![\"London](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/nl-header_politico_london-playbook.png\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\nBy ANNABELLE DICKSON and SAM BLEWETT<\/strong><\/p>\n with BETHANY DAWSON<\/strong><\/p>\n Good Tuesday morning<\/strong>. This is Annabelle Dickson in the Playbook hot seat, and Sam Blewett is on his summer tour in Plymouth.<\/p>\n DRIVING THE DAY<\/p>\n ALL ABOUT THE JOBS: <\/strong>Keir Starmer will today attempt to convince voters he has a plan to wean Britain off its addiction to overseas workers as the party seeks to stem the flow of blue-collar voters moving across to Nigel Farage\u2019s Reform UK. That message could well be overshadowed if the inauspicious milestone of 50,000 small boat migrant arrivals since Labour took office is officially reached today, as expected.\u00a0<\/p>\n Working class pitch: <\/strong>The PM, who is working from Downing Street, will take a break from mulling weighty foreign affairs conundrums to do a round of regional newspaper interviews to make his pitch that he is investing in training the next generation of bricklayers, sparkies, carpenters and roofers to furnish Britain\u2019s construction industry with homegrown skills.<\/p>\n Warming to a theme<\/strong>: Ministers already announced<\/a> plans to establish technical excellence colleges in March \u2014 but they\u2019re hoping to drum up local interest by announcing details of the 10 chosen locations for investment across the country today. Full list here<\/a>. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson will also be speaking to regional media and LBC today. Skills Minister Jacqui Smith has the morning round for the government.<\/p>\n **A message from Climate Group:<\/strong> Does your business use steel? Are steel-related emissions your next big challenge? Our SteelZero<\/a> initiative is the voice for businesses who procure, specify or stock steel, and are on a mission to cut emissions. Together, we\u2019re driving supply chain decarbonisation, influencing policy and shaping the future of steel. Join SteelZero<\/a>.**<\/strong><\/p>\n But but but: <\/strong>The Conservatives are making great play this morning of Labour\u2019s 50k Channel crossing landmark \u2014\u00a0conveniently ignoring the fact they didn\u2019t exactly excel at stopping the boats when they were in power just over a year ago. Home Office Minister Matt Vickers is currently touring broadcast studios to keep the issue high up the agenda. He will no doubt have to field questions too about Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch\u2019s suggestion on Monday<\/a> that migrants should be housed in \u201ccamps\u201d away from local communities.<\/p>\n In numbers: <\/strong>The Express<\/a> has helpfully calculated how long it has taken recent leaders to hit the 50k small boat migrant landmark. Starmer has reached it in 401 days, Rishi Sunak in 603 days and Boris Johnson in 1,066 days, the paper reckons.\u00a0<\/p>\n STAT ATTACK: <\/strong>The health of Britain\u2019s current labor market is also likely to be high on the news agenda this morning. The Office for National Statistics published its August Labour market statistics<\/a> a moment ago. New welfare stats, including the number of Universal Credit claimants, will appear on the Department for Work and Pensions website at 9.30 a.m.<\/p>\n Digest with caution: <\/strong>The stats drop comes after the Office for National Statistics became the latest institution to come under political attack<\/a>. Questions are being asked about the quality of Britain\u2019s official labor market data, as the Bloomberg markets team noted<\/a> in a blog post Monday. Quality data is pretty vital for understanding the impact of policy decisions like raising the minimum wage, increasing employer national insurance contributions and the rise in inactivity and sickness benefits, the Bloomberg team points out.