Stop (40 of) the boats

Good Friday morning. This is Dan Bloom.
ALL HANDS ON DECK: Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper are summoning the organs of the state to Vauxhall to shine a spotlight on small boats in the Channel — not that they need it. The prime minister and home secretary are only two months into “smashing the gangs,” but this week’s deadly surge in crossings makes it abundantly clear just how tricky Labour’s three-word slogan is to put into practice. Meanwhile, a German proposal to use Rwandan asylum resources that Britain funded, and Starmer ditched, is a complication he could do without.
Stop (40 of) the boats: The Home Office said overnight that 40 small boat engines were seized in recent weeks thanks to cooperation with Bulgaria. Today’s meeting at the National Crime Agency headquarters was planned for weeks — before 1,544 people (53 per dinghy) crossed in the last seven days, and before 12 died when their boat ripped open. But timing is everything.
Big guns: There’s no new policy announced today per se, but the Home Office is putting the bellows under this meeting, billing it as a “landmark operational summit” on the “moral imperative” to tackle smuggling gangs. NCA and intelligence officials will brief Cabinet ministers about up to 70 live investigations, including in Libya, and talk about collaboration with enforcement agencies such as Europol.
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Preview and readout: Border Security Minister Angela Eagle is on the morning round including the Today program at 8.10 a.m., while Cooper is billed to record a pool clip this afternoon after it’s all done.
Due at the meeting: Starmer, according to No. 10 … Cooper … U.K. intelligence agency, Border Force and Crown Prosecution Service officials … Foreign Secretary David Lammy … Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood … Attorney General Richard Hermer … and NCA Director General Graeme Biggar.
Not present: Cooper’s yet-to-be-hired border security commander. No. 10 suggested on Thursday that the new chief will be named in the “coming weeks.”
Not impressed: Shadow Home Secretary (and Tory leader contestant) James Cleverly says Labour chose “political theater and virtue signaling. Press releases won’t stop the boats.”
WHAT THEY WON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT: Germany’s Special Commissioner for Migration Agreements Joachim Stamp, who said on Thursday that he backed sending migrants to Rwanda … using facilities that Britain paid handsomely for under its own deportations deal before Starmer scrapped it. It splashes the Mail.
All our plans, Rwanda: Playbook is told officials found out about Stamp’s comments by reading the news, and are spending the coming days looking into the legal position. But as it stands there seems no real prospect of stopping Germany from using things Britain paid for, given we no longer have a migration deal with Rwanda — and officials believe the £240 million already handed over by the Tories can’t be clawed back.
Some context: It’s worth remembering where this guy sits in the hierarchy. Stamp is not a member of Germany’s Cabinet, though he is in charge of negotiating deals with countries like Morocco to return migrants, my Berlin Playbook colleague Hans von der Burchard emails to say. That makes him an important voice in the government — but not a decisive one.
Even so: It means a hot, politicized row over asylum policy looms over what was meant to be officialdom talking about practical steps. Cleverly and fellow Tory leadership candidate Robert Jenrick both give Starmer a kicking in the Sun, while Downing Street insisted the PM has no regrets: “This is an expensive gimmick.”
Pick your favorite stats: Despite this week’s surge, Downing Street told hacks the number of small boat arrivals for August 2024 was 22 percent lower than August 2023.
Reminder of the human cost: Anas Al Mustafa, a people smuggler who packed seven people into a lorry compartment where they started running out of oxygen, will be sentenced today.
FRIEND SHIP: It’s too early to say how France’s next PM Michel Barnier will affect all this, but Starmer has banked heavily on forging better relationships with Europe to oil the wheels of his plans. And it doesn’t get much cuddlier — for now — than Barnier, who told Starmer’s biographer Tom Baldwin that the Labour leader was “clever” and “improved day after day” … and called him “a patriot and European” in an interview with the FT.
Not such fans: The Mail has whipped out the classic red header to pan the “return of Le Remainer in chief.” Brexiteers were aghast. My colleague in Paris Giorgio Leali has a handy explainer on the question you were too embarrassed to ask — what, exactly, a French prime minister actually does.
And another mate: Starmer is slated to travel to Dublin on Saturday to meet his Guinness buddy Taoiseach Simon Harris and watch England play Ireland in the Nations League. No. 10 hasn’t said what they’ll discuss.
