Oliver Wright

Times weekend read w/ @oliver_wright & @breeallegretti: Has Kemi Badenoch bounced back? Feat a £2k-a-hole round of golf with David Cameron, Saffron Walden sparkling wine... and how improved poll ratings haven't yet translated into pledged votes. thetimes.com/uk/politics/ar…

UK blocking Trump from using RAF bases for strikes on Iran Enjoy this article for free. thetimes.com/uk/politics/ar…

Axed civil servant gets £260k amid Whitehall revolt against Starmer thetimes.com/article/e01c00…

Whitehall revolts over Starmer’s sacking on top civil servant thetimes.com/article/e01c00…

EXCLUSIVE Officials are trawling records going back more than 25 years to Tony Blair’s government for evidence of inappropriate contact between Lord Mandelson and the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, @oliver_wright reveals Civil servants have been told to search government correspondence as far back as Mandelson’s time as Northern Ireland secretary between 1999 and 2001 Officials are also looking at his stint in government from 2008 to 2010, when Gordon Brown brought him back as business secretary and effectively the deputy prime minister. The documents are not expected to be published but any evidence will be sent to Scotland Yard and could result in an extension of the police investigation into Mandelson Detectives are expected to interview Mandelson under caution within days on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The offence can carry a life sentence. Mandelson has denied any wrongdoing Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein goes back decades. In May 2002 he brokered a meeting between Blair and Epstein Mandelson had resigned as Northern Ireland secretary the previous year but remained close to the prime minister He emailed Jonathan Powell, who was Blair’s chief of staff, highlighting the fact that Bill Clinton had recently told Blair he wanted to introduce his “travelling friend” Epstein Mandelson described Epstein in laudatory terms as an “active scientific catalyst/entrepreneur” who has his “finger on the pulse of many world markets and currencies” “He’s young and vibrant,” he said. “He’s safe (whatever that means) and Clinton is now doing a lot of travelling with him.” The meeting took place in London on May 14, 2002. Officials described Epstein as “very rich and close to the Duke of York” Investigation into Mandelson’s Epstein links will go back to Blair era thetimes.com/article/1553ab…

Andrew Gwynne set to stand down as MP, clearing way for Andy Burnham thetimes.com/article/31f3a8…

EXCL: Andrew Gwynne, the former health minister who had the Labour whip removed over racist and sexist Whatsapp messages, is expected to make an announcement on his future as an MP as soon as this afternoon. The Gorton and Denton MP has been at the centre of speculation he would stand down as an MP, with the potential for Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, to bid for his seat. Multiple senior Labour figures told The Times they were braced for an announcement from Gwynne, who had been away from Parliament on sick leave. The Times understands talks had been ongoing around the potential for Gwynne to take a medical retirement in February, in order for a by-election to be held on the same day as the local elections. One source said: "The parliamentary authorities are getting back to him with what his payout might be and he's going to have 24 to 48 hours to make a determination as to whether he will take it or not. He will have a very short period of time in which to take it or leave it. But it's a decent offer and he will take it." They suggested an announcement could come as soon as this afternoon. Gwynne did not respond to a request for comment. He previously said he “won’t be announcing any such thing in March”. Gwynne has been under investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards after the emergence of offensive messages in the Trigger Me Timbers WhatsApp group. Gwynne made antisemitic remarks and joked about a constituent being “mown down” by a truck in the group. He later said he “badly misjudged” the comments.

EXCLUSIVE with @patrickkmaguire   Sir Keir Starmer is facing calls from Cabinet ministers to sack Wes Streeting for disloyalty amid deepening splits in his top team.    One cabinet minister said that Starmer needs to learn from Kemi Badenoch, who this week sacked Robert Jenrick in a pre-emptive strike: 'What he's doing is so obvious, he is repeatedly breaching collective responsibility, he is attacking Number 10, he is undermining all of us. The PLP don't like what he is doing, they would back him [the prime minister] if he acted'   Another cabinet minister said that the behaviour of Streeting’s and his allies is “wild”. 'Everyone knows he has MPs from the 2024 intake telling anyone who’ll listen that it’s time to get rid of Keir and make Wes PM instead. It’s wild behaviour. If he doesn’t bring it to a head, he’ll have to be brought to heel'   A third cabinet minister said: 'Wes is exactly the same as he was when he was 18...if he doesn’t become Labour prime minister he will tell himself his entire life has been a failure. Everything he's doing now is in pursuit of that aim. Has he been pushing the boundary of what's acceptable? Yes'   A spokesman for Streeting hit back: 'It’s a real shame that Keir’s so-called allies are briefing against Wes yet again, when they should be talking about the second biggest fall in waiting lists in 15 years, and ambulances arriving 15 minutes faster with Labour. Given Reform and the Tories are at each other’s throats right now this briefing is also incredibly stupid. Wes is delivering real change in the NHS, and is out there making the case for Keir and for Labour'   A Number 10 source said: 'Wes is doing a great job as Health Secretary, delivering an 86k cut in waiting lists this week. While other parties turn inwards, the Labour Government is getting on with delivering national renewal and Wes is a key player in the team'   One minister said after political cabinet on Tuesday, when colleagues rallied round Starmer: 'These people wouldn’t have been out of place on the bridge of the Titanic'   A Labour MP concerned about the direction of the govt said: 'Too many of the Cabinet are busy enjoying the trappings of ministerial life when they need to act and make sure our Party has a future. History won’t be kind to those who buried their heads in the sand'   Peter Kyle, the business secretary, said: 'We spent our time in opposition getting our shit together. The Tories are spending their time in opposition rolling in it. There has never been a greater opportunity to reconnect with the public and set all of our achievements into the story of change that we will be delivering in the months ahead' thetimes.com/article/96dc78…

