Review · Local Post
Presented by Lloyds Banking Group By ANDREW MCDONALD with MEGAN MCELROY Good Tuesday morning . This is Andrew McDonald. DRIVING THE DAY THE DREAMS THAT ARE MINE ANYWAY: Sixteen years after he first shot for the top job, Andy Burnham will address the Labour Party conference as leader from 2 p.m. — and by all accounts it’ll be an unusual one.
A prime minister who might have gotten away with a victory lap sounds poised to open up some deep rifts conversations on some of the most intractable issues of our time: Europe, social care and the pensions triple lock. And it sounds like he will point beyond the next election, ensuring that we’re all still talking about these things for years to come. It’s certainly a bold strategy; his allies say it’s the medicine Britain needs.
Opposition parties, and some Labour MPs, are not so sure. Planes, trains and automobiles: This is Burnham’s clearest moment yet to define his premiership and long-term goals to the party faithful, and to a British public that hasn’t yet had a chance to elect him (unless you live in Makerfield). The new PM has been working on this one in various “planes, trains and cars” for weeks, according to one ally.
Another says he was still bashing out bits of it last night. The word is that this one has been held very tight by Burnham himself, far more than in the days of Keir Starmer. It will all be very personal ... from the PM, as we’ve come to expect, with Burnham attempting to use the full force of his folksy persona.
A Cabinet minister tells Playbook the style will be “light ... self-effacing,” while the BBC’s Joe Pike hears it’ll be with an autocue but no lectern. **A message from Lloyds Banking Group: Financial empowerment is a fair shot at investing . Lloyds Banking Group is empowering one million people to invest by 2030, with accessible solutions and digital guidance to help people understand their options, when investing is right for them and the risks involved. Lives Empowered.
A Nation Empowered. ** Make it light but serious please, cheers: “It’s his vision for what the country should look like,” says a senior government official. With all the secrecy around the speech, the one piece of hype that has come through repeatedly is that it will be big and head-turning, even in some unspecified way. And yet ... in words pre-released overnight Burnham said he had decided against the usual “tub-thumping conference speech.” Instead, he wants to spell out that “hope” can only come from an “honest conversation.” What could be more long-term than the triple lock?
What we know so far: Not a lot. Burnham’s words on the BBC Sunday promising tough decisions to fund a new national care service set hares running, and the extent to which he will signal the triple lock could be for the scrapyard after the next manifesto isn’t very clear yet. The Telegraph’s Tony Diver has a senior government source claiming scrapping the triple lock post-election could form part of a “grand bargain” with pensioners, who could receive free social care in exchange for lower pensions — and it’s one of the ideas floating around for how to sell it.
The Sun’s Jack Elsom hears that Burnham wants to kick-start a “conversation” about the triple lock’s future today, which may be where we land for now. Just an idea? Burnham will set out more this afternoon on his social care plans as an example of one of the issues he reckons have long been ignored by Westminster.
But his team stresses it is a big picture, big vision speech — and therefore it’s unclear if we will learn much more on the details of how things like that will be paid for. But by not killing it stone dead — through Chancellor John Healey’s round of interviews Monday or Burnham’s own on Sunday — the speculation on the triple lock has started to run rampant. No. 10 wasn’t killing it last night either.
Locked in for the triple lock: Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham has been doing the rounds — and she told The Times : “I think it would be almost electoral suicide. Morally, I just don’t think it’s the right thing.” The Express, Telegraph and i Paper likewise splash on what remains a live rail in British politics. Playbook spoke to MPs in northern seats with pensioner poverty who were having jitters about the effect on their constituents.
And one Cabinet minister told my colleague Dan Bloom: “I would like to actually win the next election.” On the other hand ... “Do it” one Labour MP quietly whispered. “We can’t do everything for everyone forever.” And it will be interesting to watch the response from the opposition parties to whatever Burnham signals on it.
Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick — whose arrival in the party coincided with Farage ending his flirtation with killing the triple lock — was already saying it is “outrageous” to suggest scrapping the triple lock instead of slashing the (rest of the) benefits bill last night . Do remember: How it is paid for is not the only aspect of the social care plan we’re waiting to hear more about — with questions about the timetable for any national care service and the extent to which it will truly be free at the point of use for all like the NHS. How much more will we know about that by 3 p.m.?
