![\"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 ANDREW MCDONALD<\/strong><\/p>\n with BETHANY DAWSON<\/strong><\/p>\n Good Wednesday morning<\/strong>. This is Andrew McDonald. And yes, I was listening to Diana Ross<\/a> at 3 a.m. and the title of this email does scan, OK. <\/p>\n DRIVING THE DAY<\/p>\n SPINNING AROUND: <\/strong>Keir Starmer has handed Kemi Badenoch some fresh ammunition for their weekly <\/strong>bout at PMQs if she wants to take it \u2014 in the form of another messily managed U-turn on a major policy championed just a few months back. The Labour hope is that moving to strike the mandatory element out of its digital ID plans will rescue the unpopular policy and prevent it from harming Starmer\u2019s popularity any further when they start rolling it out. In the short term, however, another U-turn comes with the usual political and party-management hit Labour could do without. Especially as it gamely tries to talk about Northern Powerhouse Rail with the rest of its airtime today.\u00a0<\/p>\n Though, as I often write \u2026 <\/strong>there\u2019s every chance PMQs and the entire day will wind up instead being about any of the multitude of major foreign policy issues upending the world order, with things moving fast on many fronts. And indeed, your Playbook author was nervously watching for white smoke from the White House and actual smoke from Iran overnight, amid late-night jitters in Whitehall and across the pond that Donald Trump might have been preparing to launch strikes on Iran. It didn\u2019t pan out in the end \u2014 but your author has the latest on the foreign policy front further down in this email.\u00a0<\/p>\n SO BACK TO DIGITAL ID: <\/strong>Officials confirmed to Playbook and the rest of the lobby a top PoliticsHome scoop<\/a> from Matilda Martin on Wednesday afternoon: The government is no longer looking to make digital IDs mandatory for workers. Instead they\u2019ll be optional, in a major rollback from the original plan for IDs to be compulsory as part of right-to-work verifications.\u00a0Workers will be given the choice of using other documents to verify their identities.<\/p>\n **A message from Google: <\/b>Make that New Year digital resolution stick. The Family Link app helps you manage your child\u2019s new device habits – no sweat. Personalise their device settings, view screen time, set daily limits, enable supervised experiences on YouTube, and more. Learn more.<\/a>**<\/b><\/p>\n It\u2019s been a long four months: <\/strong>Anyone with a half-decent memory will be able to recall the initial sell from Starmer and his ministers when they announced plans for compulsory digital IDs for all workers. Shortly before Labour Conference in September, Starmer put migration at the heart of his plans and said it would stop illegal migrants from being able to \u201cslip into the shadow economy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n At the time \u2026 <\/strong>the policy, popular in theory before the announcement, went down like a lead balloon. Subsequent polling showed that, with Starmer\u2019s endorsement, digital IDs were suddenly unpopular<\/a>. Some of that was likely just association with an unpopular government \u2014 but some of the ID cards\u2019 staunchest proponents despaired at the way the government had tried to sell it as a compulsory instrument for cracking down on illegal migration, rather than an optional tool to make life easier. One digital ID advocate gloomily told Playbook at the time they were worried Starmer might have \u201ckilled the policy dead for a decade.\u201d<\/p>\n Well, there we are: <\/strong>From talking to insiders last night, it\u2019s clear that internal and external opposition had convinced the decision-makers that the policy as it stood wasn\u2019t tenable. Multiple ministers across government pushed to drop the mandatory component, arguing this would shift the conversation around digital IDs to a lighter tone about making it easier to engage with public services \u2014 and curtail (some) anti-establishment noises about state control. Two people told Playbook that Josh Simons, the minister given responsibility for digital ID in a mini-reshuffle only last week, was among those pushing hard for the compulsory element to be scrapped.