The Hunt against red October

LOBBY TRANSFER SCOOP: The i newspaper has hired Kitty Donaldson as its chief political commentator. The Lobby supremo announced this week she was leaving her role as Bloomberg’s U.K. political editor after nearly 18 years with the terminal merchant. It’s quite a coup for the i, which has been without its opiner-in-chief since Paul Waugh tried to run for Labour up in Rochdale in January. Donaldson is due to start writing features and analysis next month.

Good Friday morning. This is Dan Bloom.

DRIVING THE DAY

THE HUNT AGAINST RED OCTOBER: Jeremy Hunt has his turn in the not-quite-yet-an-election hot seat this morning as he gives a keynote speech focused squarely on the Labour opposition. After Rishi Sunak’s big number on security Monday, and Keir Starmer’s pledge card-tastic “six steps” Thursday, the chancellor today will score out some Tory/Labour dividing lines on tax, jobs and welfare. If this is what not being in a campaign looks like, imagine how things will feel by autumn.

Pure politics: A budget it ain’t. Hunt speaks for 10 to 15 minutes from 9 a.m. followed by about 10 questions from hacks. Civil servants have stayed away and it’s been arranged by CCHQ and political staff.

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Primary target: Hunt’s main aim seems to be laying into Rachel Reeves. Hunt will accuse the shadow chancellor of having no plan to cut taxes, and of criticizing the consequences of Covid-19 spending which she very much backed at the time. Labour is playing “playground politics” to distract from “what happens next,” he’ll say. “With no plans to pay for their spending pledges, taxes will go up under any future Labour government as sure as night follows day.”

Take it as a compliment: This sort of speech, putting the opposition in lights, is a barometer of just how far Labour is ahead in the polls. Tory aides routinely say both parties should be getting the same scrutiny from the media, and given Starmer didn’t rule out raising income tax in an interview with ITV Thursday, Hunt is here to help. His words are dutifully splashed by the Telegraph and Express.

ALSO IN HUNT’S SIGHTS: Labour’s claim that pensions are under threat due to the Tory aim to eventually ax National Insurance, without saying when or where the £46 billion cost will come from. (Which is kind of like Labour’s aim to eventually spend 2.5 percent of GDP on defense, without saying when or how.)

Labour responds: “Working people are worse off after 14 years of economic failure … Jeremy Hunt is desperately trying to distract from reality with his reckless £46 billion unfunded tax plan to abolish national insurance.”

Compare and contrast: Lobby hacks who noted the gulf in optics between Sunak (a little room at Policy Exchange) and Starmer (a slick party conference-style rally) will be watching Hunt’s backdrop with interest. Playbook hears it’ll be more Sunaky than Starmery — a small conference room in Westminster — though aides insist there will be “a bit of a flourish.” We’ll be the judge of that.

Getting in early: For her part, Reeves is about to start a quick round of the sort of rapid-fire local radio interviews that did for Liz Truss. Full list of timings below.

TODAY IS ALSO ABOUT … laying the ground for a huge week for the economy. Next Wednesday’s inflation stats might finally hit the 2 percent target, a moment sure to get the Champagne corks popping in No. 11. But on Monday we will have the final report of the infected blood inquiry, which will come with what Playbook is told is a likely £10 billion compensation bill for the Treasury. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.

Not to mention: Net migration could fall next Thursday, but the growing row over whether to restrict graduate visas rumbles on. The FT reports Sunak is expected to announce as soon as next week that he’ll restrict agents who market visa schemes abroad. The paper also reckons the PM is mulling further limits on graduate visas, restricting them only to the “best and brightest” — but ministers are resisting, including … Hunt.

While you wait for all that: POLITICO’s Sascha O’Sullivan has spoken to an all-star cast for this week’s Westminster Insider podcast, which poses the question — Is the Bank of England really a secret political player? The BoE’s former Chief Economist Andy Haldane tells Sascha economists have danced “right on the edge” of politics in recent years, especially during the Brexit years, while former PM Liz Truss (yup!) explains her anger at the bank which tried to “take her down.”

And there’s more:  Sascha explores the dramatic history behind the Bank’s independence in 1997, with the help of Treasury-insider-turned-podcast-hero Ed Balls. “During the election campaign it was never mentioned,” Balls recalls. “It wasn’t in Labor’s manifesto. On the Monday, Gordon Brown said to me — ‘if we’re going to do this, we have to do it immediately’ … I’m not sure it fully dawned on everybody what was going on.”