The thing to watch … is how to balance any new era of chumminess with sticking to Britain’s red lines on wider migration. When it comes to student exchanges Barnier has said “the door is open, particularly for Erasmus” — yet Starmer’s government has rejected it. 
But here’s one agreement: The government is looking to delay post-Brexit checks on fruit and vegetable imports from the EU until July 1 next year, according to a leaked letter to industry seen by the i’s Arj Singh.
And another? The Telegraph splashes on Estonia offering its jail cells to rent to criminals from Britain’s over-stuffed prisons. U.K. ministers are considering the idea, though one U.K. official tells Playbook it’s unlikely.
NEW CRONYISM ROW? Away from migration issues, No. 10’s Lobby briefing could be lively this morning. Bloomberg’s Ailbhe Rea reports that Labour donor Waheed Alli (who the Sunday Times revealed had a security pass to Downing Street) has been making recommendations for public appointments.
The details: People tell Rea the “glasses for passes” peer was working with senior officials to draw up a list of candidates for posts that are due to come open in the next five years — though it isn’t clear whom Alli recommended or whether any of them got hired. Labour staff are said to have raised concerns with senior party figures. Two people with knowledge of the situation tell Playbook they reckon Alli was involved in preparations for government during the election campaign.
Chef’s kiss: Alli is said to have called the project “Operation Integrity.”
Right of reply: No. 10 has not provided a statement, but an official said it was not accurate to say Alli was involved in appointments, which are made by ministers and departments. They added Alli plays no part in this or forming the Cabinet, which is a decision for the PM.
GREEN SHOOTS: Conference season starts crawling reluctantly into life today with the Green Party’s three-day stint in Manchester. Leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay are due to speak at 1.45 p.m. after telling the Guardian of their four-seat election haul: “Is it nice to say I told you so?” Full agenda here.
Green on red: An overnight release is light-ish on climate, instead focusing on the budget and those all-important differences between the Greens’ and Labour’s plans. Denyer said she would fight any public spending cuts and called for hikes to capital gains tax, inheritance tax and a wealth tax.
We probably do … need to be talking about the Greens at least a little more, given they now have four MPs and nearly 2 million votes. They, the Gaza Five and the five MPs for Reform UK add the only touch of frisson to the (otherwise dead boring) parliamentary arithmetic, and represent a much wider fractured electoral coalition.
RED FLAG: Just as the Greens head home, the reds will gather for the annual get-together hosted by the Trades Union Congress — with a big media focus this year on public sector pay deals and Labour’s plans to reform workers’ rights. More detail in the weekend ahead section of Playbook PM at 5 p.m. Playbook hears Keir Starmer is widely expected to give a big speech to the Congress on Tuesday.
LABOUR POWER PLAYER NEWS: The briefing battle is running hot between the two frontrunners for Labour general secretary, your author and Playbook’s Sam Blewett both hear. 
In the red corner: Executive Director Nations and Regions Hollie Ridley, who one backer praises as a “working-class girl from Dagenham” who rose from being a trainee organizer over 13 years. She “understands how the organization works” as it prepares to fight the next general election from a slimmed-down HQ, and “was instrumental in getting the party into shape.”
In the other red corner: Chief Operating Officer John Lehal, who formally joined the party staff 18 months ago. The official quoted above says much of the change had already happened, and points out with a raised eyebrow Lehal’s former roles helping Andy Burnham and Owen Smith run for Labour leader, as well as his past in the lobbying world. 
But but but … A second official pushing Lehal’s candidacy praises his “long career in industry” and tells Sam the “Labour lifer has added professionalism, dynamism and entrepreneurial flair.” A third official says: “He saved us millions of pounds by moving HQ a second time in a year, because he didn’t think we were getting the best deal.”
With apologies to the left: If you were thinking of a Corbyn-era ideological battle, think again — both picks are “very moderate,” says the third official. They have until Sept. 12 to apply, then there’s shortlisting on Sept. 16 and a mass interview by 40-odd members of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee on Sept. 17. It could decide the next election. Well … a teeny bit.
BINGO GALL: Senior Tories are muttering darkly about the process behind Thursday’s ballot for private member’s bills, Playbook hears, after not one Conservative MP was picked among the top 20 despite 112 supposedly putting their names down. An official texts your author saying they’re questioning how the Lib Dems got four and they got none. What are the odds, eh?