<\/p>\n Over in Belfast: <\/strong>Rachel Reeves is likely to face questions about the jobs numbers when she speaks to regional media at around 10.45 a.m. this morning. The chancellor is in Northern Ireland promoting jobs in the country\u2019s film industry. She will visit Studio Ulster this morning, before heading off on a defense visit.<\/p>\n Also touring this summer: <\/strong>Reeves\u2019 shadow Mel Stride will visit a gin distillery on the Isle of Wight and head to the seaside town of Sandown.<\/p>\n WAR AND PEACE<\/p>\n COUNTING ON CARNEY:<\/strong> Starmer sought to shore up support for Ukraine from Canada in a call with PM Mark Carney, a readout from Downing Street suggested last night.\u00a0The two men agreed a peace deal \u201cmust be built with Ukraine \u2014 not imposed upon it,\u201d No. 10 added.<\/p>\n Just got to convince this guy: <\/strong>European leaders and Volodymyr Zelenskyy will get a chance to lobby Trump on Wednesday when German Chancellor Friedrich Merz holds an emergency virtual summit<\/a>.\u00a0The cast list includes Trump, European leaders and the Ukrainian president.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s (current) terms: <\/strong>In case you missed it, the U.S. president gave his latest thoughts on Monday on what might be in store at Friday\u2019s \u201cfeel-out\u201d<\/a> Alaska summit with Vladimir Putin. Trump said he would \u201ctry to get back\u201d some of Ukraine\u2019s \u201coceanfront property\u201d \u2026. he claimed to \u201cvery severely\u201d disagree with Zelenskyy\u2019s handling of the conflict \u2026 and said the Ukrainian president will not be attending the meeting, though he will try to set up a separate trilateral summit with if he thinks a deal is possible post Putin chat.<\/p>\n He ain\u2019t serious: <\/strong>Zelenskyy remains skeptical. He published a social media post<\/a> last night citing intelligence which suggests Putin is \u201cdefinitely not preparing for a ceasefire or an end to the war.\u201d The Russians are actually \u201credeploying their troops and forces in ways that suggest preparations for new offensive operations.\u201d<\/p>\n In agreement: <\/strong>Downing Street warned at Monday\u2019s Lobby briefing Putin can\u2019t be trusted \u201cas far as you could throw him.\u201d<\/p>\n However: <\/strong>The Telegraph reckons<\/a> Zelenskyy told European leaders that while he would reject any settlement in which Ukraine gives up further territory, Russia could be allowed to retain some of the land it has taken.<\/p>\n Taking their Vance: <\/strong>Down in the Cotswolds <\/strong>anti-Vance protesters are gearing up to stage a \u201cVance Not Welcome\u201d party today. They are off to the village of Charlbury to make their opposition to the U.S. VP\u00a0known. \u201cStop Trump Coalition\u201d spokesperson Zoe Gardner tells HuffPost<\/a> her group will be \u201cusing our free speech to let him know he and his politics of hate are not welcome in the Cotswolds or any part of our country.\u201d Villagers in Dean have started putting up protest placards along one of their lanes.<\/p>\n Spotted: <\/strong>An undeterred Vance was seen at Daylesford Farm \u2014\u00a0the high-end shop owned by the wife of Tory donor Anthony Bamford \u2014 on Monday, the Telegraph reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n TIME TO INVESTIGATE:<\/strong> The killing of five journalists in a targeted airstrike in Gaza \u2014\u00a0including Anas Al Sharif, a prominent Al Jazeera reporter \u2014 gets widespread coverage in today\u2019s papers amid international condemnation.\u00a0Hundreds of mourners carried their bodies through the streets of Gaza City on Monday.<\/p>\n Investigate now:<\/strong> Starmer called for an independent investigation through his spokesman, who said the PM was \u201cgravely concerned\u201d about the killings. The U.N.\u2019s human rights office reckons<\/a> the strike was a breach of international law. Israel claims Sharif had \u201cserved as the head of a terrorist cell in Hamas\u201d \u2014 something Sharif denied.