Good afternoon. This is Emilio Casalicchio.
TUESDAY CHEAT SHEET
— The government agreed to release documents on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor winning a plum trade role.
— A minister tore into the former prince on the floor of the Commons.
— David Lammy set out how AI and prison vans using bus lanes will help oil controversial court reforms.
— Like court clerks … ISIS recruits are being encouraged to use AI to aid their work.
— Falling birth rates will mean more school choices (at least until civilization collapses) according to Bridget Phillipson.
**A message from Instagram: Instagram Teen Accounts automatically filter content and comments to help make sure what teenagers see is age-appropriate. Learn more.**
TOP OF THE NEWSLIST
PAPERS, PLEASE: Government officials are now scrabbling to pull together documents about how Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor ended up in a plum trade role, after MPs voted to unseal files on the controversial royal.
The demand: After attacking the former Prince Andrew in a three-hour Commons debate this afternoon, MPs nodded through the Lib Dem motion calling for the publication of “all papers relating to the creation of the role of Special Representative for Trade and Investment and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s appointment to that role” in 2001.
What it means: A team created in the business department over the past week is now assessing the scope of the Lib Dem motion, grappling with useless Outlook search functions, and mining piles of paper records to dig up scraps that might be relevant. The group will then work out (1) whether the police might need said scraps for their probe into Mountbatten-Windsor and (2) whether publishing them could harm the ongoing police probe. Those that could scupper the police won’t be published until the legal process is finished. Mountbatten-Windsor has not been charged with an offense and has strenuously denied wrongdoing in relation to his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Looking for smoke signals: All this is of course happening in the wake of the Epstein files appearing to show Mountbatten-Windsor sharing sensitive business information with the convicted sex offender while in the trade role. Opening the Commons debate, Lib Dem boss Ed Davey said he wanted to know whether fellow Epstein associate Peter Mandelson pushed for Mountbatten-Windsor to win the appointment.
Lads network: Davey said that would amount to “one friend of Epstein lobbying for a job for another friend of Epstein — a job that might help Epstein enrich himself.”
The Davey zeal is quite the turnaround from … praising Mountbatten-Windsor for his “excellent job” in the trade role back in 2011, when the Lib Dem boss was a minister. Davey now argues he had little choice while speaking for the government, and didn’t know the full extent of the Epstein relationship at the time.
Nevertheless: He said sorry for his past comments this morning. “Can I apologize to all those victims of [Jeffrey] Epstein who may have read those words and been upset by them?” he told Radio 4. “I really regret them.”
Battering Mountbatten: Numerous MPs used the debate this afternoon (including the free rein from Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle to criticize the ex-prince) to vent about the whole mess.
Tell us what you really think: Trade Minister Chris Bryant was among those letting loose, branding Mountbatten-Windsor “a man on a constant self-aggrandizing and self-enriching hustle. A rude, arrogant and entitled man who could not distinguish between the public interest which he said he served, and his own private interest.” He reiterated that ministers are working on a law to block Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession. (Handy new House of Commons briefing on all that here.)
And there was more: Bryant said the abuse Epstein perpetrated “was enabled, aided and abetted by a very extensive group of arrogant, entitled, and often very wealthy individuals in this country and elsewhere. It’s not just the people who participated in the abuse, it’s the many, many more who turned a blind eye out of greed, familiarity or deference. To my mind, they too were complicit. Just as complicit. And I welcome the reckoning that is coming to them now.”
THE JUSTICE STORY THE GOVERNMENT WANTED TO TALK ABOUT: Ministers have been setting out how they reckon their controversial court reforms, alongside a load of tech upgrades and an extra bung of cash, will un-break our broken justice machine — serving victims with faster convictions for perps. Justice Secretary David Lammy this afternoon delivered a speech at the ExCel London conference center on the second part of the Leveson report into the court crisis — about modernizing the regime.
Real artificial plans: Lammy said artificial intelligence will help courts standardize their listings and schedule similar hearings together to maximize resources, as well as transcribe and summarize more for staff … courts will hire case co-ordinators to ensure admin is up to scratch and avoid last-minute hearing cancellations … more video hearing tech will be installed … and prison vans will get to use bus lanes and be prioritized for green traffic lights, to help defendants reach trials on time.
In the conference room where it happened: “We will renew the system after years of decline, so it is serious about justice as it exists today,” Lammy said in a small conference side room in front of a Microsoft AI background.
But but but: Ministers insist all these bits and bobs are marginal gains without the broader reform plan: keeping more cases in magistrates courts, boosting magistrate sentencing powers and creating a new division between the magistrate and crown courts where sometimes a single judge can decide on a less serious case. Ministers reckon those three together will free up an additional 29,000 court sitting days before the next election.
