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Good Monday morning. This is Eleni Courea taking you through the first of three bank holiday weekends in May … it’s like the king wanted us to trial a four-day work week by stealth. Thanks your majesty!
DRIVING THE DAY
MAY DAY WALK-OUT: Nurses are staging today their biggest strike so far, with cancer nurses and some from ICU and A&E departments walking out for the first time in their dispute with ministers over pay.
On the picket lines: The strike by the Royal College of Nursing began at 8 p.m. last night and will last 28 hours until 23:59 p.m. (after plans to carry on through Tuesday were scuppered by a legal challenge) … while Unite members working for the NHS at Guy’s and St Thomas’ in London and the Yorkshire Ambulance Trust are launching a fresh wave of strikes today after rejecting the government’s pay offer.
DHSC view: Health Secretary Steve Barclay said on Sunday that the RCN’s action was “premature and disrespectful” to other unions ahead of the NHS staff council meeting on Tuesday. The government is hoping that the council’s expected approval of the deal will put pressure on unions to stop striking.
For the strikers’ view: RCN’s Pat Cullen is on GMB at 8.10 a.m … and Unite’s Onay Kasab is on Times Radio at 8.05 a.m. Cullen warned in an interview with the Indy that strikes could carry on for years. The Mirror has the full list of NHS trusts affected.
**A message from Lloyds Banking Group: More than 120,000 households across Great Britain were in temporary accommodation at the end of September 2022, according to official data. Increasing access to quality homes is a fundamental part of solving homelessness. That’s why we’re calling for one million new and genuinely affordable homes to be built. Find out more.**
OVER IN SW1: Other than that, it’s a quiet bank holiday Monday — especially if you’re Simon Case and have been frozen out of key meetings by No. 10. Rishi Sunak is working from Downing Street today. (Maybe for fun he’ll tap Case on the shoulder and utter the terrifying words “have you got time for a quick chat.”)
Off the Case: The cabinet secretary was thrust back into the spotlight amid the fallout from Richard Sharp’s resignation as BBC chair, as reports emerged that in December 2020, Case met Sharp alone to discuss Boris Johnson’s finances and took barely any notes.
About to steal back the spotlight: Case’s nemesis Sue Gray, who is bracing for the Cabinet Office verdict on her shock appointment as Labour chief of staff. Tuesday’s order paper says a Cabinet Office minister will update MPs on “the circumstances leading to the resignation of a senior civil servant.” A Cabinet Office aide wouldn’t comment on what this was — but the Mail on Sunday reported that Gray will be ruled in breach of the civil service code.
You can see where this is going: A Whitehall source tells the Sun’s Harry Cole: “If Sue is found to have broken the civil service code, Mr Rules would be hiring a rule-breaking chief of staff.”
On top of that: The Times’ Oli Wright reports that the Cabinet Office will recommend that Gray be blocked from taking up the role until March — and that Case was “instrumental” to that recommendation. Senior Whitehall figures accuse Case of a vendetta, with one source telling Wright it’s “very personal” and another saying he’s pursuing a “vindictive” agenda against Gray after she criticized the civil service leadership over the Downing Street parties.
Not everyone is happy: A senior Tory tells the Times that delaying Gray’s appointment could backfire, saying: “She really wasn’t central in Whitehall … Are we really saying we want an effective ban on officials going to work for political parties — because that is what a one-year ban is. I think we’re setting a dangerous precedent.” There’s hand-wringing in Labour too, where some senior figures have long thought installing Gray as chief of staff was a bad idea. A shadow Cabinet member tells the Telegraph’s Dan Martin: “Keir needs a chief of staff as there is a lack of organisation at the moment. There is a gap at the top that needs to be filled.”
Process point: This Cabinet Office probe expected to conclude on Tuesday is separate from the Acoba deliberations into how long Gray should wait before she takes up the role — but its recommendation will feed into the Acoba process.
POLICY CORNER
HELP FOR HOUSING: Can’t Keir Starmer talk about anything without the Tories taking it away from him? The Times’ Oli Wright reports that Rishi Sunak is drawing up plans to help people get onto the housing ladder in what would be a central plank of the Tory offer at the next election. Three government sources tell the Times that a “new-buyers’ support scheme” — which was discussed at the spring budget but not taken forward because of fears it would exacerbate inflation — could make it into the Autumn Statement.