\u00a0<\/p>\n In revolt:\u00a0<\/strong>Some EU civil servants are getting nervous about what they describe as an institutional crackdown on freedom of speech as they accuse EU institutions of \u201cintimidation\u201d toward officials protesting the European Commission\u2019s Gaza policy, POLITICO\u2019s Ben Munster reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n A WORD FROM THE WISE:<\/strong> Former NATO boss George Robertson has called for a more honest conversation between national governments and voters as they prepare for massive hikes in defense spending. Robertson, who led the recent strategic defense review, told my colleagues Esther Webber and Victor Jack<\/a>: \u201cIt will be painful, and it will be difficult, and it will require politicians to outline what the dangers and the risks actually are.\u201d He warned that the British public were currently \u201cunaware\u201d of a lack of comprehensive air and missile defense and if they knew, \u201cthat might change opinions.\u201d<\/p>\n POSTCARD FROM PLYMOUTH<\/p>\n A FLAG-WRAPPED CITY:\u00a0<\/strong>Watching frigates pass through Plymouth Sound from the hilltop\u00a0of\u00a0Hoe Park, fluttering flags and a naval memorial standing tall behind, this looks exactly like the sort of place that might embrace a militaristic, Union Jack-waving strain of Starmerism. But it\u2019s not quite that simple,\u00a0Sam Blewett\u00a0<\/strong>writes in.\u00a0It never is, for this prime minister.<\/p>\n Robo subs:\u00a0<\/strong>The deprived Devon city looks set to benefit handsomely from this Labour government \u2014\u00a0with increased defense spending and the strategic review stoking hopes that workers could return\u00a0en masse\u00a0to the dockyard. The ramp-up in building the submarines of the future is also expected to generate positive knock-on effects for the rest of the area. But will anybody\u00a0ever\u00a0thank Labour?<\/p>\n A military affair:\u00a0<\/strong>You don\u2019t\u00a0have\u00a0to be ex-military to be an MP in this sea of service personnel and veterans \u2014\u00a0but it helps. Plymouth Moor View, overlooking the city, was a major triumph for Labour activists in 2024: Former Marine Fred Thomas ejected Conservative former Army officer Johnny Mercer after an eventful nine years in the Commons. The MP covering the city center and the docklands, Minister for the Armed Forces Luke Pollard, hasn\u2019t actually served himself but is a bit of a military buff, and his father was a submariner who still works as an engineer in the Devonport Dockyard.<\/p>\n Revival:\u00a0<\/strong>Pollard\u2019s seat looks a little safer from the surging Reform UK than Thomas\u2019 constituency, but he knows Labour needs to get a move on and deliver. Pollard is away when Playbook\u2019s mid-recess summer tour arrives, but the ever-enthusiastic minister is happy to pick up the phone to talk up his city (the museum featuring a woolly mammoth created from the same hair as\u00a0Star Wars\u2019 Chewbacca<\/a>\u00a0being one point of pride).<\/p>\n Looking up:\u00a0<\/strong>At the last general election after years of Tory rule, Pollard claims a grand total of zero cranes could be seen over Plymouth. But he says: \u201cBy the time the next election comes round we\u2019ll have massive construction taking place in the city center, we\u2019ll have huge amounts of construction across the dockyards and across the industrial areas of the city so it will be the exact opposite.\u201d All the same, Pollard is clear he and Thomas need to be\u00a0deftly\u00a0\u201carticulating\u201d what\u2019s going on to their constituents.<\/p>\n Start the boats!\u00a0<\/strong>There are\u00a0plenty of ways that Britain increasing defense spending to 3.5 percent (and beyond, eventually) will benefit a military town raised on shipbuilding. Pollard is excited about the automated subs, designed in part to ward off Russia from the North Atlantic. He presents a vision, too, that is very much of the Labour right; one that sounds like Keir Starmer\u2019s case for how his boost for the military at the expense of foreign aid should create shared prosperity.