\u00a0<\/p>\n Just one problem: <\/strong>It\u2019s another U-turn in a government that has made loads of them \u2014 so many that lobby hacks writing it up last night arrived at different numbers when calculating the total number since Starmer came in. It\u2019s a lot, basically \u2026 and our own Noah Keate will have to update his own rolling list<\/a>. It was also a tad unfortunate the U-turn emerged in the hours after Wes Streeting strolled beyond his brief to tell the Institute for Government conference his party\u2019s New Year\u2019s resolution should be to \u201cget it right first time\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n Coming attraction: <\/strong>Talking of the health secretary \u2026 Streeting is among the speakers billed at a Progress anniversary dinner tonight (invite only, soz). Will we get any more stakeholders chat<\/a> or uncomfortable New Year resolutions?\u00a0<\/p>\n Easiest job in politics: <\/strong>But first of all, there\u2019s PMQs at noon<\/strong> \u2014 and Badenoch, Ed Davey and other opposition MPs on the list surely won\u2019t resist the urge for a jab (and Streeting\u2019s words offer an easily quotable attack). Davey\u2019s Lib Dems had the best of the slim pickings last night with this from Cab Off spox Lisa Smart, who said \u201cNo. 10 must be bulk ordering motion sickness tablets at this rate to cope with all their U-turns.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n But more importantly than oppo quips \u2026 <\/strong>every U-turn adds to the impression Labour MPs (and the public) have about the current operation: namely that if they apply enough pressure to the so-called \u201ctough decisions\u201d the government often says it has to take, they can get it to drop them.\u00a0<\/p>\n There is a pro-Starmer counterargument: <\/strong>And it was summed up well by the Times\u2019 Steven Swinford<\/a>, who said the prime minister was taking a \u201cscrape the barnacles from the boat\u201d approach to trimming unpopular policy from his agenda. Senior officials had talked of the need for a \u201cfast start\u201d in January to reset the narrative and stop the bleeding \u2014 and it appears the drumbeat of U-turns on tricky issues might have been part of that plan for the New Year.\u00a0<\/p>\n So what\u2019s the next barnacle? <\/strong>Some Labour MPs have eyed their next target, as the chancellor gets ready to announce a package of support for pubs in a U-turn from the budget. But Reeves is resisting pressure to go further and provide support for other hospitality companies. Labour MPs spy another opportunity to apply pressure. \u201cI am tearing my hair out that we promised we\u2019d level the playing field and now we\u2019re making it harder for hospitality and the high street,\u201d one Labour MP griped to Playbook.\u00a0<\/p>\n Of course: <\/strong>You could argue the barnacle on the boat that should be tossed overboard could be the PM himself, as a Labour veteran snarked<\/a> to the New Statesman\u2019s Ailbhe Rea. And if you have a read of some of the anonymous cabinet minister quotes in this FT lobby team read<\/a> on the PM\u2019s predicament, you\u2019ll be reminded that isn\u2019t an isolated bit of snark, either.\u00a0<\/p>\n FROM BOATS TO TRAINS: <\/strong>The government is otherwise moving into a comfort zone with its major move of the day: an overhaul of the railways in the north. Starmer has an op-ed<\/a> in the Yorkshire Post bigging it up, but otherwise he\u2019s leaving the selling to the cabinet ministers in charge.<\/p>\n Leveling up 2.0: <\/strong>In what one official described as a plan to mine the \u201cuntapped gold reserve\u201d of the north, Rachel Reeves and Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander are setting out plans for the first phase of \u201cNorthern Powerhouse Rail\u201d \u2014 a set of line upgrades and new links to be built in the 2030s. The hope, as it often is with transport policy, is to make train travel outside London a bit more like the capital by delivering \u201cturn up and go trains,\u201d as a second official put it.\u00a0<\/p>\n No HS2 bat tunnels: <\/strong>Given how delivery of the last major rail project went, ministers are understandably keen to avoid a repeat. The Treasury is setting a funding cap of \u00a345 billion for the whole project, and the plan is to build it in phases in the 2030s, with the improving of connections in Yorkshire first \u2026 then a new route between Liverpool and Manchester \u2026 and then better connections from Manchester to Yorkshire cities.\u00a0<\/p>\n The bit being left deliberately vague: <\/strong>The plans only commit to a door being left ajar for a new line connecting Birmingham to Manchester as HS2, to be (theoretically) built once all other NPR work is complete. File that one under \u201cunlikely.\u201d Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who has a supportive quote in the Treasury\u2019s overnight PR, is giving interviews later on.