, and smiling back at him from his phone were several images of a tall, handsome man with dark eyes, whom he immediately found attractive. More in hope than expectation, Wragg — who was cautious about being too open on dating apps, given his job as an MP, and had a blank profile page on Grindr — sent him a message with a photo. It was the start of a conversation that would lead to the destruction of his parliamentary career and leave him on the brink of suicide.” – Sunday Times