<\/p>\n Plymouth First:\u00a0<\/strong>In Pollard\u2019s mind, they need to make the case for Plymouth to get new investment \u201cbecause of our role in national security, it\u2019s not just because we\u2019ve got high levels of deprivation \u2026 it\u2019s because if we build the houses here in Plymouth we will have enough workers so I can get my nuclear submarines to sea and keep our country safe.\u201d<\/p>\n But who\u2019s buying it?<\/strong>\u00a0Up at the Royal British Legion bar, no one seems that impressed. As one Falklands veteran puts it \u2014 while the barman dressed in a Union Jack\u00a0shirt energetically bops between bingo customers \u2014 the massive jump in defense spending is solely \u201cbecause of Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n Trumped:\u00a0<\/strong>Starmer may have signaled his die-hard support for all things military before the Republican\u2019s reelection, but few were willing to give the PM credit for hiking defense spending. Playbook met precious few Trump supporters,\u00a0and both at the Legion and elsewhere in the city people were happy to paint Starmer as behaving like a \u201clittle puppy\u201d with the U.S. president rather than standing up to him, regardless of what that could achieve.\u00a0<\/p>\n Attack attack attack:\u00a0<\/strong>Among the attack lines Labour hopes will prove potent against its current right-wing nemesis are claims Nigel Farage is out of step with the West on Ukraine and is actually a Vladimir Putin sympathizer, based on decade-old, caveated comments that he \u201cadmire[s]<\/a>\u201d the Russian autocrat and more recent remarks suggesting the\u00a0West provoked<\/a>\u00a0his assault on Kyiv.<\/p>\n Down in one:\u00a0<\/strong>At Number 10 (North Road, Plymouth), Pete White holds court at the bar. The 63-year-old son of a military Labour diehard flatly calls these allegations \u201cbullshit.\u201d Over a crisp afternoon pint, he backs Farage as the only pol who would \u201cshut these borders\u201d to small boat arrivals, while praising authorized migration as \u201cbrilliant.\u201d He then goes on to decry Starmer as having defended pedophile Jimmy Savile while chief prosecutor and breezily dismisses Labour ministers\u2019 claims that Farage\u2019s dislike of the Online Safety Bill makes him\u00a0some sort of supporter<\/a>\u00a0of the dead child abuser. Both claims\u00a0are well-rehearsed nonsense\u00a0\u2014 but it\u2019s Labour who last month decided to revive this grim style of attack.<\/p>\n Knives out for Nige:\u00a0<\/strong>Pollard, for one, reckons taking it to Farage on Putin is the right thing to do, and wants to draw attention to the\u00a0Reform chief\u2019s\u00a0desire for an insurance model for the NHS, with Pollard describing the \u201cchallenge for us to shine a light on what is hiding in plain sight.\u201d Pollard\u2019s hope is that, as the next election draws near, voters will start to cast a more critical eye\u00a0at Reform. \u201cPeople haven\u2019t really looked at them in that way. In my view the usual rules do not apply to Reform,\u201d Pollard says, a case clearly backed up by the man in Number 10 (not Downing Street).<\/p>\n A reprieve:\u00a0<\/strong>Pollard also reckons Reform has been conspicuously absent from defense debates in the Commons and believes there\u2019s more to probe Farage on here, though Reform officials argue they really are attracting military types into the fold and argue a \u201csignificant proportion\u201d of their council whips are either ex-military or police. But they don\u2019t seem that organized out west yet, because\u00a0here\u00a0they\u2019ve yet to establish a base, like the one provided by strong results in local council elections elsewhere across the country.<\/p>\n Date for the diary:\u00a0<\/strong>That\u2019s another reason for the government to fear May 7 \u2014 the day Reform hopes to make major inroads in Wales \u2014 because places like Plymouth will also have a chance to elect representatives of Farage\u2019s outfit\u00a0in the local elections.\u00a0Still, Pollard will hope that by the next time voters go to the polls nationally there will be enough cranes in the sky and boats in the dockyard to\u00a0convince\u00a0his people that it\u2019s\u00a0Labour that\u2019s really on their side.