Low De Wei (Dexter)

Property Reporter with Bloomberg @business in Singapore. Opinions my own. You pays your money and you takes your choice. (Signal:@catiorax.57 )

[Bloomberg @business]

UK Sotheby’s International Realty is the talk of London’s luxury property market, but its rapid rise sits alongside sexual misconduct allegations from staff https://t.co/F69WbFRK7A

[Alex Wickham @alexwickham]

NEW: Bloomberg Saturday read

Is Andy Burnham Labour’s saviour, or is it just… vibes?

— The last week has been fascinating. Burnham has had a bumpy start. He’s boxed himself in by committing to the fiscal rules and Labour’s manifesto on tax. It significantly limits his room for manoeuvre to deliver his promise of change.

— Some in Labour worry he’s already trapped by the same political and economic constraints that hampered Keir Starmer. While there’s no doubt he polls better and has more energy, they stress he isn’t a messiah who can fix all their problems.

— Burnham performed 5 u-turns this week: on rejoining the EU, on the fiscal rules, backing a hardline immigration policy, reversing his trans views, and ditching a 50p top rate of tax. An MP on the left says he looks inauthentic. Another compares it to Starmer’s safety-first Ming vase strategy.

— More clarifications are coming. Allies say it’ll be difficult to drop Starmer’s Brexit red lines on the single market and customs union before an election, and that it’ll be hard to fully nationalise energy and water. Ambitions are being scaled back.

— A supporter says he’s being sensible and scraping the barnacles off the boat. But it shows he knows he has the same problem as Starmer losing votes both left and right, and he has a similar response: picking policies that appeal to each side.

— So what’s different? Tax rises on capital sound likely, but that won’t raise much money and he’s now ruled out touching the big taxes. Some in Labour worry about the impact on growth and investment of a virtue-signalling tax policy.

— One MP warns that by loudly promising “real change” but not giving himself the room to deliver it, Burnham could quickly see the public turn on him, just as they did on Starmer. The criticism doing the rounds is that he is just Starmerism with vibes and a northern accent.

— There are growing concerns about the lack of serious planning Burnham has done for No10. His policy platform is erratic. His political operation is threadbare and largely consists of Ed Miliband’s team. MPs are appealing to Burnham to quickly expand his circle to avoid the sort of factional warfare that did for Starmer.

— Some MPs also worry Burnham might immediately enter an economic downturn and new cost-of-living crisis just as he becomes PM, which the public will inevitably blame him for, preventing a honeymoon period. Some think he made a strategic error going so soon and should have let Starmer take the pain coming in the next six months.

— Some MPs also want Burnham to stop getting into fights on Twitter, which he has been doing all week, raising eyebrows. His supporters say he’s a unity candidate who can attract voters from across the political divide. This campaign is already putting that to the test.

https://t.co/0mIS5CcbEc

[Alex Wickham @alexwickham]

Andy Burnham’s position on rejoining the EU now risks dominating his by-election fight

Only 7 months ago he explicitly told Labour conference “I want to rejoin the EU”

Tonight he tells ITV he wants to rejoin the EU in the future but that he doesn’t want to “advocate” it at this by-election

That risks appearing inauthentic

He seems to be trying to avoid the subject because the working class and Reform-leaning Makerfield constituency he’s running in voted heavily Leave in the Brexit referendum

Reform say they will put Burnham’s words about rejoining on their leaflets in Makerfield

Wes Streeting said explicitly today that he wants the UK to rejoin the EU

All signs tonight point to Labour under Burnham seeking to rejoin the EU presumably in their manifesto at the next election - a huge moment for British politics

[Alex Wickham @alexwickham]

Both Andy Burnham and now Wes Streeting have called for the UK to rejoin the EU

Burnham at conference last year: “I want to rejoin the EU.”

Streeting today says the same

It could be a controversial policy in the Makerfield by-election. It voted 65% Leave in 2016

[Matt Cartoons @MattCartoonist]

My latest cartoon for tomorrow's @Telegraph

Buy a print of my cartoons at https://t.co/ILFJjPmckx

Original artwork from https://t.co/tfpfIN1dwl

[Times Radio @TimesRadio]

Larry the Downing Street cat categorically refuses to be drawn into Labour infighting.

@AVMikhailova | #TimesRadio

[The Spectator @spectator]

Red alert: Tim Shipman and Noa Hoffman on Wes Streeting’s explosive plan

🔸 Douglas Murray: Things can always get worse
🔸 Liam Halligan: The truth about me and Kate Garraway
🔸 Geoffrey Cain: What Trump wants from his China trip
🔸 Olivia Potts: The joy of iced buns

Read more | https://t.co/iF7u7iQxSf

[Aubrey Allegretti @breeallegretti]

Exc with @patrickkmaguire:

Wes Streeting has told allies that he is preparing to resign and trigger a leadership contest as soon as tomorrow.

The health secretary confronted Sir Keir Starmer this morning during a meeting ahead of the King’s Speech that lasted just 16 minutes over the turmoil engulfing the Labour Party.

Allies of Streeting who have spoken to him directly said that he has made clear that he is “going to go for it”. They said that he is likely to resign on Thursday and mount a formal challenge for the leadership

One Streeting ally who has spoken to him said: “He is going to go for it. He’s going tomorrow.”

Discussions have also been held to prepare for MPs to sign Streeting’s nomination papers, according to one of those with knowledge of the plans.

Another who has spoken to him said that claims by Starmer’s allies that he has “bottled it” are wide of the mark and that he made clear in private that he will make a bid for the leadership.

