Max Kendix

Excl: Angela Rayner held private talks with Al Carns, the armed forces minister, to shore up her credentials on defence policy before a Labour leadership race. The Times understands Rayner has spoken regularly with Carns about how to improve Britain’s military readiness, including routes into military careers for working-class young people. Rayner has not yet decided whether she will challenge Keir Starmer after the local elections, but if she does she is expected to point towards the fact policies ministers are using as evidence of tangibly improving lives - such as renters’ and workers’ rights reforms - were spearheaded by her in govt. thetimes.com/article/36c37a…

Exclusive Keir Starmer’s critics warned it would be ‘madness’ to try and ‘take him out’ after less than two years in office Steve Reed, the housing secretary, warns it would risk consigning the Labour to irrelevance if they copy the Tories and choose regicide “Loyalty in politics is a very important commodity,” he says. “If you are fighting each other then you are not fighting the common enemy. The common enemy here is the cost of living crisis, the lack of investment coming into our country, the fate of our high streets. “We are always better as a party when we face outwards … when we turn in on ourselves, we’re basically telling the British public that we’re making ourselves irrelevant.” The Tories, Reed argues, “normalised” switching prime ministers, and paid a price for it. “The Conservatives chopped and changed prime ministers constantly for the best part of a decade,” he says. “They’ve normalised the idea that switching prime ministers is an acceptable thing to do, but that contributed to the economy flatlining and the Conservatives getting their worst in their 200 years of history at the subsequent general election. Labour can’t copy that.” ‘Ditching Starmer now would be disastrous for Labour and Britain’ thetimes.com/article/e688f7…

Steve Reed in tomorrow’s Times thetimes.com/article/e688f7…

... such as these do need later reflection in the right forums, but I accept that social media is not the appropriate channel for doing so. I have invited Mark Rowley to meet with me to discuss the police response and the wider issues raised in his letter.”

NEW: Polanski apologises for sharing this tweet and has invited to meet with Rowley. “Everyone in leadership has a responsibility for lowering the temperature at a time of such tension, and I apologise for sharing a tweet in haste. Police responses to emergency situations...

The operation to row behind Starmer ahead of the vote is such that one MP - who will stay loyal - reports that their whip, two cabinet ministers and two senior backbenchers have been in touch to get their view

Exclusive from @MaxKendix * A deep dive into the explosion of independent candidates at the local elections on May 7, who pose a significant threat to Labour and have some particularly toxic messaging * The number of independent candidates has almost quadrupled since the last set of relevant elections from 2022, from 328 to 1,263 * Independents are favourites to take control in Redbridge, east London, and to form the biggest group on Bradford's council. They will also make breakthroughs in areas like Birmingham, Blackburn, Burnley, Oldham, Rochdale, Kirklees and Newham * Here's Oliur Rahman, an independent candidate in Newham, on Labour candidates: “They are [like] rats that come out when they smell the food,” he continues. “As soon as they smell the election they come out of their holes, knocking on doors … As soon as the election is over they will go back to their holes and you will never see them again.” * In Redbridge, independent candidate Vaseem Ahmed called on voters to 'punish the politicians and the party that have abandoned us on the altar of Zionism'. 'We need to shame our Labour councillors, especially the Muslim ones' * Ibrar Ali, standing as a candidate in Bradford, said in response to the assassination of Iran's ayatollah in February that Labour was 'fully supporting the killing of Iranians' * In Birmingham, there is the Independent Candidates Alliance, which is run by Akhmed Yakoob — a lawyer with a large TikTok following — who has been charged with money laundering, which he denies. He was arrested in March on suspicion of racially abusing a police officer, and was released on bail. He has claimed his arrest was unlawful. * One of the Alliance’s candidates is Shahid Butt, who was found guilty of a plot to blow up the British consulate in Yemen in 1999. He told the BBC the charges were fabricated and he was tortured into a confession * Amer Khan, another candidate in the city, has admitted being part of a group filmed punching and kicking a resident while delivering leaflets in 2022 * There is some national co-ordination. A discreet network of grassroots campaign groups is helping independents succeed. One such group that has emerged in recent months is Vote Palestine, which has vowed to “put Palestine on the ballot”. * The campaign group has designed a three-part “Palestine pledge” aimed at pointing voters towards candidates who have endorsed it, vowing to “stand against genocide and ethnic cleansing”. More than 1,000 Green candidates have signed up, as have more than 200 independents. * Electoral Commission fears over deepfakes. “The threat has traditionally been linked to attempts by foreign states, but because the technology has moved so far, so fast, the barrier to generating these is basically zero. Anyone can do it,” Vijay Rangarajan, chief executive, said thetimes.com/uk/politics/ar…

