VELVAVOID

🚨 JUST IN: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says plans are already being prepared in case legislation passes to place President Trump on a new $250 bill. “There is proposed legislation before the House and Senate that would allow a living person, Donald J. Trump, to appear on a $250 bill,” Bessent said. He added that the Treasury Department is preparing in advance but will continue to follow current law unless Congress changes it. A Trump $250 bill? The debate is heating up. 🇺🇸💵

I am told that the PM has not yet definitively decided that he will announce his departure. “It is looking that way,” says a source, “but it is not 100%.” The prediction, among Keir Starmer’s close colleagues, is that he will decide to stay in post until just before Labour conference in late September. “In those circumstances of a delayed exit, history will probably be kinder to him,” said a colleague. “But of course we understand the instinct just to have done with it and walk away.” As for the timing of any such announcement, that could still be Tuesday rather than Monday. On whether there should be a formal leadership contest or an uncontested coronation of Andy Burnham, I am told the mood of MPs is polarised, but the majority would prefer “the men and women in grey suits” to fix it for Burnham, without a potentially fractious completion. Apart from anything else, even close friends of Burnham say he is not yet ready to govern. “He definitely needs time to work out his team and programme,” says an ally of his. So Starmer would be doing Burnham a favour by staying in post another three months - though he would do Burnham a favour through gritted teeth that would risk them falling out.

🚨 BREAKING: A 36-year-old white Scottish man is being investigated by Counter Terrorism Police after five people were stabbed in Edinburgh He said after his arrest: "I'm protecting the country from these fucking Muslim bastards raping our young daughters"