Of course … Fixing the housing crisis is easier said than done — as the Times leader points out it would require “some politically unpalatable decisions.” The paper reports that the proposals being examined by ministers include resurrecting George Osborne’s Help to Buy scheme, which was shut to new entrants last year. Hardly revolutionary.
Over in Labour land: Starmer has spent the weekend talking about home ownership including in an interview with the Observer’s Toby Helm. “The dream of home ownership has been killed by the prime minister,” he said. “I want Labour to be the party of home ownership.”
For more on that: Patrick Maguire’s Times column has more policy detail on how Labour is putting home ownership at the center of its plan to grow the economy. “Starmer’s offer can now be summed up quite simply: more houses — lots of them,” he writes.
PENSIONER PAYOUTS: The Express splashes on Labour analysis which found that 1.3 million pensioners — over 10 percent of all state pension cases — were underpaid £530 million last year because of mistakes by government officials. The average underpayments were more than £400 per person, according to the figures.
Lawless Britain: More than 99 percent of thefts from a person between April and December last year didn’t end in a charge — even when the victim tracks their stolen phone, according to Labour-obtained data written up by the Sun.
BREAKDOWN IN TRUST: Senior Tories are demanding a change to trust fund rules, according to the i, after 72,000 teenagers with learning disabilities were locked out of money their parents saved for them under the Child Trust Fund scheme. They are each set to lose more than £2,000.
UNCLAIMED WELFARE: The Guardian splashes on figures suggesting that U.K. households are missing out on at least £19 billion a year in unclaimed welfare benefits.
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TODAY IN WESTMINSTER
PARLIAMENT: Of course not.
INVESTMENT QUESTIONS: A company that the PM’s wife is a shareholder in was awarded a £349,976 government grant as part of a scheme to support entrepreneurship, the Times’ Rachel Sylvester reveals. A Downing Street spokesman tells her “all interests” had been declared to the independent adviser.
QATARGATE HITS LONDON: British MPs and peers were lobbied by a key group at the heart of a European Parliament corruption scandal during visits to Qatar ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, my colleagues Esther Webber, Eddy Wax and Gregorio Sorgi reveal. Peers Qurban Hussain and Pola Uddin traveled to Qatar on a trip paid by the National Human Rights Committee and then made positive comments about the country in the chamber. There is no suggestion they broke U.K. parliamentary rules.
STOP THE LORDS: Government figures are discussing using the Parliament Act or appointing a load of Boris Johnson-proposed Tory peers to prevent the Lords from watering down the Illegal Immigration Bill, the Times’ Matt Dathan reports. He speaks to a couple of former ministers who say these proposals won’t work. “It’s quite clear their intention is to say, ‘We’ve tried but those awful doddery Lords blocked us,’” one Tory MP tells him.
WHAT PLAYBOOK WANTS TO KNOW: What happened to the bathrobes and slippers that vanished during Liz Truss’ reign at Chevening? (H/t Glen Owen’s widely followed Mail on Sunday scoop). Truss is disputing £12,000 bill, but has indicated she’s happy to pay to replace missing items, so that’s alright then.
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ON THE CAMPAIGN TRIAL
THREE DAYS TO GO: Local election campaigning is in full swing with both Labour and the Tories cranking up the expectations management.
On the one hand: Speaking to Sky’s Sophy Ridge, Keir Starmer claimed the Tories should be making gains on Thursday, which led an incensed CCHQ official to message Playbook: “This is a risible claim from a man who will just say whatever suits the politics of the time. The last time these seats were up for election, Keir’s friend and colleague Jeremy Corbyn was leader of the Labour Party and they were polling in the high 20s to low 30s. The assessment that we could lose 1,000 seats is not from party HQ, but the most respected independent experts in the field. If he finds that so astonishing, he should take it up with Professors Thrasher and Rallings.”