MEANWHILE IN GLASGOW: New SNP leader John Swinney is also talking about the economy in his first set-piece speech since becoming first minister. He will be introduced on stage at 9.20 a.m. by … Kate Forbes — a conspicuous bid to show he’s hugging his socially conservative deputy close. But his team also made a point of saying he’ll govern with “moderate left of center, progressive values.” So nothing to see here.

THE MORNING AFTER: Keir Starmer meanwhile is digesting a mixed reception for the six “first steps” he presented on Thursday. Aides and allies who spoke to Playbook were chuffed at the Labour leader upping his presentational game, while shadow Cabinet ministers victory-lapped in target seats in Doncaster, Leigh, Swindon, Chipping Barnet, Amber Valley, Southend, Hexham, Wolverhampton and Aldershot. That last one is the home of the Army, blue for 106 years but a Tory MP tells Playbook they reckon it’ll go red.

But but but … The right-wing papers’ leader columns are utterly withering about the lack of detail or timelines on the pledge card. A “gaping credibility gap” (Mail) … “we are left searching for any substance to the Starmer project” (Telegraph) … “a disappointing menu of open-ended, generalised, or reheated promises” with nothing on defense or council housing (Times) … and “a masterclass in nothingness” (the Sun’s Harry Cole). The Guardian at least is more polite, saying Starmer is now a “PM in waiting” and calling his pledges only “tantalisingly imprecise.”

Snap survey: People Polling for GB News says only 27 percent have a “fair amount” or “great deal” of trust in Labour delivering its pledges, while 23 percent had none at all.

But Labour does have this: The Independent is so impressed by Boots boss Sebastian James backing Labour that it’s shoehorned the actual Boots logo into its headline. Fun fact: The editor of the Independent was five years above James at Eton College.

GAFFE KLAXON: Labour’s broadcast blitz to plug the “steps” went off-piste when Shadow Environment Secretary Steve Reed backtracked following a blunder on LBC about the cost of “GB Energy.” Host Tom Swarbrick asked about analysis that Labour’s publicly owned energy firm would need £61 billion-£82 billion of “public capital investment” in its first decade. Reed replied: “It may well be.”

Whoops! CCHQ seized on Reed’s comments with abandon (and much number-crunching), while Labour pushed out a statement saying: “Steve misspoke. The cost of GB Energy is £8.3 billion.” PoliticsHome’s Sienna Rodgers has a decent deep dive on what GB Energy plans to do.

With great timing … Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham then told the Guardian she fears oil and gas workers could end up like 1980s coal miners “sacrificed on the altar of net zero” under Labour’s ban on new drilling licenses in the North Sea.

SWOTTING UP: But the issue where Tory aides believe Labour is weakest is this week’s crackdown on school sex education. Labour has said it backs plans to share the curriculum with parents, but on the bulk of it — like age limits, and a ban on teaching about the “contested concept of gender identity” — the party says that while it backs “age-appropriate” materials, it “will be looking carefully at the exact detail.”

In the meantime: Expect every utterance on this subject to be studied closely, starting with Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar. Asked if teaching gender identity should be banned, he told BBC Question Time: “I don’t think we should try and mask from our children what is the lived reality for many people out there in the real world.”

Also feeling strongly: When the topic came up in the Lords on Thursday, Labour’s frontbench spokesperson used some pretty strong language. Fiona Twycross told peers there are “serious concerns that need to be addressed through the consultation,” saying girls can start their periods as early as aged 8. “We simply cannot return to times when children believed that you could get pregnant simply by kissing another person because they were not taught about sex in a clear way,” she added.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

WONKS ASSEMBLE: Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy has a 10.30 a.m. speech and Q&A at the Institute for Government, where he’ll talk about “progressive realism” (his chief buzzwords from a 4,000-word essay on Labour foreign policy) … “how Whitehall works” … and the “convergence” between economic and foreign policy. None of it was briefed overnight. You can watch online here.

A key question … will be if he thinks Labour should split the Foreign Office and Department for International Development back into two, if it wins the election. Lammy’s colleague Lisa Nandy said this week a decision will be made pre-election.

