London
Playbook PM: No WFH Friday for team Starmer
By Emilio
Casalicchio
February 7,
2025 6:38 pm CET
London
Playbook
By EMILIO
CASALICCHIO
with NOAH
KEATE
Good
afternoon. This is Emilio Casalicchio. An editing snafu meant a slightly early
version of this email slipped into your inbox *without* the extended Cabinet
readout — but the good stuff’s now below. Apologies for the spam, we’re all
going for a Friday lie down.
FRIDAY CHEAT
SHEET
— The
Cabinet held a marathon meeting over which “right-wing populists” loomed.
— Ministers
confirmed the Grenfell Tower will be demolished.
— Keir
Starmer registered disproval over Donald Trump sanctioning the International
Criminal Court.
— David
Lammy also appeared to criticize Trump over U.S. cuts to aid spending.
— Scoop:
Want to run the Chagos Islands? (At least until we hand them to Mauritius.)
TOP OF THE
NEWSLIST
NO WFH
FRIDAY: Keir Starmer and his top team finished a marathon Cabinet meeting in
Westminster around an hour ago. Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch were like ghosts
at the feast.
The thrills
of government: The Cabinet held a political session (translation: without civil
servants) from 10 a.m. to noon, before another four hours with officials
present. It all took place in the decadent Lancaster House mansion — a Foreign
Office building within spitting distance of Buckingham Palace.
On the
agenda: The PM took aim at Farage and Badenoch, arguing “this Labour government
is on the side of working people,” a readout of the political section noted,
adding: “While right-wing populists also claim to be, all they offer is
grievances not solutions.”
The Labour
approach: The PM instead urged his team “to increase the pace of change to meet
the demands of a new era.” He mentioned global insecurity, and the challenges
leaders across the world face on economics and migration, as issues to be
faced, and decried the “failure” of the previous Conservative administration to
do so.
Red pill,
blue pill: “My reflection is that while we are working away the world is
speeding up,” the PM told his team. “We can either be the disrupters or the
disrupted.”
Still to
come: Whitehall officials promised a readout of the non-political bit too,
although had to be talked into it after initial plans were for the marathon
session to end without fanfare. “There’s no secrecy about it,” a Downing Street
spokesperson insisted to irate reporters (well, one in particular) during a
briefing at noon.
Not secret,
and not that interesting: “It’s an opportunity for the Cabinet to address in
more depth the pressing issues facing the government,” the spokesperson said,
listing topics like investment and growth, while adding that the Bank of
England growth forecasts this week (which were dire, don’t forget) will no
doubt be discussed. Other officials said it was a chance for ministers to set
out progress and future plans on their beats in more detail than the usual
hour-long Cabinet meetings allow.
Things that
might have been discussed i: The trouble with keeping Labour factions sweet
while attempting to rattle Britain’s stubborn low growth rate out of its
slumber. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband this morning offered climate-conscious
MPs a masterclass in how to swallow unpalatable decisions like Heathrow
expansion and expected oil drilling off Shetland.
You will be
assimilated: “I have different responsibilities as secretary of state than I
did when I was an opposition spokesperson,” he told Radio 4 when asked about
his previous criticisms. He added that members of the Cabinet must sign up to
collective responsibility.
Indeed,
factions take note: Former interim Labour leader Harriet Harman told the Sky
News Electoral Dysfunction podcast that factional backbench groups give the
implicit signal to voters the government is not doing enough. She said new MPs
“should support the government and, play their part in the parliamentary Labour
party. But don’t set up all these flipping groups.” She was asked specifically
about the so-called “Red Wall” Labour group that made headlines this week.
Things that
might have been discussed ii: The confirmation this afternoon that the
government will dismantle Grenfell Tower, where 72 people died in a tragic
inferno after a host of glaring state and private sector failings in 2017. The
announcement from the communities and housing department makes clear the
sensitivities around the issue and the delicate process for reaching the
decision, and comes amid anger from families of victims at the way it’s been
handled.
For example:
“Taking the engineering advice into account the deputy prime minister concluded
that it would not be fair to keep some floors of the building that are
significant to some families, whilst not being able to do so for others and
knowing that, for some, this would be deeply upsetting,” a line of the
statement explained.
What happens
next: Discussion about what a future memorial in place of the tower will look
like is still ongoing, with involvement from the impacted communities.
Things that
might have been discussed iii: How to deal with a problem like Donald Trump,
who government aides are tiring of seeing implode their news-planning. This
afternoon it was the Trump decision to sanction International Criminal Court
officials, in defense of arrest-warranted Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, that
was causing headaches.
Law, fair:
Starmer of course has a rep for loving international law, and a spokesperson
for the PM appeared to indicate his disproval of the sanctions without being
overt about it. “We support the independence of the ICC and therefore have no
plans to sanction individual court officials,” the spokesperson said — while
noting the U.K. and U.S. have taken differing approaches to the ICC in the past
too.
A bit more
formal: The U.K. has, meanwhile, joined 78 countries in issuing a joint
statement in support of the ICC following Trump’s attack. The countries,
including France and Germany (but notably not Trump fans in Hungary and Italy)
pledged “unwavering support for the independence, impartiality, and integrity
of the ICC” and hit out at the sanctions. The Times has a full writeup — and
there’s plenty more on Trump below.