Some people get all the luck: By contrast, Playbook hears that one Labour MP hadn’t bothered to enter, told colleagues this less than 10 minutes before the deadline, and was promptly frogmarched to put their name down. They ended up in the top 20.
On a more serious note … A vote on assisted dying looks like a sure bet. Labour MP Jake Richards has a meeting with campaigners this morning and has spoken to the Times’ Geraldine Scott, who reckons he may get time in the chamber next year. It’ll be hotly contested — Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick has changed his mind and won’t back assisted dying, two sources close to him tell the i’s Kitty Donaldson, while rival Mel Stride tells Kitty he would “likely lean in favor” but isn’t convinced yet.
JUSTICE DENIED: Ex-Director of Public Prosecutions Ken Macdonald has claimed the first Grenfell convictions may only come in 2030 thanks to the backlog in the courts, after police said charges could take until 2026. His successor as DPP will read the Guardian splash closely.
Call us, Dave! The Grenfell United group tells the Mirror’s Sophie Huskisson that David Cameron — who still hasn’t responded to the inquiry report — is not giving families “the respect they deserve.”
Gove but not forgotten: Oliver Wright has an intriguing story in today’s Times (not yet online) suggesting that ex-Royal Marines colonel Graham Cundy — Michael Gove’s maverick pick to fight rogue cladding developers — mysteriously left the housing department before the election after “ruffling feathers” among officials. One person complains to Wright: “He was the grit in the oyster that pushed for things to be done.”
FUELING DISSENT: Four days before the vote on Labour’s cut to winter fuel payments, leading rebel Rachael Maskell has a Telegraph op-ed warning pensioners face “excess deaths.” Tony Blair’s former Home Secretary David Blunkett criticized the policy “very strong[ly]” at a Wednesday meeting of peers, according to the FT.
SECOND JOBS: The list of nominees for the government’s new Modernisation Committee, which will look at how to restrict MPs’ second jobs and shunt some working practices into this century, appeared overnight. It includes Christopher Chope, the Tory MP who has … how shall we say … been caught up in many a procedural argument in his time. The other names are on the order paper here.
AMBITION CORNER: New MP Shaun Davies resigned as a PPS to Lords Leader Angela Smith to run for chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, LBC’s Aggie Chambre reports.
OWEN’S GOAL: Youngest Tory peer Charlotte Owen will introduce a private members’ bill today to ban deepfake pornographic images without consent, she told Channel 4 News (and writes in the Mail). Her rare interview with Cathy Newman is also well worth a watch for her response to whether she was “surprised” to be ennobled at the age of 30.
SCOOP — TRAINING DAY: Defence Secretary John Healey is visiting Ramstein, Germany, for a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, where he’s expected to confirm the extension of the U.K.’s training program for the Ukrainian armed forces and has announced 650 multi-role missile systems worth £162 million to boost Ukraine’s air defenses. My colleague Esther Webber, who’s traveling with him, hears that the MoD expects this to be followed by a bigger order next year. Read her report here.
KER-CHING: Hacks have been trawling the register of MPs’ interests for the latest Tory leadership donations, which put Robert Jenrick in front on £250,000 according to the Guardian’s Rowena Mason. It also shows GB News paid Nigel Farage’s company £81,607 for approximately 32 hours of work, including a “back payment for work over several months.” H/t the i’s Kat Brown.
TORY LEADERSHIP NEWS: Candidates continue to hit the phones today … Tom Tugendhat has been backed by fellow military man Bob Stewart … Robert Jenrick has a media round (times below) … and the Times picks up on an apparent spat between Team Cleverly and CCHQ over the vetting of supporters who appeared at his launch event. The paper has detailed alleged links between one attendee and the Chinese Communist Party.
SAD TROMBONE: Not only will Rishi Sunak not give a speech at the Tory conference — he’ll only attend for a few hours, the Express’ Sam Lister reports.
POSTAL ORDER: Royal Mail could reduce second-class deliveries to every other weekday as part of Ofcom’s proposed cost-cutting reforms. More via the Mail. 
DEBT FOREVER: King’s College London Vice Chancellor Shitij Kapur gets lots of pickup (including the BBC) after suggesting tuition fees would need to rise to £12,500 a year just to meet costs. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told Universities UK she was looking at “all of the options.”