But the more catchy question … What does would-be Donald Trump whisperer Lammy make of London Mayor Sadiq Khan hosing down his claim that Trump is “often misunderstood” on NATO? Khan told my colleague Jon Stone: “If my best mate was a racist, or a sexist or a homophobe, I’d call him out.” Good thing Lammy never called Trump a “woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathizing sociopath” who is a “profound threat to the international order,” eh?

ROCK, ON: A deal settling the Brexit status of Gibraltar is “getting closer,” said a joint statement issued by Foreign Secretary David Cameron and his EU counterpart Maroš Šefčovič last night. He dodged a question on whether an agreement would be signed before the EU election early next month.

Get on with it! Chief Minister Fabian Picardo told the Telegraph the deal “needs to be done” and won’t “in any way affect British sovereignty,” as claimed by European Scrutiny Committee Chair William Cash. Cash will be grilling Cameron about all this on Monday. Mark your diaries.

It went better than this: Cameron spilt the beans about his Mar-a-Lago meeting with Trump to his old pal George Osborne, it seems. Osborne tells his Political Currency podcast that Trump spent the dinner with his phone on speaker on the table, taking calls “throughout” from senators, congressmen and journalists and saying “hi, I got Cameron here.” Sounds like a great night.

MEANWHILE IN RUSSIA: The Kremlin has expelled the U.K.’s defense attaché in retaliation for London booting out Russia’s attaché, and calling him an undeclared intelligence officer. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps did a tweet.

Ruh-roh: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to work together against the “destructive and hostile” U.S., before enjoying a concert in Beijing. The deliberate show of unity is designed to shore up the ties that have sustained the war in Ukraine. Putin’s visit continues today with a wreath-laying and a business expo, per the Financial Times.

But at least they might Stan us: Britain is talking to “Stans” — nations like Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan that have deep ties to Russia — to avoid sanctions on Russia being circumvented, sanctions minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan told POLITICO’s financial services Pro team. “We are seeing so far a positive reaction,” she said.

Going further? Trevelyan said she’s hopeful that the slow progress on using frozen Russian funds for Ukraine’s war effort can be sped up at June’s G7 summit in Italy. Interest accrued in frozen accounts at Belgium’s Euroclear “will definitely be on the table as a prospect for [the] short-term,” she said.

TODAY IN WESTMINSTER

FRIDAY FEELING: Today the Commons will see a rare thing — a flurry of Private Members’ Bills that might actually become law. MPs will debate the final stages of up to seven that are backed by the government, including to make it easier to extend pub licensing hours at short notice, and strengthen the law on dogs worrying sheep (full list below). If they pass they’ll be sent to the Lords.

Not so long ago … PMBs used to feel like a total waste, liable to filibustering by backbenchers or ministers in a procedural game. Now some, at least, are adopted by the government to supplement its agenda. Some things do change.

EVERY LITTLE HELPS: Home Office officials fear fewer than 10 migrants could be deported on the first Rwanda flight in July due to legal challenges, a source tells the Telegraph’s Charles Hymas. The Home Office tells him it doesn’t “recognise” this.

MAYNARD BE PUNISHED: Downing Street is standing by pensions minister Paul Maynard, who admitted he broke expenses rules and paid back £1,367 after using a parliament-funded printer to produce “overtly political” leaflets over seven years. Expect calls by Labour to remove Maynard as a minister to be rebuffed.

FAT CAT: Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch has bagged a Mail splash by intervening over the sale of Royal Mail to a billionaire dubbed … the “Czech sphinx.” As the Telegraph reported, she used a routine meeting with the CEO of Royal Mail’s parent firm to say any deal must keep six-day deliveries, and plans to meet buyer Daniel Křetínský personally. But she isn’t promising to block the takeover.

IN THE POST: Post Office Chief Financial Officer Alisdair Cameron will give evidence to the Horizon scandal inquiry from 10 a.m. He may be asked about the Post Office profiting from funds held in a suspense account. Or if he’s blocked Paula Vennells on his phone?

NEW NEW DEAL: Labour Director of Strategy Deborah Mattinson is exploring whether to rebrand the party’s workers’ rights plan — and drop the title “new deal for working people,” reckons the Times’ Patrick Maguire. That’d go down well.

GOR AWAY: Ex-PM Gordon Brown won’t be getting an official job with Labour, Shadow Environment Secretary Steve Reed has predicted. He told the BBC’s Newscast: “I think going forwards you don’t bring back figures from the past in quite that way.”