\u00a0<\/p>\n The train conductors: <\/strong>Alexander is shortly on the morning media round and is then expected to make a statement to the Commons \u2026 while Reeves also has a busy day ahead. The chancellor is shortly on the BBC Breakfast sofa in Manchester at 8.15 a.m.<\/strong>, followed by a tour of a rail facility in Manchester also this morning. She\u2019ll then arrive in Leeds for another tour, this time at a rail depot, and then take questions from hacks in a mini press conference alongside Labour mayors at 2 p.m. <\/strong>She has sit-downs with the BBC and ITV planned too.\u00a0<\/p>\n FOREIGN AFFAIRS<\/p>\n SHE\u2019S <\/strong>NOT FINNISH<\/strong><\/a>, SHE\u2019S ONLY 56: <\/strong>Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is in Finland as she begins a short tour that will also take in Norway \u2014 all aimed at bolstering security in the region to deter Britain\u2019s rivals from meddling in the High North with their shadow fleets. Cooper is going out on a Finnish Border Guard ship in the Baltic and meeting President Alexander Stubb and her counterpart Elina Valtonen. She\u2019ll be speaking to POLITICO on her trip along with the BBC and the Mirror.<\/p>\n From Russia with no love: <\/strong>The tour and trip is partially aimed at Russia\u2019s shadow fleet vessels, after reporting earlier in the week<\/a> that British special forces were being lined up to storm such vessels. The FCDO said Cooper would be calling on NATO to step up its work in the Arctic to protect its interests in the region.<\/p>\n Protecting from \u2026 : <\/strong>Along with Russia, the overnight release says \u201cother state actors are seeking to grow their sphere of influence\u201d as climate change turns the Arctic into a \u201chotspot for geopolitical competition.\u201d China, perhaps? Or just the U.S.?<\/p>\n Timing: <\/strong>Two shadow fleet vessels sanctioned by Britain are on course to sail into the Channel at lunchtime, the Times reports<\/a>. What will the U.K. do?<\/p>\n As usual though \u2026 <\/strong>Cooper may well face questions from the traveling press on Iran, especially if anything develops during the day. Late last night Donald Trump told journalists he was due to be briefed on the death toll in Iran and that he would \u201cact accordingly.\u201d Asked how he would ensure any hypothetical U.S. air strikes would protect protestors, he said \u201cso far, my track record has been excellent.\u201d Trump is next due to speak to the press in the Oval Office at 7 p.m. <\/strong>U.K. time.<\/p>\n After Cooper\u2019s Finnished: <\/strong>She\u2019s off to Norway, where on Thursday she will visit Royal Marines doing a live training demo in the Arctic Circle amid all that talk about Greenland.<\/p>\n Speaking of which: <\/strong>Denmark and Greenland\u2019s foreign ministers are due in the White House for talks with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio later. And ICYMI, Greenland\u2019s Energy Minister Naaja Nathanielsen was in parliament yesterday to tell MPs that her under-the-cosh country has \u201cno intention of becoming American,\u201d my colleague Abby Wallace writes<\/a>. MPs must \u201cdare to have principles\u201d to defend NATO and international law, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n ALSO ABROAD: <\/strong>Defence Secretary John Healey is in Sweden to meet his counterpart P\u00e5l Jonson in the afternoon. They\u2019re due to give a joint press conference afterwards.<\/p>\n ALSO ABROAD II: <\/strong>City Minister Lucy Rigby is in Brussels to meet European Financial Services Commissioner Maria Lu\u00eds Albuquerque to talk up more opportunities for Britain and Europe to get closer \u2014 specifically on synchronizing U.K. and EU approaches to settling trades. Their meeting is at 12.15 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n TODAY IN WESTMINSTER<\/p>\n WATCHING BRIEF: <\/strong>Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is expected to receive the report from the police watchdog on West Midlands police chief Craig Guildford\u2019s handling of the Aston Villa-Maccabi Tel Aviv match all the way back in September. If it\u2019s as damning as expected, the Times and Telegraph have reported Mahmood could withdraw her support for Guildford \u2026 though, as the Tel points out today<\/a>, the power to actually sack him lies with the police and crime commissioner for the region, Simon Foster.\u00a0<\/p>\n Foster the people: <\/strong>And Foster doesn\u2019t appear to be ready to leap into action. The Telegraph reports<\/a> he also wants to assess the findings of the Home Affairs Committee\u2019s investigation, not expected until later this month. The Home Office will come under a fair bit of pressure to do something if Guildford keeps his job.