Answers on a postcard. DON’T EU FORGET ABOUT ME: And then there is the issue of Europe. There have been murmurings all week that Burnham would raise some kind of big, high-level statement about the future relationship in his speech, and EU Relations Minister Hamish Falconer told delegates that the public would “hear a bit from the prime minister” on the EU today.
The question again is what, how high level — and whether we end up with a second vague yet seismic signal about life under Labour after the next election. Ministers have told the Independent’s David Maddox that the PM is building a case to put rejoin in the manifesto, just as he refused to rule out doing when on the plane to New York last week. Even if you just go by ministers’ comments to our POLITICO Pub , that could cause some serious ructions on the front bench.
She’s electric: That’s not to say the speech will be without a press-releasable announcement or two. One of those already popped into inboxes last night, with the Guardian being shown plans for “GB Grid” — a new government-backed body to challenge National Grid’s near monopoly. It will be funded from GB Energy’s existing budget, tasked with accelerating the grid infrastructure needed to hit net zero and designed to “increase competition to drive down costs and speed up delivery” of essential projects, Burnham will say.
The Tory response last night said that with green levies and “subsidised wind farms, families will pay twice over.” But let’s step back: This is clearly going to be a different kind of speech to ones we have seen in recent years. Go by any of the talk in Liverpool and it’s pretty easy to guess that the focus will end up overwhelmingly on big, crunchy issues that define the country’s future — with the proposed solutions only really getting under way many years from now. And the question will be when we see all the paving to get there.
It is, in short, very Andy Burnham. And then, we dissect: The PM will start to do a series of interviews after his speech, though Playbook hears nothing will appear on the airwaves until Wednesday. So there will be plenty of meat to get your teeth into as everyone troops onto the Avanti home from Liverpool — and who knows, maybe even a few more musings aloud about live policy issues from the PM?
Us journalists have got to keep busy somehow. ** How does Europe compete on the global stage? Meet leaders from politics, business and society at the European Economic Forum 2026 and gain strategic insights for your organisation and for a resilient Europe. Explore the programme! ** TODAY IN LIVERPOOL FAIRFORD LATEST: Marco Rubio told Fox News overnight that the suspected bomb plot at RAF Fairford “clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor” — adding that it could have been a “very serious situation.” The Guardian has his quotes here.
It “might be” Iran: Rubio’s boss Donald Trump earlier said he would not have released the five suspects who were bailed yesterday after experts found no trace of explosives. Asked if the suspected terrorists were connected to Iran, Mr Trump replied: “Might be.” Lucy Powell — who is currently on the airwaves — will no doubt be quizzed on the differing opinions across the Atlantic over the handling of the RAF Fairford incident. NOT MARCHING ON: Angela Rayner reckons intimidation at marches should not be permitted amid the controversy over gatherings organized by anti-migrant activist Daniel Thomas.
“When you see hundreds of predominantly men in black wearing black face masks shouting, going down the street, that is intimidating,” the housing secretary said. “Whether you agree with the message or not, it’s intimidating.” The Guardian has the story. LIFE’S A BEACH: Although Burnham plans to give some good talk on the EU, Brussels behind closed doors is anything but pleased about the repeated delays to the trans-Channel summit, my colleague Sam Blewett writes in to say.
“It’s very frustrating,” one EU diplomat said. “I mean what’s the hold up?!” They said the EU had offered another date early in November — but was told the Caribbean beaches of CHOGM might clash with that. A U.K. official disputed that and insisted both sides are working to get a summit set for this year.
AT THE POLITICO PUB: Interviews with AI Minister Kanishka Narayan (10.30 a.m.) ... former Health Secretary Alan Milburn (11 a.m.) ... Greater Manchester Mayor Bev Craig (11.30 a.m.) ... Scottish Labour Party Leader Michael Marra (12 p.m.) ...
DESNZ Minister Katie White (12.30 p.m.) ... Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Emily Thornberry (4 p.m.) ... E.ON UK Chief Executive Chris Norbury (4.30 p.m.) ...