GHOST IN THE MACHINE: Faculty AI — Britain’s homegrown AI safety champion with links to Dominic Cummings — has scooped £45 million of contract tenders in three years. That includes £1.5 million without competition, say my colleagues Vincent Manancourt and Laurie Clarke, who interviewed co-founder Marc Warner and looked at how the firm is accused of benefiting from a web of political connections (which it denies). Grab a Cummings-Substack-sized mug of tea and read their deep dive here.

CAREWORN: The Guardian splashes on a report slipped out by DWP on Carer’s Allowance, which raised problems of a high number being overpaid by accident — and then having to pay the benefit back — three or so years ago.

STILL WAITING: Expect no imminent breakthrough in the spat between Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer and the Afghanistan inquiry, which has ordered him to name the source of claims about murders by SAS members. The chair of the inquiry is still considering Mercer’s submissions and an answer may only come in the week of May 27.

TODAY’S TWITTER FUN: The annual list of the most popular boys’ and girls’ baby names is out at 9.30 a.m., along with figures on how many babies we’re all having.

NEARLY THAT TIME AGAIN! Unions say the teachers’ pay review body has now handed its annual recommendations to the government. A handy reminder that we should get a flurry of public sector pay decisions once ministers have made up their minds (usually in July). Unions are on edge. NEU General Secretary Daniel Kebede got up in Education Secretary Gillian Keegan’s mentions on Twitter.

WE DON’T NEED NO EDUCATORS: An Education Committee report warns the government must invest in more recruitment to stem a “deepening shortage” of secondary school teachers.

CRIME AND JUSTICE: The Home Office says 4,500 police officers have undergone specialist training on investigating rape and sexual offenses under Operation Soteria … and the MOJ says U.K.’s first secure school has opened in Kent, for young offenders aged 12-18.

OFF-SCREEN DRAMA: SNP MP John Nicholson will ask a Netflix executive if he misled parliament in his description of Richard Gadd’s “true story” Baby Reindeer. The MP tells the BBC “it’s clear that the evidence given by Netflix to the select committee is disputed.”

HOSPITAL PASS: The Times’ Chris Smyth splashes on an NHS report released Thursday that says productivity is still lower than before the Covid-19 pandemic, thanks to factors including “reduced flow” of patients … “staff burnout” … limited capacity in social care … and, err, “a gap which we cannot yet explain.”

FOR MEN, BY MEN: Women using women’s health and maternity services are “not getting the services they should,” says Health Secretary Victoria Atkins. Asked by the BBC’s Political Thinking podcast if the NHS was created “for men by men,” she replied: “75 years ago — yes.”

DINING OUT! Government docs published on Thursday could lead to pavement dining becoming a “permanent feature of the high street,” reports the Mail’s Jason Groves. Hoorah!

FOLLOW THE MONEY: Peter Geoghegan’s Substack has a deep dive into £40,000 of donations to Robert Jenrick, who Tory MPs suspect could run for the leadership.

HOUSE OF COMMONS: Sits from 9.30 a.m. with a host of Private Members’ Bills, including the Licensing Hours Extensions Bill (led by Labour MP Emma Lewell-Buck) … Pensions (Special Rules for End of Life) Bill (Conservative MP Laurence Robertson) … Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief Bill (Conservative MP Fiona Bruce) … Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Bill (Thérèse Coffey) … Secure 16 to 19 Academies Bill (led by Conservative MP Caroline Johnson) … School Attendance (Duties of Local Authorities and Proprietors of Schools) Bill (Conservative MP Vicky Ford) … and the Space Industry (indemnities) Bill (led by Conservative MP Jonathan Lord). 

HOUSE OF LORDS: Sits from 10 a.m. with more PMBs, including the third reading of the Genocide (Prevention and Response) Bill (led by Labour peer Helena Kennedy) … the second reading of the Common Parliamentary Association and International Committee of the Red Cross (Status) Bill (crossbench peer Frances D’Souza) … and the second reading of the Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Bill (led by Labour peer Ruth Smeeth).