EXCL: Senior MPs are preparing to tell the home secretary to sack the chief constable of West Midlands police after concluding that he “misled parliament” over the decision to ban Israeli football fans from a match in Birmingham Members of the home affairs select committee are understood to be “unanimous in their disappointment” at the evidence given by the force, with several believing it had “retrospectively gathered evidence to suit their decision making” rather than basing the ban on genuine intelligence at the time One MP told The Times that sacking Guildford would be “the nuclear option” but said there was now “no other option” if their suspicions were confirmed that the force had given a misleading account They said: “I do believe strongly in the principle of police operational independence, but when you’ve got a community that’s lost all faith in its police force, and the potential that they have misled parliament, and it’s looking that way at the moment, then I don’t see any other option for the home secretary.” For @thetimes 📰 with @Geri_E_L_Scott and @davidwoode ✏️ thetimes.com/article/e9cd27…

Exclusive from @MaxKendix Rachel Reeves could be forced to raise taxes to make up for a shortfall of billions of pounds caused by a collapse in immigration numbers, experts have warned Net migration is collapsing. Forecasts show that net migration could reach as low as zero or even negative by the end of the year On one level that’s good news for the government. But on the other it could drastically hit tax revenues Charlie McCurdy, an economist at the Labour-linked Resolution Foundation think tank, said: “If predictions that net migration to the UK turns negative by next Christmas — with more people leaving the country than arriving — there would be serious consequences for the public finances “The OBR has previously estimated that a sustained 200,000 reduction in net migration could chip as much as £20 billion off the government’s budget by the end of the decade — even more costly to the Exchequer than cutting 2p from the basic rate of income tax. “If an unexpectedly sharp drop in migration does materialise, it would solve one political challenge for the government but create a new economic one.” Net migration stands at 204,000 for the year to June 2025, down from a peak of 944,000 in the year ending March 2023 In November, the OBR forecast that the figure would be 262,000 this year, but experts say it is far more likely to be substantially lower The predicted drop is partly down to lower numbers of work visas granted after the rules were tightened by the last government. The number of health and social care visas halved last year and visas for skilled workers dropped by a third But an increase in emigration could have a significant impact. One is the predicted impact of the stricter rules on indefinite leave to remain (ILR) announced by Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary thetimes.com/article/6763d0…

Ministers ‘concerned’ that consumers are being hoodwinked by Britain’s largest charity fundraising website thetimes.com/article/d6d362…

Exc: 17 councils covering 3.5m people have so far indicated they want their elections to be delayed. - Thirteen of these Labour-controlled - At least 24 councils will not ask for a delay - Dozens undecided ahead of deadline next Thursday - Only 20 of 63 councils have sent letters

Read this before you next use this popular fundraising site to give to charity. Enjoy this article for free. thetimes.com/uk/law/article…

Have a read of this if you've ever used JustGiving to make a donation to a fundraising cause. You may have been hoodwinked... thetimes.com/uk/law/article…

Excl: Scottish MPs ‘behaving like idiots over Sir Keir Starmer’, his allies say (w/ @breeallegretti) thetimes.com/uk/politics/ar…

Great story from ⁦@daisyeastlake⁩ Prisoners could escape jail by being carried out by drones, warns top prison governor thetimes.com/article/6d4eba…

NEW: Shadow cabinet ministers are using AI generated clones of Sir Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and the rest of the cabinet to test out their attack lines before taking to the Chamber Some recently met with executives from Nostrada AI, a tech company that has digitally recreated all 650 MPs, to discuss how they could use the tools to “war game” departmental questions - and have since been granted access to the platform The AI MPs can be asked questions by users through a chatbot, and will answer with the tone and political opinions of the real life minister, having been trained on thousands of speeches and Hansard records The Tories said Labour are so “predictably wooden” that AI worked perfectly for their prep In print in @thetimes today 👇

The chief executive of Oxfam has been forced out by the charity’s trustees amid allegations of bullying staff. Halima Begum was facing claims that she had created a “climate of fear”. It followed complaints from more than 70 staff. thetimes.com/article/b18abe…

Oxfam chief forced out amid bullying claims thetimes.com/article/b18abe…

@Halima_Begum @Halima_Begum I wonder if you might be able to contact me urgently - either dm - or oliver.wright@thetimes.co.uk

A great privilege to join in the celebrations to mark Muslim Aid’s 40th anniversary celebrations at Grosvenor House in London and Celebrating 40 years and hearing from the great Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens, one of its founders.