And on the other hand: A Labour official said in response that “the Tories are misquoting Rallings and Thrasher.” The official pointed to the context of the article saying 1,000 losses would result from a 6 percent swing and said: “The Tories however are trying to say 1,000 losses is certain/baked in rather than simply representing one possible scenario. Also, just take a step back: the Tories are saying they’re going to do worse than Theresa May in 2019. She had to quit three weeks later. So the Tories can’t say that Rishi Sunak is doing a great job and he’s going to do worse than Theresa May in these elections.”
What Labour is up to: Keir Starmer and Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson are visiting a seaside town in Lancashire to speak to local residents about their plan for tackling the cost of living.
As for the Lib Dems: They are targeting the blue wall — including Dominic Raab’s Esher and Walton seat — with attack ads on the impact of ministers’ freeze on income tax thresholds, the Telegraph reports.
THE FINAL WORD: Polling guru John Curtice told the BBC’s Westminster Hour that the key metric in Thursday’s local elections will be the size of Labour’s lead against the Tories. Curtice said: “The best that Labour have managed to do since 2010 is to be 7 points ahead of the Conservatives. But before Tony Blair won … he was recording double-digit leads over the Conservatives … Labour should be recording a clear double-digit lead on Thursday,” he said. He made similar comments on GB news — the Telegraph has a write-up.
VOTER ID WARS: The Good Law Project will announce its intention to seek a judicial review to scrap voter ID requirements before the next general election, according to the i … while the Telegraph and the Sun report that Tory MP Craig Mackinlay has written to the Electoral Commission warning that campaigners against voter ID might try to disrupt the voting process.
**On May 31, POLITICO will host a spotlight discussion “How can Europe go from budgetary Wild West to a new fiscal order?”. This spotlight discussion is part of the Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos’ event “A very European puzzle: balancing budgets and promoting growth”. Register today.**
CHINA CORNER
WISHING, WAITING, HOPING: Foreign Secretary James Cleverly hopes to visit China later this year after holding talks with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng when he travels to London for the coronation this week, the Times reports. Cleverly would be the first foreign secretary in five years to travel to Beijing. POLITICO reported in February that talks were ongoing over a Cleverly visit to China … but there hasn’t been much in terms of movement since then.
Can’t they take a hint? A government source tells the Times an invitation to Beijing was not “guaranteed” but that diplomats were increasingly confident there would be one. “Clearly we are not going to invite ourselves to China,” they said — when it does feel a bit like that’s what they’re trying to do — “but if an invitation is forthcoming we will look at that very seriously.” French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen went to Beijing earlier this spring. Visits by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell were on the cards but were postponed.
Scooplet: Taiwan hasn’t been invited to send anyone to the coronation — which adds insult to injury to the MPs and activists who are incensed that Han, an architect of China’s crackdown on Hong Kong, is due to attend.
The explanation: The FCDO says it only invites the heads of state of countries with which it has full diplomatic relations … but critics point out the president of Kurdistan was invited to the queen’s funeral. Luke de Pulford, executive director of the hawkish Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said: “Two short weeks ago the U.K. joined a statement calling for Taiwan’s ‘meaningful participation’ in international organisations like the WHO — Taiwan is excluded at the behest of China. How do we expect to be taken seriously when we can’t even find space for our 33rd largest trading partner at the coronation?”
BEYOND THE M25
SUDAN EVACUATION RESUMES: An extra U.K. evacuation flight will take off today from Port Sudan in the east of the country. It’s scheduled to leave at noon local time (11 a.m. in the U.K.) — adding to the total of 2,122 people already airlifted from Wadi Saeeda near Khartoum. NHS staff with U.K. residency are now eligible for evacuation.
Stranded: Dozens of people are trapped in Khartoum because their passports are at a U.K. visa processing center which closed after the fighting began, the Times reports.
On the ground: The BBC’s Lyse Doucet has a dispatch from Port Sudan where thousands of people are trying to leave.
RUSSIA HUNTS FOR SPIES AT HOME: Since Russia invaded Ukraine, hundreds of Russians have received fines or significant jail sentences under new military censorship laws. But never before has the nuclear charge of treason been used to convict someone for statements containing publicly available information. Read POLITICO’s story here.
ISIS LEADER KILLED: Turkish forces have killed the suspected leader of Islamic State, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced. The BBC reports Erdoğan told TRT Turk the ISIS leader Abu Hussein al-Qurashi was “neutralized” in a Turkish MIT intelligence agency operation on Saturday.