BEYOND THE M25

NOT BEYOND BUT: Still no word from Jeremy Corbyn on whether he will run to be the independent MP in Islington North, but Labour’s list of hopefuls is shaping up. Sky’s Alex Rodgers has a useful runners and riders, which includes former Harrow East candidate Uma Kumaran … Councillor Sheila Chapman … and the London Assembly’s Sem Moema. Sam Tarry told Rodgers he’s not running, while Playbook hears Islington Council leader Kaya Comer-Schwartz is out of the race too.

HELD AT BAY: A replacement for Hannah Blythyn, the Welsh social partnership minister sacked by First Minister Vaughan Gething after he accused her of leaking messages to the press, is expected to be appointed today, says BBC Cardiff Bay reporter David Deans.  

STURGEON SPEAKS (BUT NOT ABOUT THAT): Gay marriage and alcohol pricing might not become law if they were proposed today because contentious plans now become a “vicious, toxic rammy, with bad faith arguments all over the place,” Scotland’s ex-First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said last night. Via the Times.

WOAH: Police have raided the offices of Alternative for Germany MEP Petr Bystron following allegations he accepted money from Russia in return for influence in the state — which he denies. POLITICO write-up.

THE ‘REVENGE’ THESIS: Donald Trump’s defense team is seeking to portray star prosecution witness Michael Cohen as so maniacally focused on sending the former president to prison that his testimony can’t be trusted, the POLITICO Nightly team report. 

**A message from bp: We’re investing in today’s energy system and helping to build out tomorrow’s while we do. And, not or – that’s our approach. While today we’re mostly in oil and gas, we increased the proportion of our global annual investment that went into our lower carbon & other transition businesses from around 3% in 2019 to around 23% in 2023. bp.com/AndNotOr.**

MEDIA ROUND

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves BBC local radio round: London (7.08 a.m.) … Leicester (7.15 a.m.) … Essex (7.22 a.m.) … Berkshire (7.38 a.m.) … Leeds (7.45 a.m.). 

Shadow Science Secretary Peter Kyle broadcast round: GMB (7.20 a.m.) … LBC News (7.35 a.m.) … TalkRadio (7.50 a.m.) … Sky News (8.15 a.m.) … Times Radio (8.35 a.m.) … GB News (9.05 a.m.).

Today program: U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths (7.50 a.m.).

Also on Nick Ferrari at Breakfast: New Economics Foundation Chief Executive Danny Sriskandarajah (8.05 a.m.).

Also on Good Morning Britain: Former Conservative MP Gyles Brandreth (7.50 a.m.) … Actor and comedian Eddie Izzard (8.30 a.m.). 

Also on Times Radio Breakfast: Conservative MP Robin Walker (7.25 a.m.) … Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer (8.45 a.m.). 

Also on Sky News Breakfast: Robin Walker (7.20 a.m.) … Conservative peer James Arbuthnot (9.30 a.m.).

TODAY’S FRONT PAGES

POLITICO UK: How Dominic Cummings’ favorite AI firm captured the British government.

Daily Express: Be warned! Taxes will go up under Labour, says Hunt.

Daily Mail: Don’t betray our Royal Mail.

Daily Mirror: Our joy.

Daily Star: Bless You Fido!

Financial Times: BT shares surge 17% as new chief vows to put squeeze on group’s short sellers. 

i: UK’s toxic water — Illegal sewage, parasite in taps — and higher bills on the way.

The Daily Telegraph: Labour tax rises as sure as night follows day, says Hunt.

The Guardian: Ministers were warned in 2021 about carer scandal.

The Independent: Starmer dons his boots in election battleground.

The Times: Bed-blocker crisis means extra NHS cash wasted.

TODAY’S NEWS MAG

The Economist: Is America dictator-proof?

THANK POD IT’S FRIDAY

Power Play: Host Anne McElvoy talks to Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak and ex-NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit.

Westminster Insider: Sascha O’Sullivan investigates how much power the Bank of England really wields, with ex-PM Liz Truss, former Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, the Resolution Foundation’s Torsten Bell, and the bank’s former Chief Economist Andy Haldane.

EU Confidential: Host Sarah Wheaton and her guests unpack some of the latest examples of interference from the Kremlin, like AI deepfake videos.

Plus 6 of the other best political podcasts to listen to this weekend:

The Rundown: Parliamentary candidates Khobi Patterson-Vallis, Josh Babarinde and Roz Savage discuss why they’re standing to become an MP, with PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst and journalist and candidate-watcher Michael Crick.

