emily m

Eurostar signs off direct London-Switzerland trains. From 2030: St Pancras to Zurich in around 6 hours, no changes required.

EXCL: Andy Burnham’s team is working on a plan for his first 100 days in government in the event that he wins a crunch by-election and replaces Keir Starmer, three people tell me The plan is in its early stages but is likely to include reforms to the creaking social care system

I am on my way to my first official visit to Poland as Prime Minister. We are arriving in the beautiful city of Kraków on a commercial flight via Vienna, from where we will continue by train to Warsaw later this evening. Joining the prime ministerial delegation are Foreign Minister @_OrbanAnita, Minister for the Economy and Energy István Kapitány, Minister for Transport and Investment Dávid Vitézy, Minister of Defence Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, Minister for Social Relations and Culture Zoltán Tarr, and Minister of Agriculture and Food Szabolcs Bóna. We will hold official talks with the Prime Minister of Poland. I will also meet the President of Poland, as well as the Marshal of the Sejm and the President of the Senate. As of today, in the event that both Deputy Prime Minister Anita Orbán and I are simultaneously unable to perform our duties, I am appointing Minister Dr Bálint György Ruff as Deputy Prime Minister. On Thursday morning, I will travel from Warsaw to Vienna, where I will also hold official talks with the Austrian Chancellor and President. On Thursday evening, I will return to Budapest by train. "Polak, Węgier, dwa bratanki I do szabli, i do szklanki Oba zuchy, oba żwawi Niech im Pan Bóg błogosławi. " "Lengyel-magyar két jó barát Együtt harcol s issza borát Vitéz s bátor mindkettője Áldás szálljon mindkettőre."

Pro Andy Burnham tactical voting? In today's exclusive Sky-YouGov poll, it's striking just how much a difference Burnham seems to make. In this week's voting intention poll, Labour are 8 points behind Reform. But asked who you want to win in Makerfield - where the poll names Andy Burnham as the Labour candidate - Labour is ahead by 8 points. And amongst Northern voters, Labour is ahead by 16 points. Why? Look at this tactical voting / support switching. Amongst those who want Burnham to win Makerfield include: 16% current Tories 46% current Lib Dems 6% current Reform UK and 35% current Greens All of these say if there were an election tomorrow, they want another party to win but want a Burnham victory in Makerfield

Work with this man. He’s the BEST.

Are you fascinated by politics, people, elections and public opinion and what motivates voters of all parties and none? We are recruiting a political (small p) assistant to work closely with me across our analysis, commentary and research work. JD here more-in-common.jobs.personio.com/job/2636805

NEW - YouGov Labour members polling If there is a leadership contest, your first preference: Burnham 47% Starmer 31% Rayner 8% Streeting 4% Miliband 3% Cooper 3% Mahmood 1% Carns 0% Head to heads: Burnham 59% v Starmer 37% Burnham 80% v Streeting 10% Miliband 58% v Streeting 28% Rayner 70% v Streeting 19% On Keir Starmer, should he: Take party into next election 28% Remain as leader until closer to GE 33% Step down no / in months 33% YouGov polled 706 Labour members, May 14-18

Hungarian–Polish relations are entering a new phase. In the coming days, we will arrive in Poland with a high-level delegation, with the shared goal of placing our cooperation on new foundations. A new era requires a new approach. Therefore, I have decided to recall Hungary’s Ambassador to Warsaw, as I believe that the renewed direction of our foreign policy should be represented by a new envoy who can credibly and consistently advance it in the period ahead.

🚨 NEW: The IMF has upgraded the UK’s growth forecast from 0.8% to 1% in 2026

One of my favorite data journalists is @jburnmurdoch and he is cooking once again with this piece: “In country after country the birth rate plunged after the introduction of smartphones, no matter what the previous trend was…the modern digital media environment has had profound effects on society that have led to a decline in romantic coupling”. Read here: ft.com/content/fba35e…

First official call as Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs with @radeksikorski, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland. Thank you for the kind words, I look forward to the work ahead and to building a strong partnership between our countries, as well as a strong foundation for renewed V4 cooperation. We are also preparing for our upcoming visit next week.

This was great fun Thanks. @TheNewsAgents youtu.be/BrmEBvFKgxE

Kemi Badenoch's latest net favourability rating of -17 is not just her highest to date, but is the highest recorded by YouGov of any Conservative leader since June 2021

🚨 NEW: Politics UK understands around 1,600 new members have joined Labour since last Thursday The vast majority cited support for Keir Starmer as the reason

New administration in Worcestershire County Council as Reform UK loses control to a rainbow coalition with a Green leader of the council

Scenes you have not seen in 16 years: the Russian ambassador summoned to Hungary's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Photo: István Fazekas/HVG

"There’s no money in politics, particularly doing it the way I’ve done it: 20 years of spending more than you earn.... I'm 53, separated and skint." - Farage in 2017 A few years later, he's buying a £1.4m house for cash. What changed? dailymail.com/news/article-5…

Solid growth of 0.6% in UK economy at start of year Jan-March, even taking in the first month of Iran War. Compares well internationally… some clear resilience shown here… though there has been a pattern of strong starts to years which then fade.

Britons' top issues. Cost of living reaches the highest level on the issues tracker since Keir Starmer became PM. 💷 Cost of Living 71% 🏥NHS 33% 🛃Levels of immigration* 31% 🛥️Channel crossings* 28% 🚁Conflict in the Middle East 18% 👷Jobs and unemployment 17% 🏘️Affordable housing 17% 🚓Crime 16% *48% selecting at least one (excluding double counters) of immigration or crossings

Latvia: Prime Minister Evika Siliņa (JV-EPP) has announced her resignation following disputes within the government after the resignation of the Minister of Defence Andris Sprūds (P-G/EFA) last week. The resignation of the Prime Minister means the de facto collapse of the JV (EPP), ZZS (~RE|S&D) and P (G/EFA) coalition government. Parliamentary elections scheduled for October 3. ➤ europeelects.eu/latvia