DESNZ minister Michael Shanks (4.40 p.m.) ... Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander (5.30 p.m.). PARTY PEOPLE (mostly invite only): Labour Business Reception (6 p.m., Grace Suites, Hilton Liverpool City Centre) ...
Total Politics Reception (7.15 p.m., Room 4B) ... TikTok and UK Music and Labour Student Disco (7.30 p.m., Camp & Furnace) ... Labour Friends of Israel Annual Reception (8.30 p.m., Hall 2F) ...
The Mirror Party (10 p.m., Hall 2F). MAIN STAGE: Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant (10.15 a.m.) ... East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward (10.25 a.m.) ...
Housing Secretary Angela Rayner (11.40 a.m.) ... Prime Minister Andy Burnham (2 p.m.). PICK OF THE FRINGE: Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook joins the Fabian Society to talk building homes (9 a.m., Bluecoat) ...
Defence Committee Chair Tan Dhesi and Emily Thornberry discuss democracy with the Fabian Society (10 a.m., Bluecoat) ... Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds talks at a Nationwide event (10.10 a.m., Anacta Hub LEX) ... DESNZ Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh talks about energy bills with IPPR (11.15 a.m., Education Area 3, Museum of Liverpool) ...
Emily Thornberry and MP Liam Byrne talk about the special relationship with ThinkLabour (11.15 a.m., Arena Room Aire LEX) ... BCC event with Jonathan Reynolds (11.30 a.m., Auditorium 1B) ... TBI in conversation with Kanishka Narayan (11.30 a.m., Hall 2C, LEX) ...
Social Market Foundation talks to Defence Secretary Wes Streeting (4.30 p.m., Liverpool Experience Campus) ... FT Political Fix live with Jonathan Reynolds (5.30 p.m., iNHouse Lounge). BEST OF THE REST ARMS RACE: The government has suspended or refused more than 80 export licenses for items that could be used by the Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza, the Jewish Chronicle reports .
That’s nearly three times the number announced when restrictions were introduced in September 2024. STANDOFF: The main parties involved in a dispute in Northern Ireland over an Orange Order parade that had been scheduled for Sunday are still in a stalemate after a day of talks at Stormont. Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant said the talks had been “positive so far,” according to the BBC .
LATEST FROM THE AI APOCALYPSE: OpenAI is scrapping plans to release a new model after safety researchers raised concerns during internal testing, the Wall Street Journal reported . Earlier, OpenAI apologized to Australia for its agents hacking into a government health website in June and for its handling of the incident. My stateside colleagues have more . **A message from Lloyds Banking Group: Financial empowerment is a fair shot at investing .
It means having the confidence, capability and control to make informed decisions about money. Nationally, UK adults hold an estimated £430–610 billion in cash above their emergency savings, often earning materially less than it could if invested over the long term. Modelling commissioned by Lloyds Banking Group suggests that, if 15% of this investable cash moved gradually into balanced investments, digitally enabled guidance and simpler investment journeys could unlock around £40 billion in consumer value over ten years—benefiting around 6.5 million people at target uptake.
Lloyds Banking Group is empowering one million people to invest by 2030, with accessible solutions, digital guidance and simpler journeys designed to make investing easier to understand and access. Support should reflect individual goals, circumstances and risk appetite. Investments can fall as well as rise; returns aren’t guaranteed.
Lives Empowered. A Nation Empowered. ** MEDIA ROUND Deputy Labour Leader Lucy Powell broadcast round: Times Radio (7.05 a.m.) ... Sky Mornings (7.15 a.m.) ...
BBC Breakfast (7.30 a.m.) ... LBC (7.50 a.m.) ... Today (8.10 a.m.) ...
Good Morning Britain (8.35 a.m.) ... GB News (9.05 a.m.). Also on Nick Ferrari at Breakfast: Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham (8.25 a.m.) ...
NFU President Tom Bradshaw (9.20 a.m.). Also on Good Morning Britain: Reform UK Treasury spokesperson Robert Jenrick (7.20 a.m.). Also on Times Radio Breakfast: Young People and Work Review Chair Alan Milburn (8.10 a.m.) ...