Rolling the pitch: In a glass room high in the MoJ building in Westminster this morning, Courts Minister Sarah Sackman tossed a few charts around to illustrate expectations. No change will see the case backlog rise to around 200,000 in 2035, she warned. More cash might see it come in at more like 175,000 cases, and modernization will help bring that down another 5 percent. But only the structural changes will see the backlog reduce to below 100,000, she argued.
Sink or swim: “With a crisis of this magnitude, there is no silver bullet,” Sackman told reporters. “What is required is nothing short of throwing the kitchen sink at it.”
Kitchen nightmares: Labour MP Karl Turner is hoping to incite a backbench rebellion on the plans, the Lib Dems are urging the government to instead extend court sitting hours from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the Tories (who closed loads of courts and oversaw the case pile-up) said Lammy was “rushing ahead” with his plans without a mandate.
But but but: Ministers are vowing to press ahead (for the moment, at least) with the current blueprint — arguing it’s reasonable for the government to determine which crimes warrant juries. “It’s acceptable for any government of the day to make the determination for where the threshold should be,” Lammy said. He’s hoping to pass the legislation (which will be introduced tomorrow) before the end of 2026.
Message for Karl: “We will be out on our backsides unless we deliver by the time of the next general election,” Lammy told the BBC Newscast podcast about the backlogs.
Of course: There’s also a debate about how much difference the proposals will actually make. The Institute for Government reckons a third fewer cases going to crown courts would see a mere 2 percent reduction in time spent on them — due to the knock-on impact on magistrates. Although the government is promising to increase magistrate numbers from 12,000 to 21,000 before the next election.
Which will cost cash: Lammy confirmed in his speech that courts will be funded for “unlimited” sitting days from April 2026 — although the numbers cast doubt on that. The budget for courts and tribunals is increasing from £2.538 billion in 2025/26 to £2.785 billion in 2026/27 — a change of £247 million, with maintenance coming out of that, too.
Blank cheques from Rachel? Playbook PM asked Lammy about the “unlimited” spin when the funding is, in fact, limited. He said he’ll “find the money to do more” if needed and is confident structural reform will see the funds stretch further.
Back to where we started: In his speech Q&A, Lammy was also drawn on the Epstein fallout, and whether reports he advised Keir Starmer against appointing Peter Mandelson as U.S. ambassador were true. He said he was subject to collective responsibility at the time, but is “sorry” Mandelson was appointed.
Couldn’t happen under the Tories, honest: During her own press conference this morning, about social media, Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch said she would never have appointed someone like Mandelson to the role. “I’m not going to be bringing people in who have been sacked twice over ethics issues,” she said.
DRIVETIME DEBRIEF
WHAT ELSE THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO TALK ABOUT: More Russian sanctions and a longer window for Ukrainian refugees to extend their settlements in Britain, both to mark the fourth anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion. During his Cabinet meeting this morning, Keir Starmer paid tribute to “the incredible resilience of the Ukrainians,” adding: “We must defeat the falsehood that Russia is winning.” There were the usual warm words out of the “coalition of the willing” call too, which more than 30 leaders dialed into. And the PM will be pleased that the Americans signed a G7 statement pledging “unwavering support for Ukraine in defending its territorial integrity and right to exist, and its freedom, sovereignty and independence.”
Even more that the government wants to talk about: Bringing Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and other streamers under the Ofcom remit (and triggering Reform in the process) … and a £345 million package to fund farm tech, which Farming Secretary Emma Reynolds announced this afternoon at the NFU conference in Birmingham. The NFU called on opposition parties to add promises on abolishing the new agricultural inheritance tax in their next manifestos.
GLASS HALF FULL APPROACH: Falling birth rates (which pose an existential risk to human civilization — not least in the short term via lower tax receipts despite an expensive aging population) will mean more choice for parents about which schools to send their kids to, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told Times Radio this morning. “Parents are going to have more choices in the years to come because there are just fewer children who are approaching school age and will be making that transition into secondary school,” she explained.
CLEANING UP POLITICS LATEST: Matt Western, chair of parliament’s Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, urged the government to slap a temporary ban on cryptocurrency donations to political parties, my colleague Mason Boycott-Owen texts in to say. Mason reported in December that the government is considering a ban, but ministers are currently waiting for the Rycroft review to report back.
To-do list: A letter from the Labour MP argues police should lead on tracking political finance and foreign interference … wants parties to use Financial Conduct Authority-registered platforms … and calls for stronger powers for the Electoral Commission to compel financial institutions to hand over information about where donations actually come from.
SOCIAL (MEDIA) AFFAIRS
DIGITAL JIHAD: ISIS recruits are being encouraged to use AI … “responsibly.” Recent magazines from the Afghanistan branch of ISIS (IS-K) (yes, they have a magazine) contain articles proclaiming the terror group’s followers must “raise children and students to be cyber-conscious and spiritually grounded.” Full story from Mason here.