\u00a0<\/p>\n TODAY IN WESTMINSTER<\/p>\n LEAD BY EXAMPLE: <\/strong>Refugee charities have raised the alarm in an open letter, published in the Guardian<\/a>, about what they describe as \u201cpernicious and insidious currents\u201d of racism around the wave of anti-migrant protests.<\/p>\n Warning shot to leaders:<\/strong> The letter issues a direct plea to political leaders who they say have a \u201cresponsibility to end the divisive politics, racist rhetoric and demonising language of the past.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n LOOKING FOR ANSWERS: <\/strong>Tory peer Robert Hayward will hold a virtual press huddle at 10 a.m. to set out the next steps in his battle for answers<\/a> over the \u00a39.6 million new Peers\u2019 Entrance.<\/p>\n CRONYISM WATCH:<\/strong> Consultancy firm Public Digital, which has donated to Labour, won a \u00a35 million contract for a project partly overseen by former Public Digital partner Emily Middleton, the Times\u2019 Stefan Boscia reports<\/a>. A donation by the firm was registered with the Electoral Commission as being equivalent to \u00a3100,000, and Middleton is now a director general at the DSIT.<\/p>\n LETTERS RECEIVED: <\/strong>The U.K.\u2019s trade envoy to Turkey, Afzal Khan, is facing calls to resign after a visit to Northern Cyprus \u2014\u00a0a territory not officially recognized by the U.K. \u2014\u00a0to collect an honorary university doctorate, Guido Fawkes reports<\/a>. Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel called for Khan\u2019s resignation, and Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Wendy Morton has written to FCDO Minister Stephen Doughty asking if he will be booted.\u00a0<\/p>\n ANNOYING ORANGE: <\/strong>Reform\u2019s Sarah Pochin put clear teal water between Reform UK and Trump by describing the American president as \u201cpossibly a bit of a chauvinist.\u201d The Telegraph\u2019s Amy Gibbons has a write-up<\/a>. Speaking at the party\u2019s Women for Reform presser, Nigel Farage\u2019s only female MP said Reform was \u201cnot aligned\u201d with Trump, though hastily declared the commander in chief \u201cclearly does respect women.\u201d Keep refreshing Truth Social for any bombshell blowback \u2026<\/p>\n WHAT THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO TALK ABOUT: <\/strong>A three-month-old digital tool for expectant mothers has helped over 85,000 women refer themselves to NHS maternity services online.<\/p>\n WHAT THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT WANT TO TALK ABOUT: <\/strong>Attacks on A&E nurses have increased by 91 percent over the last six years, with incidents often involving patients frustrated by wait times, according to a new report<\/a> from the Royal College of Nursing. The analysis also finds nurses have been punched, spat at, pinned up against a wall, had a gun pointed at them and been threatened with acid. The story makes the Mail and Metro fronts.<\/p>\n WHAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN MEETING ABOUT: <\/strong>Health Secretary Wes Streeting had a \u201cpositive\u201d meeting with GMB NHS workers, GMB Public Services National Secretary Rachel Harrison told Playbook. The workers discussed issues including restorative pay, ambulance personnel retirement age and unsocial hours.<\/p>\n RIGHT TO ROAM:<\/strong> EU citizens waiting for the Home Office to rule on their pre-Brexit residency status should not be removed from the U.K. if they make a short return visit abroad, the Independent Monitoring Authority for Citizens\u2019 Rights Agreements said. The Guardian has a write-up<\/a>.<\/p>\n A PARTICULARLY DRY MEETING:<\/strong> The National Drought Group met<\/a> to address the \u201cnationally significant\u201d water shortage across England. Five areas are officially in drought and six more are experiencing prolonged dry weather following the driest six months to July since 1976.<\/p>\n REPORTS OUT TODAY: <\/strong>School absence rates are falling and there are signs that severe absence is starting to plateau, according to Education Policy Institute analysis<\/a>.