\u00a0<\/p>\n AUSSIE RULES: <\/strong>The government appears to be moving slowly toward at least thinking seriously about an Australian-style ban of social media for under-16s, after Keir Starmer told his MPs Monday he is \u201cconcerned\u201d about excessive smartphone usage among children. The FT reports<\/a> that he said his government is looking at \u201cdifferent ways you can enforce it,\u201d referring to Australia\u2019s ban.\u00a0<\/p>\n Plus: <\/strong>Wes Streeting, who signaled his support for a possible ban in December, has asked author and ban-advocate Jonathan Haidt to speak to his officials at an event in a few weeks, according to the Guardian\u2019s Kiran Stacey. <\/p>\n DAYS SINCE STARMER LAST POSTED ON X: <\/strong>Six<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n SUPER EMBASSY, SUPER BACKLASH: <\/strong>We\u2019re still waiting for the formal confirmation from Keir Starmer that China\u2019s super embassy in London can be built and it appears to be going ahead despite the rough reception Labour MPs gave it in a UQ yesterday. The Telegraph hears the White House<\/a> is in a similar position to Labour MPs on the issue too \u2014 with a senior Trump administration official telling the paper the U.S \u201cremains deeply concerned about adversaries exploiting the critical infrastructure of our closest allies.\u201d<\/p>\n WIND OF CHANGE: <\/strong>Energy Secretary Ed Miliband will announce Britain\u2019s biggest expansion of offshore wind farms as a Hail Mary attempt to reach his 2030 clean-power pledge, the Times\u2019 Emily Gosden and Oliver Wright report<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n MINISTER FIGHTS: <\/strong>The Mail\u2019s Jason Groves has some fun scuttlebutt<\/a> from angsty ministers about the influence of Attorney General Richard Hermer, who according to annoyed government sources is the only cabinet minister routinely invited up to the PM\u2019s flat for political chats. Mirroring early 2020s era Tory gripes about the influence of Boris Johnson\u2019s spouse, a source told Groves \u201cthings will get agreed with the PM in his office and then the attorney general goes up to the flat and the PM changes his mind.\u201d<\/p>\n On that note: <\/strong>Showing the bromance is strong, Hermer addressed Tribune MPs last night to defend his pal in Downing Street. An MP present said the legal eagle \u201ctalked about Keir\u2019s direction and the central principles of his work,\u201d followed by a \u201cgood and thoughtful discussion.\u201d That said, the AG was apparently \u201cleft in no uncertain terms that there were a number of areas that the group wants to see the government improve on.\u201d<\/p>\n FIGHTING TALK: <\/strong>Business Secretary Peter Kyle is expected to tell business leaders that he wants the U.K. to go \u201ctoe to toe\u201d with the U.S. on growth. In a pre-Davos keynote speech at Bloomberg HQ, Kyle will say that the government will be doing more to move the dial on growth in the coming days and weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n COURT CIRCULAR: <\/strong>The Crown Prosecution Service\u2019s appeal of a decision to throw out the terrorism case against Kneecap rapper Liam \u00d3g \u00d3 hAnnaidh \u2014 better known as Mo Chara\u00a0\u2014\u00a0will be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice from 10.30 a.m.<\/p>\n HOUSE OF COMMONS:<\/strong> Sits from 11.30 a.m. with Scotland questions \u2026 PMQs at noon \u2026 Labour MP Gareth Thomas<\/strong>\u2019 10-minute rule motion on banks \u2026 and a general debate on Ukraine. Conservative MP Martin Vickers<\/strong> has the adjournment debate on the future of the Lindsey Oil Refinery and the wider U.K. oil refining sector.<\/p>\n WESTMINSTER HALL:<\/strong> The Transport Committee grills Local Transport Minister Lilian Greenwood<\/strong> on the licensing of taxis and private hire vehicles (9.15 a.m.).\u00a0<\/p>\n HOUSE OF LORDS:<\/strong> Sits from 3 p.m. with questions on the impact of investment in early years education on children\u2019s long-term outcomes, the extent of large-scale waste crime, and discussions with the U.S. about possible future support by the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force for U.S. boarding of sanctioned vessels \u2026 an urgent question repeat on delays to the awarding of the New Medium Helicopter contract \u2026 report stage day one of the Children\u2019s Wellbeing and Schools Bill \u2026 and a statement on non-consensual sexual deepfakes on social media.