Chopper’s Politics: GB News’ Chris Hope is joined by exiting Conservative MP Robert Halfon, who takes a swipe at his party over the “minority pursuit” of culture wars, and PopCon’s Mark Littlewood.

Newscast: Hosts Adam Fleming, Alex Forsyth and Chris Mason talk to Shadow Environment Secretary Steve Reed.

Women with Balls: The Spectator’s Katy Balls interviews Shadow Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

The Rachman Review: The FT’s Gideon Rachman discusses tariffs on Chinese tech goods with Michael Froman, former U.S. trade representative and the president of America’s Council on Foreign Relations.

Ukrainecast: Hosts Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko talk to former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

LONDON CALLING

WESTMINSTER WEATHER: TFIF and thank God it’s not raining. Overcast, highs of 22C, lows of 13C. 

SPOTTED … at the Journalist Charity reception at the Irish Embassy, where Irish Ambassador Martin Fraser revealed he has a 9/1 bet on a U.K. election being called for July, and host Kay Burley said she’d like to go on I’m a Celeb: The Irish Embassy’s Adrian Collins and Jamal Alkayed … the U.S. Embassy’s Cindy Harvey … InHouse’s Daisy Pierce and Jennifer Watson … Express Political Editor Sam Lister … Daily Mail Whitehall Editor Claire Ellicott … the New Statesman’s Freddie Hayward … Bloomberg Radio’s Stephen Carroll … Sky News’ Freya Chappell.

PUT ON A PROPER SUIT: Harry Cole’s Friday Sun column compares Labour campaigns chief Morgan McSweeney to Dominic Cummings — because the svengalis both supposedly “dress like tramps.” A “sartorial source” (?) tells him: “More like Morgan McScruffy.”

NOT JUST GB NEWS: Politicians host shows on Times Radio too, y’know. Peers Ed Vaizey and Ayesha Hazarika are will be stepping up to present on weekday lunchtimes this summer, with Vaizey on the mic from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, and Hazarika on Thursdays and Fridays. The show will run from May 20 until the end of summer. 

NEW BOOK BONANZA: Journalist and podcaster Jon Sopel has announced his new book “Strangeland: How Britain Stopped Making Sense,” out on September 26. 

MEDIA NEWS: UAE-backed consortium RedBird IMI — which up until recently was in talks to buy the Telegraph and Spectator — has bought TV production and distribution company All3Media from Warner Bros Discovery. 

NOW WATCH: Ex-Home Secretary Suella Braverman, a GB News crew in tow in the drizzle, trying in vain to talk to masked pro-Palestinian protesters at Cambridge University. More context from Varsity.

NOW READ: The Telegraph’s interview with Shadow Creative Minister Chris Bryant, who talks about his cancer returning — and how he hates people telling him to “be brave” because it’s a “stumble on the road really. And I don’t feel death is in any sense imminent.” The piece also says he doesn’t want the job of Commons speaker.

BECAUSE IT’S FRIDAY: Look at Security Minister Tom Tugendhat’s very handsome cat.

WRITING PLAYBOOK PM: Andrew McDonald.

WRITING PLAYBOOK MONDAY MORNING: Dan Bloom.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: DCMS Secretary Lucy Frazer … Norwich North MP Chloe Smith … former Kingswood MP Chris Skidmore … Former Tory MP Anne Main … Former Home Secretary Alan Johnson … Labour peer Sue Nye … Former Justice Minister Simon Hughes … Labour peer Keith Bradley … crossbench peer Hugh Dykes … Labour peer Bryn Davies.

And celebrating over the weekend: Roads and local transport minister Guy Opperman … Fylde MP Mark Menzies … former DCMS Director of Comms Craig Woodhouse … Former Black Rod David Leakey … former European Commission President Jacques Santer … TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak … the New Statesman’s Zoë Grünewald … Author and columnist Lionel Shriver … Christchurch MP Christopher Chope … Bauer Media’s former U.K. Publishing CEO Chris Duncan … Former Cabinet Office Minister Oliver Letwin … Crossbench peer Peter Bowness … Labour peer Philip Hunt … Former MP Robert Kilroy-Silk … Holocaust Educational Trust Chief Executive Karen Pollock.

PLAYBOOK COULDN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT: My editors Zoya Sheftalovich and Jack Blanchard, diary reporter Bethany Dawson and producer Seb Starcevic.

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