**A message from Lloyds Banking Group: Hundreds of thousands of people are being trapped in homelessness or living in poor quality homes. We’ve joined forces with national homelessness charity Crisis and Simon Community in Northern Ireland to help tackle the shortage of good quality, affordable homes in the UK. Together, we’re calling for one million new and genuinely affordable homes to be built over the next decade and made available to those on the lowest incomes, with a focus on supporting people at risk of, and experiencing homelessness. It’s one of the ways we’re helping Britain prosper. Find out more.**
MEDIA ROUND
Labour Party Chair Anneliese Dodds broadcast round: LBC (7.50 a.m.) … Sky News (8.10 a.m.) … TalkTV (8.30 a.m.) … GB News (9.05 a.m.) … Times Radio (9.35 a.m.).
Also on Sky News Breakfast: Unite National Lead Officer Onay Kasab (7.10 a.m.) … RCN General Secretary Pat Cullen (9.05 a.m.).
Also on GB News Breakfast: Former Defense Secretary Michael Portillo (6.30 a.m., 7.30 a.m. and 8.30 a.m.) … Former Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Mellor (7.09 a.m.).
Also on Times Radio Breakfast: SNP MP Joanna Cherry (7.35 a.m.) … Onay Kasab (8.05 a.m.) … Scouts Chief Executive Matt Hyde (8.35 a.m.) … Former Institute for Government Director Peter Riddell (8.45 a.m.) … NHS Confederation Chief Executive Matthew Taylor (9.05 a.m.) … Labour Party Chair Anneliese Dodds (9.35 a.m.).
Good Morning Britain: Former Labour, Change U.K. and Lib Dem MP Luciana Berger (6.20 a.m.) … Pat Cullen (8.10 a.m.).
TODAY’S FRONT PAGES
(Click on the publication’s name to see its front page):
POLITICO UK: U.K. politicians lobbied by Qatargate ‘controller’ on expensive overseas trips.
Daily Express: Shocking — 1.3 million hit by state pension errors.
Daily Mail: One billion reasons to be cheerful!
Daily Mirror: Wills — Heirs to you both.
Daily Star: Invasion of the fat rats!
Financial Times: U.S. bank First Republic nears collapse as Munger warns over ‘bad loans.’
i: Striking nurses warn Sunak to improve wage offer or face more walkouts.
The Daily Telegraph: Cancer nurses on strike for first time.
The Guardian: Households missing out on £19 billion in benefits.
The Independent: To deport this brave man would be a travesty of justice.
The Times: Sunak eyes more Help to Buy.
LONDON CALLING
WESTMINSTER WEATHER: Light cloud and highs of 18C — time to head to the park (or the pub).
LOBBY JOB: Times Radio is looking for a political editor who can “maintain excellent relationships with MPs, SpAds and key figures in politics.”
And for those starting out: Applications for the Times and Sunday Times Graduate Trainee Scheme close tonight at 11.59 p.m.
ON THE RADIO: Radio 4’s Start the Week discusses life behind the iron curtain from 9 a.m. … Channel 4’s Andrew: The Problem Prince airs at 9 p.m. … and those wanting to mark the 26-year anniversary of Labour’s 1997 landslide can watch Blair & Brown: The New Labour Revolution on iPlayer.
BANK HOLIDAY TV: 90s classic rom com About a Boy starring Hugh Grant is airing on ITV1 at 2 p.m. … the BBC’s Clive Myrie ventures across Italy in Clive Myrie’s Italian Road Trip from 6.30 p.m. on BBC Two.
CONGRATS: Labour MP Nadia Whittome was voted “Unsung Hero of the Year” at the DIVA Awards 2023.
BIRTHDAYS: Batley and Spen MP Kim Leadbeater … Shadow Justice Minister Alex Cunningham … Former Tory MP and Marks & Spencer Chairman Archie Norman … The R&A’s Robert Oxley … Public First’s Mike Crowhurst … Leigh Day partner Tessa Gregory.
PLAYBOOK COULDN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT: My editor Zoya Sheftalovich, reporter Noah Keate and producer Grace Stranger.
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