<\/p>\n BEYOND THE M25<\/p>\n CHATTING TO CHINA: <\/strong>Talks between the U.S. and China appear to be going well. Trump announced overnight<\/a> that he is extending the suspension of tariffs on China for another 90 days. It comes after the two countries set tariff levels at more than 100 percent on each other\u2019s goods through much of April and early May.\u00a0POLITICO has more.<\/a><\/p>\n Not so happy<\/strong>: More than 100 workers at the Vivergo Fuels Ltd plant near Hull, the U.K.\u2019s largest bioethanol plant, have written directly to the prime minister, urging him to step in and save the industry and their jobs, the Yorkshire Post reports<\/a>. POLITICO\u2019s Caroline Hug visited<\/a> Saltend earlier this month and reported on the political blow to Labour from the fallout.<\/p>\n STURGEON WATCH:<\/strong> Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told ITV News that male rapists should \u201cprobably\u201d lose the right to self-identify their gender. The former SNP leader also said she was partly to blame for the debate on gender recognition laws in Scotland losing \u201call sense of rationality.\u201d The BBC has a write-up<\/a>. The flurry of interviews are in anticipation of her upcoming memoir \u201cFrankly\u201d \u2014 but there\u2019s a touch of confusion over whether it\u2019s on sale yet<\/a>.<\/p>\n MISTAKEN IDENTITY: <\/strong>Police are investigating online abuse faced by a group of Scouts after some Welsh villagers mistook their summer camping trip as an influx of illegal immigrants, the Telegraph reports<\/a>. The incident comes just days after former Reform MP Rupert Lowe alerted the coastguard<\/a> to potential Channel-crossing migrants \u2026 who turned out to be a charity rowing crew.<\/p>\n PREPARING THE CASE: <\/strong>Lawyers for French President Emmanuel Macron and wife Brigitte hired investigators to research U.S. podcaster Candace Owens as they prepared to sue her for defamation, the FT reports<\/a>, leading to a docket of information which included her ties to French far-right personalities and her popularity in Russia.\u00a0<\/p>\n IF IT WEREN\u2019T FOR THOSE PESKY JELLYFISH:<\/strong> A swarm of jellyfish that entered a cooling system paralyzed four reactors at the Gravelines nuclear power plant, French firm EDF announced Monday. The company is currently carrying out diagnostics and necessary interventions to restart the plant safely, an EDF spokesperson told POLITICO<\/a>.<\/p>\n POWER STRUGGLE:<\/strong> Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is trying to force out the current governor of the National Bank of Slovakia, Peter Ka\u017eim\u00edr, and install his current finance minister, Ladislav Kamenick\u00fd, four people familiar with the matter told POLITICO<\/a>. The struggle forms the backdrop to crucial negotiations this fall over how to reduce the second-worst budget deficit in the eurozone and avoid EU sanctions \u2014\u00a0now that\u2019s what you call money problems.<\/p>\n IN MEMORIAM: <\/strong>Colombian senator and presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe Turbay died in hospital<\/a> two months after being shot at a campaign rally.<\/p>\n BIG IN EUROPE: <\/strong>Beijing is accused of subjecting the Uyghur ethnic group to forced labor and human rights abuses in China\u2019s Xinjiang province. That\u2019s why it\u2019s eye-catching that dozens of new air cargo routes carrying thousands of tons of e-commerce and other goods from the region to Europe have opened in the past year, a new analysis of air freight data by the Washington advocacy group Uyghur Human Rights Project shared with POLITICO shows<\/a>. The largest number of air freight flights arrived in the U.K.