HOW TO SOLVE
A BIG, ORANGE PROBLEM
DON’T TELL
THE DONALD: The government quietly shoved out its aid stats for 2024/25
confirming how much money countries and programs have received in support, my
POLITICO colleague Mason Boycott-Owen writes in.
What it
tells us: Spending on Africa has gone up a lot, but this is dwarfed by the
increased amount spent on “British Investment Partnerships,” in a nod to the
Foreign Office’s new-found mission for Growth Growth Growth. The figures also
show a third less is being spent on fighting climate change than under previous
Tory plans, from almost £653 million to £433 million.
What it
doesn’t tell us: The stats don’t include the amount spent on refugee costs in
the U.K., after the last set of figures showed Britain spent £4.3 billion (28
percent of the aid budget) housing asylum seekers here. That’s far more than we
spend on, for example, poverty alleviation in Africa. Ministers insist reducing
asylum costs will boost the foreign aid budget, but rather unhelpfully don’t
provide the stats to prove it.
MPs react:
Sarah Champion, chair of the international development committee, told Mason
the FCDO “must be able to have ownership of on its own budget, not see it
raided by others” such as the Home Office for its asylum costs.
And there’s
more: Foreign Secretary David Lammy dropped some (highly cautious) criticism of
Trump’s own cuts to foreign aid. Speaking to Guardian Pol Ed Pippa Crerar on a
trip to Ukraine (for a new podcast) the Cabinet minister said the U.K.’s aid
suspension while it merged its foreign and development offices under Boris
Johnson was “a big strategic mistake.”
Speaking
Orange-ese: “Development remains a very important soft power tool,” Lammy
added. “And in the absence of development … I would be very worried that China
and others step into that gap.”
SCOOP —
FANCY WORKING IN PARADISE? The Foreign Office is recruiting a British civil
servant to take a timely gap year … helping run the Chagos Islands. The British
Indian Ocean Territory’s new “head of law enforcement and immigration policy”
will help improve governance and border operations before the U.K. hands the
islands to Mauritius (if Trump ever allows a handover) according to an internal
job transfer ad leaked to POLITICO’s Dan Bloom.
Eyes emoji:
Deal-watchers may note this is a fixed-term secondment until Mar. 31, 2026.
Officials have assured Dan not to read any significance into that date when
guessing when a handover might happen. But given a deal is practically done and
waiting nervously for U.S. approval, followed by a few months of parliamentary
ratification, it’s intriguing all the same.
Why are we
giving this place up again? The ad shows off the chance to visit the “remote,
beautiful and environmentally significant” islands (though it adds: “Some
flexibility may be required in terms of specific responsibilities as things
develop.”)
Left
hand/right hand communications update: The advert also, rather unfortunately,
boasts that the U.K.’s 14 overseas territories are “an integral part of
Britain’s life and history.” Yep … for now!
It’s worth
pointing out again, BTW … that although former Foreign Secretary David Cameron
paused negotiations with Mauritius over the future of the Chagos Islands, the
talks had restarted and were ongoing at the time of the 2024 election, as the
call readouts between then-PM Rishi Sunak and his Mauritian counterpart show.
It’s clear the Conservatives had been convinced that some form of deal to cede
(or in their language now “surrender” the islands) was needed.
DRIVETIME
DEBRIEF
SNOOPING
AROUND: The Home Office ordered Apple to create a capability allowing them to
retrieve and view all encrypted material that any user worldwide may have
uploaded to its cloud service. The move has no known precedent in major
democracies, according to the Washington Post’s Joseph Menn, who first got wind
of it. The Home Office said: “We do not comment on operational matters,
including for example confirming or denying the existence of any such notices.”
But privacy campaigners are already up in arms about state overreach.
REFORMING
HERE: Labour lost overall control of Medway Council last night after Reform won
two seats in by-elections. Labour council leader Vince Maple will continue as a
minority leader of 29 councillors, with the Conservatives still the main
opposition with 20 seats. Reform has three. Meanwhile on Ashfield District
Council, a third councillor defected to Reform.
SOCIAL
(MEDIA) AFFAIRS
TARGETING
THE YOUTH VOTE: The British government joinedTikTok in its latest move taking
the fight to Reform, where Nigel Farage has gained a significant following (h/t
PolHome’s Adam Payne).
SHOWING
BORIS JOHNSON HOW IT’S DONE: Shadow Justice Secretary (and Conservative
leadership hopeful) Robert Jenrick is providing far more content for GB News
than Boris Johnson ever did despite the promise from the former PM.
BEYOND THE
M25
UKRAINE
UPDATE: Keith Kellogg, Donald Trump’s special envoy on the Russia-Ukraine
conflict, said the president is ready to double down on sanctions against
Moscow to help end the Kremlin’s invasion. Sanctions currently are “only about a three” on a scale of one to 10
in terms of how painful the economic pressure could be, he told the New York
Post. My colleague Veronika Melkozerova has further information.
IN SWEDEN:
The Swedish government announced plans to strengthen its gun laws, including
restricting access to semi-automatic weapons, after its worst mass shooting.
Ten people were killed Tuesday in the city of Örebro. The Guardian has the
details.
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