SCHOOL’S IN: Parents should not be able to pull their children out of sex education classes, Phillipson suggested on the Sun’s Never Mind the Ballots show.
SOFT VERDICT: Four of the U.K.’s most senior judges are urging the government to “reverse the trend of imposing ever longer sentences” after jail terms roughly doubled over the last 50 years. The four surviving former Lords Chief Justices of England and Wales back the appeal in a report by the campaigning Howard League. 
CHOO-CHOO-N IN: Playbook’s own Emilio Casalicchio took a visit to Japan for this week’s Westminster Insider episode to see how a functioning rail system works. He spoke about the process of privatizing British rail with former Transport Secretary George Young, who says he still believes it was the right move for the U.K.’s railways.
INQUIRY IS BACK: The Covid-19 inquiry has preliminary hearings on children and young people from 10 a.m. Evidence sessions for module 3 (the impact on health care) then start next Tuesday.
REPORTS OUT TODAY: The post-Covid peak in school absences could take seven years to subside, according to the LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance … and the current business rates system is “too complex, unpredictable and unfair,” says the CBI. 
HOUSE OF LORDS: Sits from 10 a.m. with the second reading of the Support for Infants and Parents etc (Information) Bill … and the second reading of the Lithium-ion Battery Safety Bill.
LEVELING OFF: Disposable incomes in much of Yorkshire fell further behind London and the southeast between 2010 and 2022, the IPPR North think tank told the Yorkshire Post. 
BIDEN HIS TIME: U.S. President Joe Biden’s son Hunter pleaded guilty to federal tax charges overnight in a surprise move, avoiding what could be a humiliating trial weeks before the election. More via Sky News.
IT’S OFFICIAL: The U.S. and nine allied nations — including the U.K. — formally accused the Russian government of masterminding cyberattacks in 2020 on Ukrainian critical infrastructure. Read more on POLITICO.INFLUENCED: The U.S. Department of Justice has accused Russian state broadcaster RT of paying a Tennessee firm $10 million to create content with “hidden Russian government messaging,” with the intent of interfering with the U.S. election. Right-wing American influencers employed by the firm say they’re “victims” of the alleged plot, the BBC reports. 
Meanwhile … Russian President Vladimir Putin smirked at a public appearance where he said he supports U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid and praised her “infectious laugh.” He added that he hopes she might “refrain” from sanctions on Russia. Good luck with that.
TRUMP ON TRIAL: The 2024 presidential race will have no bearing on the schedule of Donald Trump’s criminal proceedings for seeking to subvert the 2020 election, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said Thursday. The judge did not set a trial date but appeared inclined to give prosecutors a chance to lay out damaging evidence against Trump within the next few weeks, in the final stages of the presidential campaign.
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Border Security and Asylum Minister Angela Eagle broadcast round: Times Radio (7.05 a.m.) … Sky News (7.20 a.m.) … LBC (7.45 a.m.) … Today (8.10 a.m.) … GMB (8.30 a.m.). 
Tory leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick broadcast round: Sky News (7.30 a.m.) … LBC (8.20 a.m.) … Talk (9.10 a.m.).
Also on Nick Ferrari at Breakfast: Former Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi (7.35 a.m.) … former hostage in Gaza Aviva Siegel (8.50 a.m.). 
Also on Times Radio Breakfast: Housing Ombudsman Richard Blakeway (8.10 a.m.) … Universities UK President Sally Mapstone (8.45 a.m.) … Former Conservative Education Secretary Justine Greening and Labour peer Jack McConnell (9 a.m.)
Also on Sky News Breakfast: Former Lord Chief Justice John Thomas (7.45 a.m.) … Green Party Co-Leader Adrian Ramsay (8.05 a.m.).
Also on LBC News: Green MP Ellie Chowns (7.40 a.m.).
POLITICO UK: Meet the new ‘Mr Ukraine’ at the head of Britain’s military.
Daily Express: We’re not greedy! Britain’s elderly will do deal on fuel support. 
Daily Mail: Rwanda’s back — but it’s Germany planning to use it.
Daily Mirror: A monument for Queen Elizabeth.
Daily Star: ‘Mad Vlad had spy whale whacked.’
Financial Times: Macron names Barnier as premier in bid to break deadlock in France.
i: Brexit food rules set for delay to avoid food price rises at supermarkets.