<\/p>\n BEYOND THE M25<\/p>\n PLAID OF PLACE: <\/strong>Plaid Cymru has stormed ahead in a YouGov MRP poll for ITV <\/a>Wales, which finds the party\u2019s predicted vote share for the Senedd election is at 37 percent. Reform is in (a fairly distant) second place at 23 percent, followed by Green at 13, and Labour is tied with the Tories in fourth place with just 10 percent.\u00a0<\/p>\n MAKING MENDS: <\/strong>Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has kicked off his trip to China \u2014 the first time a Canadian prime minister has been welcomed to the country in nearly a decade. Carney is there to try to open new economic doors with China in response to the \u201crupture\u201d in relations with his bright orange neighbor, my Canadian colleague Mike Blanchfield writes<\/a>. <\/p>\n DECLINED:\u00a0<\/strong>Bill and Hillary Clinton have officially refused to testify in the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee\u2019s investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein \u2014 defying subpoenas and risking being held in contempt of Congress. A letter from the Clintons\u2019 attorneys to House Oversight Chair James Comer,\u00a0obtained by my stateside colleagues<\/a>, said the couple has already provided all the information they have regarding the late Epstein and his co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.<\/p>\n **A message from Google: <\/b>The start of a new year – especially with new devices – can mean more free time becoming more screen time. The Family Link app helps you manage and monitor your family\u2019s digital habits to choose a healthy balance that suits you and your child. View their screen time and set daily limits to make sure it\u2019s balanced with other activities, set up supervised experiences on YouTube, and manage privacy settings. Family Link can even help you find age-appropriate apps and games, perfect for cosy indoor days or long journeys. Learn more.<\/a>**<\/b><\/p>\n MEDIA ROUND<\/p>\n Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander broadcast round: <\/strong>Times Radio (7.05 a.m.) \u2026 Sky Mornings (7.15 a.m.) \u2026 LBC (7.50 a.m.) \u2026 5Live (8.10 a.m.) \u2026 GMB (8.30 a.m.) \u2026 GB News (9.05 a.m.).\u00a0<\/p>\n Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel broadcast round<\/strong>: GMB (7.30 a.m.) \u2026 Times Radio (7.45 a.m.) \u2026 GB News (8 a.m.) \u2026 Talk (8.15 a.m.) \u2026 LBC (8.50 a.m.) \u2026 Sky Mornings (9.15 a.m.).\u00a0<\/p>\n Also on BBC Breakfast: <\/strong>Chancellor Rachel Reeves<\/strong> (8.15 a.m.).\u00a0<\/p>\n Also on Talk:<\/strong> Former Labour MP Simon Danczuk<\/strong> (7 a.m.) \u2026 Former British Ambassador to Iran Richard Dalton<\/strong> (7.15 a.m.) \u2026 Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin<\/strong> (8 a.m.).\u00a0<\/p>\n Also on Times Radio Breakfast: <\/strong>Crossbench peer and Northern Powerhouse Partnership Chair Jim O\u2019Neill<\/strong> (8.20 a.m.).<\/p>\n Also on Politics Live (BBC Two 11.15 p.m.): <\/strong>Business Secretary Peter Kyle<\/strong> \u2026 Shadow Transport Secretary Richard Holden<\/strong> \u2026 Labour MP Lola McEvoy<\/strong> \u2026 former Conservative frontbencher Steve Baker<\/strong> \u2026 LBC host Nick Ferrari<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Also on MP\u2019s phone-in with Nicky Campbell (5Live, 10 a.m.): <\/strong>Labour MP Polly Billington<\/strong> \u2026 Conservative MP Sarah Bool<\/strong> \u2026 SNP MP Kirsty Blackman<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n TODAY\u2019S FRONT PAGES<\/p>\n POLITICO UK<\/strong><\/a>: <\/strong>Europe goes all out to make a deal with Trump on Greenland.<\/p>\n Daily Express<\/strong><\/a>: <\/strong>Elderly living in poverty \u2018could exceed 2 million\u2019.<\/p>\n Daily Mail:<\/strong><\/a> Now digital I.D. cards won\u2019t be compulsory.<\/p>\n Daily Mirror<\/strong><\/a>: <\/strong>The rail deal.<\/p>\n Daily Star<\/strong><\/a>: <\/strong>Arctic troll!<\/p>\n Financial Times<\/strong><\/a>:<\/strong> Help is on its way, Trump tells Iranians.<\/p>\n Metro<\/strong><\/a>: <\/strong>Russian captain \u2018did nothing\u2019 to avoid US tanker.<\/p>\n The Daily Telegraph<\/strong><\/a>:<\/strong> Trump: Help is on the way.<\/p>\n The Guardian<\/strong><\/a>: <\/strong>\u2018Help is on its way\u2019: Trump calls on Iran\u2019s protesters to remain defiant.<\/p>\n The i Paper<\/strong><\/a>:<\/strong> Labour promises new rail links for the North \u2013 but not until 2030s.<\/p>\n The Independent<\/strong><\/a>:<\/strong> \u2018Help is on its way.\u2019<\/p>\n\n \n<\/tr>\n \n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Banner-girl.gif\")
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