BAKED IN: Labour MP and social media whizz Gordon McKee used American pancakes to explain why Britain is less productive than its ally/adversary across the pond.
KEIR VS. THE INTERNET: U.K. tech watchdogs fined Reddit £14.47 million for unlawfully processing the data of young children. Writeup here.
BEYOND THE M25
STILL TO COME: The Welsh parliament is expected to vote this evening on a motion about whether the government across the border should have the power to offer assisted dying on the Welsh NHS. Supporters of assisted dying in Westminster note that devolved powers are baked into the bill.
NORTH OF THE BORDER: The Scottish government released thousands of documents about a 2021 ethics investigation into former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s handling of an investigation into her predecessor Alex Salmond. The Daily Record has the latest.
CLOSE TO HOME: Green Party Leader Zack Polanski said he would support a motion stating “Zionism is racism” if it links to the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza. Polanski told Times Radio he will be “listening carefully to the debate” but Israel’s actions in the region are “absolutely … racist.” POLITICO has a writeup.
IN IRAN: Plainclothes police and security forces tried to flood Iran’s remaining open universities to crush a fourth day of student protests against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The Guardian has the rundown.
TONIGHT’S MEDIA ROUND
LEADING THE NEWS BULLETINS: BBC News at Six focuses on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s Ukraine invasion … Channel 5 News (5 p.m.) and ITV Evening News (6.30 p.m.) lead on the debate about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor … as does Channel 4 News (7 p.m.), which has an interview with Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
Wes Streeting BBC local radio broadcast round: Wiltshire/Gloucestershire (5.08 p.m.) … Leicester/Derby/Nottingham (5.15 p.m.) … West Midlands/Coventry and Warwickshire (5.22 p.m.) … Lancashire/Cumbria (5.30 p.m.) … Three Counties/Northampton (5.38 p.m.) … Sheffield/York/Leeds (5.45 p.m.).
BBC Newscast (Podcast, out now): Justice Secretary David Lammy.
Tom Swarbrick at Drive (LBC, until 6 p.m.): Doctors’ Association UK Spokesperson Steve Taylor (5.05 p.m.) … former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton (5.50 p.m.).
Drive with John Pienaar (Times Radio, until 7 p.m.): Defence Secretary John Healey … Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family of London Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski … former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul … Rud Pedersen UK’s Jo Tanner.
Kevin O’Sullivan (Talk, until 7 p.m.): Former Military Intelligence Officer Philip Ingram (5.20 p.m.).
News Hour (Sky News, 5 p.m.): Former Danish PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen (5.15 p.m.) … Labour peer George Foulkes (5.30 p.m.) … former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul (5.45 p.m.) … Ukrainian Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee Oleksandr Merezhko (6.20 p.m.) …
The News Agents (Podcast, drops at 5 p.m.): Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson.
Tonight With Andrew Marr (LBC, 6 p.m.): Wes Streeting … Richard Tice.
Dewbs and Co (GB News, 6 p.m.): Labour peer Steve McCabe … Reform UK home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf.
Farage (GB News, 7 p.m.): Chagos Islands First Minister Misley Mandarin … former Lib Dem adviser Jo Phillips … former Tory Cabinet minister Ranil Jayawardena.
Politics Hub (Sky News, 7 p.m.): Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper … Care Minister Stephen Kinnock … Lib Dem MP Christine Jardine … Reform UK commentator Tim Montgomerie.
The Evening Edition with Kait Borsay (Times Radio, 7 p.m.): Former U.K. Ambassador to Ukraine Leigh Turner (7.15 p.m.) … Lib Dem Justice spokesperson Jess Brown-Fuller (7.35 p.m.) … Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Merezhko (8 p.m.) … Republican strategist Matthew Bartlett (8.15 p.m.).
Cross Question with Iain Dale (LBC, 8 p.m.): Labour MP Preet Kaur Gill … former Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt … PoliticsHome’s Tom Scotson … writer Daniel Johnson.
Jacob Rees-Mogg’s State of the Nation (GB News, 8 p.m.): Richard Tice.
Patrick Christys Tonight (GB News, 9 p.m.): Tory MP Esther McVey.
Newsnight (BBC 2, 10.30 p.m.): Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.
TWEETING TOMORROW’S PAPERS TONIGHT: Alfie Tobutt.
REVIEWING THE PAPERS TONIGHT: Sky News (10 p.m.): Tory peer and Spectator Editor Michael Gove and journo Sonia Sodha … Times Radio (10.30 p.m.): Talk’s Peter Cardwell and broadcaster Alicia Fitzgerald.