Metro: Kyle — don’t blame me I’m just the host. 
The Daily Telegraph: Prisoners could serve their time in Estonia.
The Guardian: No justice for the Grenfell tragedy ‘until next decade.’
The Independent: Now charge the guilty of Grenfell with manslaughter.  
The Times: Firm behind Grenfell refit blocked from closing down.
Westminster Insider: Emilio Casalicchio visits Japan to ask how the U.K. can get the trains to run on time, speaking to Former Transport Secretary George Young and rail experts Christopher Hood, Gareth Dennis and Christian Wolmar.
Power Play: Host Anne McElvoy is joined by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who criticizes Britain’s decision to suspend arms sales and his successor Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct of the war.
EU Confidential: Host Sarah Wheaton is joined by POLITICO’s Chief EU Correspondent Barbara Moens and Policy Editor Joanna Roberts to look at the issues on Brussels’ back-to-school agenda. 
Plus six of the other best political podcasts to listen to this weekend:
The Rundown: Labour MP Tim Roca and Conservative MP Lewis Cocking join host Alain Tolhurst to discuss Sue Gray’s “sh*t list” of looming crises.
Newscast: Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan discusses the working relationship with a new Westminster government, the Reform vote and the Welsh language. (Out at noon.) 
The Political Party: Sarah Brown talks to Matt Forde live at the Edinburgh Festival about the role of the political spouse. 
For the Many: Iain Dale is joined by Labour’s Emily Thornberry to discuss the Grenfell inquiry and the foreign affairs committee chair race. Holyrood Sources: The three candidates to be the next leader of the Scottish Conservative Party — Meghan Gallacher, Murdo Fraser and Russell Findlay — discuss the campaign and make their pitches. Chopper’s Political Podcast: GB News’ Chris Hope sits down with Conservative peer David Frost.
The Economist: America’s killer cars. 
WESTMINSTER WEATHER: There’s a yellow weather warning for rain … Happy Friday. High 20C, low 15C. 
SO LONG: X public affairs chief Nick Pickles is leaving Elon Musk’s company, he X’d overnight.
SPOTTED … Rival Tory leadership camps burying the hatchet at the birthday party for James Cleverly aide Alice Hopkin, on the Tamesis Dock boat with Prosecco and pizza: Conservative MPs James Cleverly, Gagan Mohindra and Peter Fortune … Team Cleverly’s Callum Price, Brandon Hattiloney, Joe Tetlow, Kayli Free, Emma Pryor, Rupert Cunningham and Josh Coupland … Team Badenoch’s Dylan Sharpe and Victoria Hewson … Team Tugendhat’s Jock McMillan and Joe Barker … Team Stride’s James Heywood … former Conservative MPs Jackie Doyle-Price and Mark Fletcher … CCHQ’s Harriet Smith, Robbie Caprari-Sharpe, Gabriel Millard-Clothier and Mark Edwards … former SpAds Madeline Sibley, Daisy Peck, Frederick Ellery, James Hedgeland, Nick King, Richard Coates, Sheridan Westlake, Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, Richard N. Jackson and Steph Schwarz … Tory activist Emily Hewertson … chief Downing Street photographer Simon Dawson … Conservative Young Women Chair Alexandra Marsanu … hacks Adam Payne, Aubrey Allegretti, Dominic Penna, Tali Fraser, Harriet Symonds and Eleanor Langford … and several unnamed Home Office civil servants.
Also spotted … at the Clarence for Mirror Political Editor John Stevens’ leaving do as he regenerates into a SpAd to Cabinet Office Minister Pat McFadden: No. 10 Press Secretary Sophie Nazemi … SpAds Ryan Denston, Alex Jones, Will Heilpern and Matt Pound … Rishi Sunak aide Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, crossing enemy lines … Lib Dems’ director of comms Paul Haydon … former Tory SpAds Lynn Davidson and Jack Doyle … hacks galore including pol eds Pippa Crerar, Jason Groves, Katy Balls, Natasha Clark, Hugo Gye, Kate Ferguson, Liz Piper and Ben Riley-Smith … LBC’s Angela Wormald … Flutter’s Steve Hawkes … the Mirror’s Lizzy Buchan, Sophie Huskisson, Mikey Smith, Ashley Cowburn, Jason Beattie, Ros Wynne-Jones and Stephen Jones … and former Mirror Editor Alison Phillips.
