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Lee Hurst: I can’t stress enough how much I think...

I can’t stress enough how much I think this is a bad idea. I think with current polling we could end up with a centre left coalition govt with the 5 year clock starting again. Failing that we will end up with a Reform/Tory coalition with Reform hamstrung at every turn and they will just end up totally ineffectual. The public will blame Reform NOT the Tories as the MSM will ensure that is the narrative. We need Labour to slump and Reform back above 30% before a GE.

Cameron Hudson: Just like in the Horn of Africa...

Just like in the Horn of Africa, the Trump Administration has no strategy for the Sahel. Except the Sahel is even less strategic to US interests than the Horn. So the idea of expanding our game of terrorist whack-a-mole from Somalia, to Nigeria, to Mali might play to a MAGA audience, make us appear tough, and might possibly undermine Russia in the region (which has never been a stated objective of this Administration), it risks making the US a target for these terror groups, encourage them to deepen ties AQ and IS core groups outside the Sahel, and send us down a slippery slope of escalation that neither the French nor Russians escaped from without serious damage to their pride and reputation.

Alex Wickham: Keir Starmer’s allies accuse Andy Burnham...

EXCLUSIVE: Keir Starmer’s allies accuse Andy Burnham of appointing a divisive cabinet designed to reward those who brought him down. One says it immediately breaks Burnham’s pledge to be inclusive and run a broad church. Another says it’s dangerously hubristic and creates enemies who will come back to haunt him. A third says there is no policy justification for the top appointments. Burnham’s allies insist the cabinet represents all factions and regions. But in a striking response some of Starmer’s allies are saying men have got the top jobs and that it cements a north-south divide. While some see John Healey as a safer pick as chancellor than a left-winger, a Starmer ally says he’s been misunderstood and he’s actually the fiscally loosest possible choice because he wants a massive increase in defence spending. There is a lot of negative briefing about Wes Streeting, an arch anti-Starmer plotter, over his lack of defence experience. Former soldier Dan Jarvis losing his job is particularly upsetting people. Ed Miliband, another key plotter, as foreign secretary is causing a big reaction. Some are confused because he faces a very difficult task winning round the Trump administration that openly dislikes him. And it’s angering those who were appalled by his infamous decision to block action against Assad. There are also early signs of discontent on the left over Shabana Mahmood’s reappointment as home secretary. Lots of Burnham supporters on the left abstained on the immigration bill last week assuming she would be moved. They will want her to water down her more hardline immigration policies. Some on the left are also disappointed Miliband wasn’t made chancellor, saying Healey will want to focus spending on defence and is hardly a transformational pick otherwise.
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