WHERE TO FIND BOOZE IN WESTMINSTER TONIGHT
BEER AND A BAB: The 14th British Kebab Awards gets underway right about now, with a drinks reception at the Park Plaza Westminster followed by dinner at 7 p.m. DPM David Lammy, Economic Secretary to the Treasury Lucy Rigby and Conservative PM Matt Vickers are among the speakers.
WASTED WITH WONKS: The Labour Staff Economy Network has a panel event and drinks reception on wealth taxes, with speakers including Tax Policy Associates’ Dan Neidle and the IPPR’s Rachael Henry, in the Cathedral Room of Richmond House from 5.45 p.m.
TOMORROW’S WORLD
ISLAND IN THE STREAM: The U.S. and Mauritius conclude discussions in Port Louis about the Chagos Islands and broader international security. What could possibly go wrong?
BRIGHT SPARKS: Ofgem announces its energy price cap covering April through June 30, at 7 a.m.
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO TALK ABOUT: Illegal migration, court reform and passport requirements.
IN THE COMMONS: MPs saunter in at 11.30 a.m. for Scotland questions, PMQs and a general debate on Ukraine.
BAD FLASHBACKS: Former Office for Budget Responsibility Chairs Richard Hughes and Robert Chote speak to the Treasury Committee about 15 years of the watchdog, from 2.15 p.m.
IN THE LORDS: Peers shimmer in at 3 p.m. for the third reading of the medical training places bill and the first report stage debate of the Crime and Policing Bill.
NOTHING CONTROVERSIAL HERE: Trade Minister Chris Bryant is interrogated by the arms export controls committee about the U.K.’s sanctions regime, from 3.30 p.m.
ONLY HUMAN AFTER ALL: AI Minister Kanishka Narayan faces a grilling from the Joint Committee on Human Rights, about AI regulation, alongside Microsoft and Meta officials, from 3.45 p.m.
PLOUGHING ON: The National Farmers’ Union annual conference concludes in Birmingham at 4 p.m.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
SPOTTED: Former No.10 spinlord turned centrist podcast bro Alastair Campbell in Kyiv’s Maidan Square to commemorate the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: The ConHome piece from Tali Fraser about how Kemi Badenoch is trying to win over younger voters through policies on student loans, stamp duty and apprenticeships. Fraser says the age cap for the Young Conservatives group has been lifted from 25 to 30 and is seeking to attract “normal people.” Best of luck with that.
What else I’ve been reading: The reflections in the New Statesman about four years of Russia’s Ukraine invasion and how the Ukrainian people have been affected. “Like nature, war is a merciless teacher — not only of individuals, but of entire nations,” former Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba writes. “The Ukrainian people have learned not to give up, even as hope wears thin.”
PACKED LUNCH OR PALACE LUNCH: Subject to change, here are the lunch menus on the estate tomorrow: Bellamy’s: Cod fillet on sundried tomato and cauliflower tabbouleh with dill and lemon crème fraiche; borlotti bean, chickpea and mushroom cassoulet with sweet potato, cous cous and kale; harissa lamb and sweet potato pie with kale, hummus and mint yoghurt … The Debate: Korean sesame salmon bulgogi with rice and cucumber kimchi; salt beef bagel with mustard mayonnaise, cabbage and gherkin; Jamaican Ital gungo bean, vegetable and coconut stew with dumpling and hot sauce … Terrace Cafeteria: Beef keema curry with rice, poppadum and mango chutney; cod, salmon and haddock fish pie with dill; sweet potato and bean quesadilla with melted cheese, jalapeño, tomato and red onion salad … River Restaurant: Corn and lentil cottage pie with peas and gravy; gammon roast with all the trimmings; prawn, pea and tomato risotto with confit fennel-topped crostini.
ON THIS DAY IN POLITICS: On Feb. 24, 1920 Nancy Astor became the first woman to speak in the House of Commons following her election as an MP three months earlier. On the same day in 1950, the first ever televised election results program delivered minute-to-minute coverage as ballots were counted. Prime Minister Clement Attlee watched his Labour majority slip from 146 to a mere five. And in 2022, Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
WRITING PLAYBOOK TOMORROW MORNING: Sam Blewett.
THANKS TO: My editor Matt Honeycombe-Foster, reporter Noah Keate and the POLITICO production team for making it look nice.
SUBSCRIBE to the POLITICO newsletter family: Brussels Playbook | London Playbook | London Playbook PM | Playbook Paris | EU Election Playbook | Berlin Playbook | Global Playbook | POLITICO Confidential | Sunday Crunch | EU Influence | London Influence | Digital Bridge | China Watcher | Berlin Bulletin | D.C. Playbook | D.C. Influence | All our POLITICO Pro policy morning newsletters