Isabel Hardman

Today we’re going to be talking about David Lammy, and his brand new plans to drastically reduce the number of jury trials in the UK in an attempt to address the backlog. With the backlog of cases due to be heard in courts already at 78,000, and heading for 100,000, the Justice Secretary believes that only radical solutions can tackle the ‘courts emergency’. But is he being too radical? This comes on the same day that Lammy announced that 12 prisoners have been accidentally released in the last three weeks. But first, the Budget fallout continues and there has been a resignation but – crucially – it’s not the Chancellor. After the OBR leaked the Budget early, its chairman Richard Hughes has taken the fall and resigned last night.

Yesterday we had the publication of the second module of the Covid Inquiry on the decision-making at the heart of government. It confirmed a toxic and disorganised culture at the heart of No. 10 and the headline is that the government acted ‘too little, too late’, costing as many as 23,000 lives in England. That figure is already disputed, not least by our economics editor Michael Simmons who argues on the podcast that the inquiry is a ‘disgrace’ and demonstrates a lack of domain knowledge about the limitations of modelling. Where else does the inquiry fall short? What will be the political ramifications in Westminster? James Heale speaks to Michael Simmons and Isabel Hardman. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

While we wait for the findings of the Covid Inquiry into the decision-making during the pandemic, Shabana Mahmood has given a statement in the Commons outlining further details of Labour’s migration crackdown. The headline is that those who arrived during the so-called ‘Boriswave’ will have to wait up to 20 years before achieving settled status. Figures within Reform are having fun with the suggestion that the Home Secretary is more aligned with them on migration, but it is perhaps fairer to say that Shabana is taking her cues from the Blue Labour movement. What is Blue Labour? And is Shabana Blue Labour? Oscar Edmondson speaks to Isabel Hardman and Paul Embery. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Neither Kemi Badenoch nor Keir Starmer performed very well at Prime Minister’s Questions: both fluffed their lines early on. Badenoch managed to suggest the Budget had already happened, while Starmer got lost during an attack on Tory economic policy. But while Badenoch was back to the kind of poor delivery that had previously upset so many of her Conservative colleagues, Starmer still came off worse. The most interesting exchange was with Reform Chief Whip Lee Anderson, who goaded Starmer to ‘be a man’ and ensure that all the cancelled local elections go ahead next year. This facilitated an exchange about recent allegations regarding Nigel Farage’s behaviour when he was a schoolboy. Is this one going to follow the Reform leader around?

Conspiracy or cock-up? Westminster is abuzz after what appears to be a plan to decapitate Wes Streeting has spectacularly backfired. A flurry of late-night briefings designed to shore up Keir Starmer’s position turned personal against the Health Secretary, suggesting he was plotting a coup in advance of the Budget and in anticipation of – what many expect will be – a poor showing at the local elections. Streeting was left to defend himself on the media round, confidently declaring he was a ‘faithful’ and he also joked that he doesn't know the whereabouts of Shergar and believes the moon landings are real. There is only one clear winner from this whole debacle: Wes Streeting. Are the knives now out for the Prime Minister? Produced by Megan McElroy and Oscar Edmondson.

In a crowded field, today’s could have been the most bizarre PMQs ever. From David Lammy pronouncing ‘I am the Justice Secretary’ as if it were an affirmation to be chanted in the bathroom mirror, to the wild hair on display on both benches, it surely takes the mantle of parliament at its most ridiculous – and that’s not to mention the story that another convict has escaped from prison. Has David Lammy got a grip on mistaken prison release? And – more importantly – does he have the support of his colleagues? James Heale speaks to Tim Shipman and Isabel Hardman. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Keir Starmer did not go into Prime Minister’s Questions with the intention of resolving the row over the collapse of the Chinese spying case: he merely wanted to avoid the pressure building too much. He announced in a long statement at the start of the session that the government would be publishing its three witness statements, and then spent the rest of his sparring with Kemi Badenoch arguing that this was all the fault of the previous government anyway. So who is to blame, the Tories or Labour? What does the inability to deal with this scandal say about the ineptitude of successive governments, and how they communicate with the public? James Heale speaks to Tim Shipman and Isabel Hardman.

Andy Burnham, Manchester’s mayor and self-styled champion of the North, is openly flirting with a return to Westminster just days before the Labour Party conference. In a revealing interview, he outlined his 'Manchesterism' – a blend of business-friendly socialism and public control of essential services – though what that actually means remains unclear. Typically, he is full of inconsistencies, criticising Westminster and how it 'makes you look false', while openly seeking a route back. Does he see the irony? Meanwhile, Keir Starmer faces challenges on multiple fronts: his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, is embroiled in a controversy over nearly £740,000 of undisclosed donations to Labour Together, threatening to overshadow conference proceedings.

Donald Trump might be in the UK for the state visit, but it’s Labour pains that are dominating the headlines and, predictably, there is a typical northern lad who thinks he could be just what the party needs. Despite having made two previous (failed) attempts at the leadership, Andy Burnham is on manoeuvres. He does seem to have the key thing that Starmer lacks – i.e. the ability to communicate – but he does unfortunately come with his own history of flip-flopping. What does this say about the state of the left wing? ‘They clearly hate it!’ says Tim Shipman on today’s podcast about Labour’s experience of government, but is Burnham’s ‘fantasy politics’ really the answer? And could he be the one to take the fight to Reform?

Kemi Badenoch has just skewered Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions on the topic of Peter Mandelson’s association with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.  Badenoch learned from her mistakes last week and devoted all six of her questions to trying to get Mandelson fired as British Ambassador to Washington. She pointed out that the victims of Epstein had ‘called for Lord Mandelson to be sacked’, and then asked whether Starmer had been aware ‘of this intimate relationship when he appointed Lord Mandelson to be our ambassador in Washington’. It was potentially her most convincing performance yet and she managed to pull together diffuse threads of world and domestic affairs into a focussed attack on the Prime Minister and his US ambassador’s credibility.