Tom Bradshaw (8.20 a.m.) ... Labour Mayor for the North East Kim McGuinness (8.35 a.m.). Also on Sky Mornings: Fire Brigades Union General Secretary Steve Wright (7.30 a.m.) ...
Sharon Graham (8.45 a.m.) ... former Burnham adviser Sacha Lord (9.30 a.m.). Politics Live (BBC Two, 12.15 p.m.): Journalist Alys Denby ... broadcaster Paul McNamee ... Steve Wright ...
Wales Secretary Stephen Kinnock . Politics Live (BBC Two, 1.45 p.m.): Former Sun Editor David Yelland ... Lucy Powell .
TODAY’S FRONT PAGES POLITICO UK : Burnham’s EU push reopens Labour’s Brexit divide. Daily Express : Scrap triple lock and you will face voter revolt. Daily Mail : PM to vow public control of energy, water and housing.
Daily Mirror : Taking back power. Daily Star : Trump ‘surprise’ at release of RAF plot suspects. Financial Times : Burnham to outline plans for social care, welfare and ‘control’ of utilities.
Metro : Something VERY odd is going on. The Daily Telegraph : Burnham signals end of triple lock. The Guardian : PM unveils electricity grid plan in push for public control of utilities.
The Independent : Burnham edges Labour closer to rejoining EU. The i Paper : End of UK state pension triple lock moves a step closer. The Times : Labour split on prospect of ending triple lock.
The Sun : Plot’s going on, PM? LIVERPOOL CALLING LIVERPOOL WEATHER: Cloudy changing to sunny intervals later on. High 22C, low 15C.
SCOOP — EVENING PLANS: TikTok’s annual conference party is the place to be tonight — and not just for the Sugababes. AI Minister Kanishka Narayan is one of those listed to give a DJ set. SPOTTED ... at Sky’s Nightcap drinks, complete with Politics at Sam and Anne’s podcast-branded cushions that Sam Coates promptly took home with him: Housing Secretary Angela Rayner with donor Farah Sassoon ...
Women and Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson ... Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden ... Chancellor John Healey ...
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds ... Chief Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds ... Deputy Labour Leader Lucy Powell ...
DESNZ Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh ... Kanishka Narayan ... Business Adviser Varun Chandra ...
MP Abena Oppong-Asare , tearing up the dance floor ... MPs Jess Phillips , Emily Thornberry , Stella Creasy , Uma Kumaran , Rosie Wrighting , Al Carns and Josh MacAlister ... SpAds Sophia Kewell , Adam Ludlow , Nick Parrott , Jonty Leibowitz , Milly Lynch , Donjeta Miftari and Calum Munro ...
Palantir’s Tom Watson ... Japanese Ambassador Hiroshi Suzuki deep in conversation with Global Counsel co-founder Benjamin Wegg-Prosser ... the Sky crew, including Beth Rigby and Ed Conway ... and AJ Pritchard of Strictly Come Dancing fame. ASKING THE BIG QUESTIONS: Which sketch writer got thrown out the Pullman for bringing in external Pringles?
SPOTTED ... at the LabourList Karaoke and DJ Night, MP Dawn Butler and Angela Rayner with back-to-back DJ sets to kick things off, with Butler playing tunes including “It Wasn’t Me” by Shaggy and “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugar Hill Gang and Rayner opting for “Set You Free” by N-Trance and “Glue” by Bicep. MPs including Mike Reader , Josh Fenton-Glynn and Emily Thornberry attended, with karaoke highlights including NEC member Abdi Duale belting out “Like a Prayer” (despite briefing he’d be singing “Pink Pony Club”). SPOTTED ... at the Labour Party Irish Society reception, where Emily Thornberry took to the mic to treat the room to two songs, including “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling”: London Mayor Sadiq Khan ... former Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn ...
MPs including Anna Turley , Karin Smyth , Andrew Western , Shaun Davies , Deirdre Costigan , Pamela Nash , Siobhain McDonagh , Kevin Bonavia , Linsey Farnsworth , Adam Jogee , Catherine Atkinson , Lola McEvoy and Marie Tidball ... NEC members Jane Thomas and Anu Prashar ... Labour HQ’s Bridie O’Shea ...