Also spotted … Oliver Dowden celebrating being one of the 121 Tory candidates who won their seat.
NO HARM-AN DONE: Harriet Harman has opened up about *that* time Kemi Badenoch hacked into her website (in 2008) … and how, in a strange way, she got her own back. After the mother of the House and future Tory leadership contender traded numbers, Badenoch accidentally left her a voicemail packed with personal details intended for the Badenoch family nanny. More on Sky’s Electoral Dysfunction podcast.
MAIDEN A SPLASH: This parliament will have more than 300 maiden speeches, so naturally they’ve been coming thick and fast this week.  Fans of nervous MPs bearing their souls (and checking their notes) should check out Paul Waugh on his journey from hack to MP … David Pinto-Duschinsky on the “small margins” of Holocaust survival … Abtisam Mohamed on being the first MP of Yemeni heritage … Caroline Voaden on lessons learned from being widowed at 34 with young children … Jen Craft on her daughter’s Down syndrome diagnosis motivating her to get into politics … Rebecca Smith on her foster parents … Jonathan Hinder on his background as a former police inspector … Julia Buckley on how the death of her friend Jo Cox inspired her to join politics … Sorcha Eastwood on her husband’s experience with cancer …
And breathe: … Chris Coghlan discussing cross-party backing to change the Mental Capacity Act 2005 … Jeevun Sandher on his journey from rural Punjab to Loughborough …  Will Stone on being the first Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt MP … Jake Richards on being a pupil barrister in the trial of Jo Cox’s murderer … Liz Jarvis on having had to skip meals to feed her son … Lucy Rigby on being a part of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia … Uma Kumaran on being the daughter of Tamil refugees … Simon Opher on the similarities between an MP and a GP … Michelle Scrogham betting she is the only MP married to a lighthouse keeper … and Anna Sabine revealing her great, great aunt Helen Fraser was the first woman to stand for parliament in Scotland. Full list via a dedicated X account here.
ALL HAIL … Commons Leader Lucy Powell for announcing a year’s worth of recess dates in one go, hence enabling Playbook to book his next holiday. ICYMI, the periods when MPs won’t be here are Nov. 7-10 (inclusive) … Dec. 20 to Jan. 5 … Feb. 14-23 … Apr. 9-21 … May 2-5 … May 23 to Jun. 1 … then the Commons will rise for summer recess on July 22, 2025. Link here.
CONGRATS TO: Labour’s Lisa Gillmore, Luke Joseph and Oliver Freeman for winning the NFU’s annual quiz for MPs’ staff.
BEST WISHES: To LBC’s Iain Dale, who is having surgery today after a recent medical bump in the road.
NOW READ: The BBC’s Sima Kotecha has a gripping dispatch from inside HMP Pentonville, where six alarms ring in half a day and an inmate carves “mum and dad” into his arm.
WRITING PLAYBOOK PM: Andrew McDonald.
WRITING PLAYBOOK MONDAY MORNING: Sam Blewett.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens … Former DHSC SpAd Damon Poole … Global podcaster Emily Maitlis … former Inverclyde MP Ronnie Cowan.
And celebrating over the weekend: Loughborough MP Jeevun Sandher … Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Alex Burghart … Labour peer Dianne Hayter …  Former COP26 President Alok Sharma … The Economist U.K. politics correspondent Matthew Holehouse … Mail Online’s Political Editor James Tapsfield … Non-affiliated peer Andrew Stone … President of the Supreme Court Robert Reed … Playbook’s own Zoya Sheftalovich … Former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell … Health Minister Karin Smyth … Labour peer Margaret Hodge … Former East Devon MP Simon Jupp … retired Crossbench peer Norman Warner … SNP MSP Michael Matheson … Alliance MLA Kellie Armstrong … Labour peer Bernard Donoughue … SNP MSP Kenneth Gibson … Former U.S. Defense Secretary James “Mad Dog” Mattis … Former City Hall Political Director Jack Stenner … The Times’ Patrick Kidd … Evening Standard Deputy Political Editor Jitendra Joshi … U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.
PLAYBOOK COULDN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT: My editors Zoya Sheftalovich and Alex Spence, diary reporter Bethany Dawson and producer Dean Southwell.
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