Latest news with #ElectoralDysfunction
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
This week will haunt the prime minister after his most damaging U-turn yet
It has been a painful week to watch. A U-turn in slow motion, culminating in a midnight climbdown as Number 10 agreed to concede to defiant MPs on Thursday night. The concessions are considerable. They mean, among other compromises, that existing claimants of personal independence payments (PIP) and the health aspect of Universal Credit will be protected from welfare reforms. 👉 Follow Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app 👈 Some MPs, like and Nadia Whittome, remain unconvinced, but they were never high on the list of rebels the government expected to persuade. Ministers now hope that with the backing of MPs like Dame Meg Hillier, the chair of the Treasury Select Committee, the bill will pass the Commons. Their problems won't end there, though. Firstly, there is the question of money. The Resolution Foundation estimates the concessions will cost £3bn of the £5bn the hoped to save from the welfare reforms. The 's spokesperson says the changes will be fully funded in the budget and there will be no permanent increase in borrowing. They won't comment on any potential tax rises to plug the gap in Rachel Reeves' finances. The bigger cost, though, is the political one. A year ago, when Sir Keir Starmer strode into Downing Street with a thumping majority, few could have imagined how the last few days would play out. Read more: More than 120 MPs, nearly a third of the parliamentary party and more than the total number of Tory MPs, publicly prepared to rebel on a flagship policy. How did it come to this? How did the prime minister, and the people around him, not see a rebellion coming when there had been signs MPs weren't happy for weeks? Those are the questions being asked by senior Labour figures behind the scenes. Sir Keir's spokesperson says the prime minister consistently engages with colleagues, and parliamentary engagement takes many forms. But a lack of engagement with backbenchers has led to the prime minister's most damaging U-turn yet, and this week will haunt the prime minister beyond Tuesday's crunch vote.
Sky News
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Labour needs to focus on the working class, says Andy Burnham
👉 Click here to listen to Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app 👈 Beth is catching up with Andy Burnham - the Mayor of Greater Manchester - in his office for an extra episode this week. It's just days to go until the Chancellor unveils her Spending Review and it's set to be good news for the North - they're about to get billions for big transport projects. But is that a good enough offer to keep working class Labour voters interested? Burnham explains why he thinks the government could be doing better to connect with the working classes and how to keep their votes from going to Reform and Nigel Farage. For him, it's simple - better technical education and more social housing, something he's working on with his extra devolved powers. Will he pave the way for national policy?
Sky News
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sky News
Farage steps in while parliament is out
👉 Click here to listen to Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app 👈 Nigel Farage is using parliamentary recess to grab the microphone - he's been out and about during the half-term holiday criticising the government and claiming Reform UK as the party for families. Harriet and Ruth ask whether he's been smart in copying the tactics we're used to seeing from leaders of the Opposition. It's just a week on from that EU debate he missed in the House of Commons because he was on holiday himself. So what are the rules for MPs going away in term time? Harriet has a tale of her own. Plus we have a holiday treat in the form of an interview with legendary satirist Armando Iannucci - recorded at the ED Live show in London.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Economy will have to be 'strong enough' for U-turn on winter fuel, business secretary says
The economy will have to be "strong enough" for the government to U-turn on winter fuel payment cuts, the business secretary has said. Jonathan Reynolds, talking to on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast, also said the public would have to "wait for the actual budget" to make an announcement on it. Sir Keir Starmer said on Wednesday , which has been removed from more than 10 million pensioners this winter after it became means-tested. He and his ministers had insisted they would stick to their guns on the policy, even just hours before Sir Keir revealed his change of heart at Prime Minister's Questions. But Mr Reynolds revealed there is more at play to be able to change the policy. "The economy has got to be strong enough to give you the capacity to make the kind of decisions people want us to see," he said. "We want people to know we're listening. "All the prime minister has said is look, he's listening, he's aware of it. "He wants a strong economy to be able to deliver for people. "You'd have to wait for the actual budget to do that." Read more: Chancellor Rachel Reeves has committed to just one major fiscal event a year, meaning just one annual budget in the autumn. Autumn budgets normally take place in October, with the last one at the end of the month. If this year's budget is around the same date it will leave little time for the extra winter fuel payments to be made as they are paid between November and December. You can listen to the on tomorrow's Electoral Dysfunction podcast
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Thick of It creator reveals scene which cabinet ministers say happened in real life
The creator of the hit political satire The Thick of It has revealed which scene in the series cabinet ministers have confessed to experiencing in real life. Armando Iannucci told Sky News' live event with that the writers would make up scenarios to be "as stupid as they can" - only to be asked later by Whitehall officials how they had found out about it. One episode in particular that was close to the bone involves the fictional mouthy communications director of Number 10, telling a cabinet minister the policy he is due to announce to the media is being cancelled because it is too expensive - and he will have to come up with another one on the spot. Mr Iannucci said: "Sometimes we would come up with stories that were like, we had to invent them, you know, and we thought, let's push it as stupidly as we can. "And then a couple of weeks later, someone from Whitehall would say, 'how did you find out exactly? We thought we'd kept that very quiet'. "And you know, the opening episode has them in the back of a car trying to come up with a policy. Malcolm's rung up and said the policy you've called the press to hear, you cannot go ahead, It's too expensive. "So they've got to come up with a policy that sounds great but will cost nothing. And I've had various former cabinet members say to me quietly, 'I've been in the back of that car'." The Thick of It aired 20 years ago this month, when New Labour was in government. It satirised the inner workings of modern British government, with the focus on the fictitious Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship. Harriet Harman, one of the few senior female figures at the time and now a peer and co-host of Electoral Dysfunction, asked Mr Iannucci if anyone inspired the character Nicola Murray, who was the focus of series three. "I'm asking for a friend, because basically it's like she was so ineffective, but she was so hard working and a nice person. Yes, but she was utterly destroyed by Number 10 and her ministerial colleagues putting the boot in. "I just wondered if she was based on anyone in particular?". Mr Iannucci said everyone in The Thick Of It was "based either on a composite of different things we've heard in different people or on a kind of guesstimate of what this person might be".