ThinkLabour’s Calum Weir and Amelia Wood ... Arguably’s Cam Vargas ... the Premier League’s Peter Middlehurst ... and hacks Adam Payne and Sabrina Miller . Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant missed out on the fun after being dispatched to Stormont.
SPOTTED ... at the Jewish Labour Movement’s reception: Lucy Powell , who said “everyone looks a bit depressed” ... DCMS Secretary Lisa Nandy ... ministers Stephen Timms and Sarah Sackman ... MPs Peter Prinsley , Gareth Snell and Matt Patrick ... peers Margaret Hodge , Mike Katz , Luciana Berger and John Mann ... and the NEC’s Joshua Garfield and Ella Rose-Jacobs .
SPOTTED ... at New Statesman editor-in-chief Tom McTague ’s drinks in a room buried in the Liverpool Experience Campus: Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury Anneliese Midgley ... Chief Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds ... the BCC’s Shevaun Haviland ... advisers Rhys Clyne , Michael Denoual and Ben Szreter ... former Burnham SpAd Katie Myler ... former Labour Exec Director Patrick Heneghan ... DFT SpAd Eleri Kirkpatrick-Lorente ... broadcasters Lewis Goodall , Ed Conway , Nick Robinson , Matt Chorley ...
TBI’s Ryan Wain ... London Centric’s Jim Waterson ... Guardian editor-in-chief Kath Viner with colleagues Kiran Stacey and Jess Elgot ...
Mail Political Editor Jason Groves ... and former New Statesman Editor Jason Cowley . SPOTTED ... outgoing Co-operative Party General Secretary Joe Fortune giving a leaving speech at their party at the Hard Days Night Hotel, saying “The Labour Party has given me a set of bullet points: I. Am.
Happy. To. Be.
Here.” SPOTTED ... at the GB News party at Browns Brasserie: Sport Minister Steph Peacock ... MPs Jonathan Hinder and Barry Gardiner ... AJ Pritchard , before he dashed off to the Sky party ... hacks Adam Cherry , Steph Spyro and Christian Calgie ... commentator Andy Twelves ...
GB News crew including Political Editor Christopher Hope , Katherine Forster , Keith Bays , Sophie Ashford , Gloria De Piero , Tom Harwood ... and Editorial Director Michael Booker . SPOTTED: Defence Secretary Wes Streeting heading to bed before 11 p.m. (after a very early morning round, in fairness). MATCH REPORT: Yorkshire defeated Lancashire 11-9 in a tag rugby league showdown between politicians, staffers, journalists and ex-pros on Monday.
Jade Botterill MP and London Assembly Member James Small-Edwards were players of the match at Everton’s Hill Dickinson stadium, while try scorers included staffers Georgina Lee and Anthony Broxton , and PolHome’s Adam Payne . TUESDAY’S POD PICK: The State of It is live in Liverpool with some hot takes about the triple lock ahead of Andy Burnham’s speech. WRITING PLAYBOOK PM: Emilio Casalicchio.
WRITING PLAYBOOK WEDNESDAY MORNING: Andrew McDonald. BIRTHDAYS: Solicitor General Andy Slaughter ... Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh ...
Glasgow North East MP Maureen Burke ... former Bolsover MP Mark Fletcher ... retired Tory peer Sebastian Coe ... former No. 10 spinner turned BBC Board member Robbie Gibb ... and Onward’s Ellie Craven . PLAYBOOK COULDN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT: My editors Dan Bloom and Alex Spence , reporter Megan McElroy and producers Dean Southwell and Hugh Kapernaros . SUBSCRIBE to the POLITICO newsletter family: Brussels Playbook | London Playbook | London Playbook PM | Playbook Paris | Berlin Playbook | Sunday Crunch | EU Influence | London Influence | D.C.
Playbook | D.C. Influence | Canada Playbook | POLITICO Forecast | Canberra Playbook | All our POLITICO Pro policy morning newsletters
Source: politico.eu