<\/p>\n **A message from Climate Group:<\/strong> Steel is essential to British industry \u2013 and so is decarbonising supply chains. SteelZero<\/a> is a business-backed initiative for future-thinking companies who procure, specify, or stock steel, and are serious about cutting their supply chain emissions. We bring together businesses \u2013 from construction, energy, automotive, manufacturing, shipping and more \u2013 to show demand for low-emission\u00a0steel, influence policy and set the standard for responsible procurement. If your business uses steel, SteelZero<\/a> is the platform to work with other industry influencers to shape the steel transition and future-proof your own operations. With the UK Steel Strategy on the horizon, now is the time to act. Be part of the transition to 100% net zero steel \u2013 join SteelZero<\/a>.**\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n MEDIA ROUND<\/p>\n Skills Minister Jacqui Smith broadcast round:<\/strong> Times Radio (7.05 a.m.) \u2026 Sky News (7.15 a.m.) \u2026 LBC (7.50 a.m.) \u2026 Today (8.10 a.m.) \u2026 GMB (8.30 a.m.) \u2026 GB News (9.05 a.m.).\u00a0<\/p>\n Shadow Crime Minister Matt Vickers broadcast round:<\/strong> Talk (7.20 a.m.) \u2026 Times Radio (7.45 a.m.) \u2026 GB News (8 a.m.) \u2026 Sky News (8.15 a.m.) \u2026 LBC News (8.50 a.m.).<\/p>\n Also on Good Morning Britain: <\/strong>Royal College of Nursing Chief Executive Nicola Ranger<\/strong> (8.15 a.m.).\u00a0<\/p>\n Also on Times Radio Breakfast: <\/strong>Nuclear Industry Association CEO and former Labour MP Tom Greatrex<\/strong> (7.20 a.m.) \u2026 former NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Richard Shirreff<\/strong> (8.20 a.m.) \u2026 Deputy Leader of Reform UK Richard Tice<\/strong> (8.30 a.m.) \u2026 Palestinian Ambassador to Denmark Manuel Hassassian<\/strong> (815 a.m.) \u2026 former Conservative Justice Secretary Alex Chalk a<\/strong>nd former Leader of the Scottish Labour Party Kezia Dugdale <\/strong>(9 a.m.).<\/p>\n TODAY\u2019S FRONT PAGES<\/p>\n POLITICO UK<\/strong><\/a>: <\/strong>China\u2019s new \u2018Air Silk Road\u2019 brings thousands of tons of goods from Xinjiang to Europe.<\/p>\n Daily Express<\/strong><\/a>:<\/strong> 50,000 migrant boat arrivals under Labour.<\/p>\n Daily Mail<\/strong><\/a>: <\/strong>A&E waits fuel 4,000 attacks on NHS staff a year.<\/p>\n Daily Mirror<\/strong><\/a>: <\/strong>None for the road.<\/p>\n Daily Star<\/strong><\/a>: <\/strong>Look who\u2019s stuck in.<\/p>\n Financial Times<\/strong><\/a>: <\/strong>Trump opens door to Nvidia selling best AI chips to China.<\/p>\n The i Paper<\/strong><\/a>: <\/strong>Don\u2019t trust Putin, Starmer warns Trump \u2014 as Zelensky cut out of crunch Ukraine summit.<\/p>\n Metro<\/strong><\/a>: <\/strong>11 attacks a day on A&E nurses.<\/p>\n The Daily Telegraph<\/strong><\/a>:<\/strong> Kyiv ready to give up land for peace.<\/p>\n The Guardian<\/strong><\/a>: <\/strong>\u2018The truth has died\u2019: global fury as Israeli strike kills journalists.<\/p>\n The Independent<\/strong><\/a>: <\/strong>An attack on truth and freedom.<\/p>\n The Sun<\/strong><\/a>:<\/strong> To have & hold a grudge.<\/p>\n The Times<\/strong><\/a>: <\/strong>Trump: I will try to get Ukraine some land back.<\/p>\n LONDON CALLING<\/p>\n WESTMINSTER WEATHER: <\/strong>Hot hot hot. High 33C, low 17C.\u00a0<\/p>\n COUGH COUGH: <\/strong>But be careful when enjoying the sun \u2014\u00a0City Hall has triggered a \u201chigh\u201d air pollution alert in London, with the sunny weather is expected to create \u201chigh\u201d ozone levels.<\/p>\n CHECKING THE CREDENTIALS:<\/strong> Former Tory MP Alexander Stafford has been using the X Grok AI tool<\/a> to quantify his political leaning. He scored a right-leaning 78 out of 100.<\/p>\n NEW GIG: <\/strong>LBC\u2019s Roxanna Wright<\/strong> is moving desks<\/a> to produce Shelagh Fogarty\u2019s weekday show.\u00a0<\/p>\n COMING SOON:<\/strong> Political Scientist Philip Cowley<\/strong>\u2018s next book, the \u201cThe Smallest Room in the House<\/a>,\u201d a collection of 50 short essays on political oddities, is out Sept. 9.\u00a0<\/p>\n WRITING PLAYBOOK WEDNESDAY MORNING:<\/strong> Andrew McDonald.<\/p>\n\n \n<\/tr>\n \n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Join-SteelZero-Politico-ad.png\")
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