Terrific piece from @MaxKendix on the one London borough that will hurt Labour high-command more than most if it falls to the Greens He's been out and about in Lambeth, a place so synonymous with Labour's high command that the coterie of advisers, ministers and union officials that emerged from there are referred to in Westminster as the 'Lambeth mafia' Seven former Lambeth councillors are now sitting as MPs, including Steve Reed. A number of Commons alumni matched only by Manchester City, which covers double the population. Morgan McSweeney is another former Lambeth councillor In 2006 Tony Blair referred to it as 'a beacon of light on a dark night' as he faced devastating election losses around the country. It now threatens to be the symptom instead of exception for Keir Starmer thetimes.com/uk/politics/ar…

As well as countless advisers and trade union officials, there are seven former Lambeth Labour councillors now sitting as MPs: a number of Commons alumni matched only by Manchester city council, which covers double the population Read the full piece here thetimes.com/uk/politics/ar…

There is one London borough that will be particularly painful to lose to the Greens for generations of politicians around Sir Keir Starmer This is how Labour's “Lambeth mafia” are bracing for defeat to the left twenty years on from a much-mythologised win

EXC: Reform are investigating eight candidates over posts presented to the party by @thetimes Prospective councillors called the Nazis “real visionaries”, said migrants breed “like rats” and told rioters to burn down a mosque w/ @conky_k and @MaxKendix thetimes.com/article/3ede00…

Read the full report here thetimes.com/uk/politics/ar…

🚨Dispatch from the battle for Birmingham - a six-sided battle for Europe's largest council - Plans for Greens to stand aside for Independents aborted after Gorton, but coalition to govern still on the cards - Whitehall warnings of new intervention if city becomes ungovernable

Just months ago ministers tried to postpone elections for several councils for the second year in a row - now they are making it illegal

Lots of analysis here of where every party expects to win and lose, in what is likely to be a record-breaking poor performance for Labour and Tories thetimes.com/article/28f7ee…

NEW: Polls, predictions and places to watch for the local elections next month w/ @GWJournalism More than 30 million people across Britain will get the chance to vote on May 7 - from parliaments in Scotland and Wales to 4,500 councillors in England

Exclusive from @MaxKendix Zack Polanski will promise rent controls and a crackdown on private housing developers in an attempt to win over urban voters worried about the cost of living The Green Party leader will launch his local election campaign on Thursday as the party looks to take control of at least four councils in London An internal memo to campaigners seen by The Times said that housing was “coming up a lot on the doorsteps in inner London targets”. Party officials have said it is the “most significant driver of anger towards Labour” The Greens are hoping to wrest control of Lambeth, Islington, Southwark and Hackney councils from Labour, as well as gains in Brent, Lewisham, Newham and Redbridge thetimes.com/uk/politics/ar…

See full details here thetimes.com/article/130569…

Exc: Plans to put Britain’s critical infrastructure and industries on a war footing have been delayed until at least next year Defence Readiness Bill, initially promised for early this year, will not feature in the government’s plan for legislation until mid-2027 at the earliest

Monday's TIMES: New Trump deadline to open Strait or 'face hell' #TomorrowsPapersToday