Steerpike

In Manchester, a vigil is taking place after Thursday's horrific terror attack left two people killed and three seriously injured in hospital. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed to do ‘everything’ in his power to protect Jewish people in Britain, condemning the ‘horrific’ terror attack on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has also paid her respects to the victims and their families – before, this morning, turning on pro-Palestine protestors.  And while new Justice Secretary David Lammy has also urged pro-Gaza protestors to 'stop and stand back' instead of joining planned marches this weekend, he has not been well received in Manchester.

Out with old and in with the new. MI6 boss Sir Richard Moore is packing in the clandestine activities for a less secret but perhaps more diplomatic life – hopefully not following too closely in Lord Scandelson’s footsteps. After five years in the role, Moore is stepping aside for Blaise Metreweli – or ‘C’, as all her predecessors have been known since 1909 – who will be the first female in the role in the 116 years of the Secret Intelligence Service. But while his career may have been top secret, Moore wasn’t going to leave on a dull note. First he gave a farewell speech in Istanbul last month – in which he paid tribute to his family connection to Turkey, expressed his belief that MI6 must be ‘more open to stay secret’ and publicly berated Vladimir Putin. Punchy!

Whisper it, but there’s a name on everyone’s lips at Labour conference. A man who clearly seems to be going places – if we look at the sheer number of times he’s been cited in Liverpool. Who is this whippersnapper? A young socialist exciting the grassroots? A rising cabinet star? Errr, not exactly: it’s Nigel Farage, aged 61 and a half. The Reform leader may not be in Liverpool but it’s been impossible to escape his name in recent days, with Starmer setting the hares running by labelling Farage’s polices ‘racist’ and questioning his patriotism. Which is why Mr S was so surprised to hear David Lammy explain yesterday that he was ‘not going to play the man.

Much of Labour conference has seen MPs taking aim at Nigel Farage and his Reform party, but it would appear some left-wingers have ended up in the firing line too. Onetime Labour member and all-time general annoyance Owen Jones had been running around Liverpool vox-popping politicians and delegates with his cameraman – but he managed to get on the wrong side of the party and was rather embarrassingly informed today that his conference pass had been, er, cancelled. Yikes! In an email to Jones, Labour’s conference team informed the lefty that his access had been revoked over ‘safeguarding’ issues.

At the last Labour conference before the 2026 Holyrood election, Scottish Labour is enjoying the limelight. With less than eight months to go until the Scottish parliament election, the party is trying to prove that – despite its rather dire polling – it can win. But in an increasingly fractured political world, Labour may have to rely on another political party to prop itself up if it is to have any hope of governing in Scotland. And given Nigel Farage's tartan outfit is doing pretty well north of the border, a Labour-Reform pact – informal or not – could be one solution. But would Anas Sarwar do a deal with Reform?

Well, well, well. The atmosphere is more than a little tense as Labour conference kicks off in Liverpool. In recent weeks, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has suffered not just from poor poll results – with a recent MRP suggesting his party could fall to less than 100 seats at the next general election – but the PM has lost both his deputy and ambassador to the US. Further north, feathers were ruffled during Starmer's reshuffle when Scottish Secretary Ian Murray – member of parliament for Edinburgh South since 2010 – was cut from the government in place of Douglas Alexander, onetime Scotland Secretary for Tony Blair. But while Sir Keir has had a rough ride lately, it would appear that Scottish Labour are rather sceptical about Andy Burnham's bid for the leadership.

It would be putting it mildly to say Sir Keir Starmer's digital ID card plans have gone down like a lead balloon. The Prime Minister's proposals to make ID cards compulsory for every British adult have raised concerns about freedom, data security and effectiveness – as it isn't clear the policy would actually work to tackle illegal immigration if it was rolled out. Hardly the best start to conference season… Some of those criticising Starmer over his policy are – surprise surprise – Scottish nationalists. SNP First Minister John Swinney took to Twitter to rage: I am opposed to mandatory digital ID – people should be able to go about their daily lives without such infringements.

Dear oh dear. Labour conference is just days away but as the party prepares to come together it would appear its politicians are coming apart. Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham gave a rather revealing interview this week in which he called for 'wholesale change' to prevent an 'existential' crisis, set out his own brand of lefty politics – Manchesterism – and refused to rule out a return to Westminster. Now communities secretary Steve Reed has hit back in a defence of Prime Minister Keir Starmer – dismissing Burnham's 'potshots'. Ouch. Speaking to Sky News, Reed remarked: [Burnham] is entitled to his view, but we’ve heard these kinds of comments before. When Labour was in opposition, there used to be people that would take potshots at Keir Starmer.