A third senior source organising for Streeting said: “If they [Starmer’s supporters] think this is over, they’re going to be disappointed. I’m expecting a move before the end of the week.”

A spokesman for Streeting said: “Wes is the Health Secretary, he is proud of his record of falling waiting lists and a recovering NHS. He is not planning to say anything following his meeting with the Prime Minister that might distract from the King’s Speech.”

[Alex Wickham @alexwickham]

***NEW: State of play this evening***

Keir Starmer has defied all expectations, surviving the day despite some 90 Labour MPs calling for his head and four junior ministerial resignations.

A minister tells Bloomberg they are astonished Starmer has managed to get through it without being forced to announce a timetable for his departure, saying the day went better for him than anyone can have imagined.

Starmer’s stance at cabinet effectively dared his rivals to come out and publicly challenge him. As of this evening, no one has.

Streeting is speaking with Starmer tomorrow morning, as per @steven_swinford, after the PM blanked him post-cabinet. The health secretary’s allies say he won’t say anything to distract from the king’s speech.

Labour MPs and aides think Streeting is conducting what one calls a campaign of attrition against Starmer by drip-feeding his supporters’ calls for the PM to go. His camp deny he is orchestrating a plot.

Streeting’s supporters say they are divided about his strategy. Some are disappointed he has not yet gone over the top, fearing he could be seen as losing his nerve and being labelled a bottle job.

However, others caution that pressure has to grow organically on Starmer before Streeting is able to challenge him, otherwise the soft-left will accuse him of a cynical move to force a contest before Andy Burnham is ready.

One Streeting supporter says they fear his chances of becoming PM are decreasing. They say they’re struggling to see how he has a path to No10 because if he runs the soft-left will put someone up against him who is likely to be favoured by members.

They say they’re coming to terms with what they see as the likelihood that Burnham will succeed Starmer.

However so far Burnham is also still silent. He’s in London meeting MPs and discussing his options. His camp insist he has a plan to make it to parliament, but so far they’ve stopped short of announcing it.

Labour is in a state of paralysis tonight. David Lammy says no one has come forward and no one seems to have the numbers against Starmer.

Most in Labour don’t expect that to hold. They still think the PM will be forced to announce a timetable in the coming days if Streeting, Burnham and the cabinet move. But as of right now, he clings on.

Story with great colleagues @EllenAMilligan @Joe_Mayes >>> https://t.co/P59QNTJW2M

[Steven Swinford @Steven_Swinford]

EXCLUSIVE from The Times

Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, is backing plans for Andy Burnham to return to parliament as he builds cabinet support for a potential leadership race

Burnham is ready to trigger his return, and one ally said he had a seat “locked down” and was “ready to move if he needs to”

A source in the Burnham camp said he had an MP willing to stand down to allow him to return to parliament and an announcement could be made as soon as Tuesday

Alexander, who has been seen as a loyal backer of Sir Keir Starmer, joins Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, and Lucy Powell, the deputy leader, in support of the mayor.

An ally of Alexander said her position in the event of the prime minister resigning was “hypothetical” but insisted that she was not co-ordinating with other MPs in the Burnham camp

Alexander has previously said that Burnham’s return was a matter for the party’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC). “She is fully on the Andy train now”, a supporter said.

Burnham was seen arriving at Euston station from Manchester earlier on Tuesday. The mayor has so far stayed silent since last Thursday’s disastrous local election results plunged Starmer’s leadership into crisis.

https://t.co/eRyYigstCa

[Ben Phillips @benphillips76]

Labour MP tweet translator:

“rapid process” = Weshevik
“orderly transition” = Burnshevik

[Danielle K-O @DanielleRose84]

We have a really important story for @MekongIndy this week, talking to Huione Pay customers. It offers a lot of insight about the complicated nest of issues surrounding this company and payment service providers in Cambodia generally. At this moment, NBC says they won't recoup...

[Huang Yan @pelops_huang]

According to China's Ministry of Public Security, on April 1st, a working group from the Ministry successfully extradited Li Xiong, a core member of Chen Zhi's criminal gang back to China. Li Xiong previously served as chairman of Huione Group, a subsidiary of the Prince Group.

[David McNeill @DavidMcNeill3]

Some people in Japan are criticizing the reporter who asked President Trump why he didn't warn his allies he was going to attack Iran. Isn't that a perfectly legitimate question for a reporter to ask?

[Stephen Stapczynski @SStapczynski]

LNG has gone mainstream. This is on Polymarket

[YouGov @YouGov]

By 49% to 28%, Britons are opposed to the US military action against Iran

Net support by 2024 vote
Reform: +33
Con: +14
Lab: -45
Lib Dem: -49
Green: -59

Results link in replies

[Fahad Naim @Fahadnaimb]

A passenger on an Emirates flight shared: In mid-flight they had to turn back... they closed the airspace because of the attacks. Almost arriving, the commander, for safety, returned to Brazil…
One minute you’re almost home, the next you’re turning around because someone decided to close the sky. You stuck somewhere because of this mess or know someone who is? How bad is it where you are?

[Flightradar24 @flightradar24]

With all the airspace closures in the Middle East, air traffic is being significantly impacted. Here’s the average number of daily airport movements (take-offs or landings) at some of the affected airports:

DXB – 1,241
DOH – 719
AUH – 510
SHJ – 321
KWI – 294
BAH – 232
DWC – 190

[Flightradar24 @flightradar24]

With so many following, let’s talk about this curious path.

Flightradar24 uses the ICAO 24-bit address broadcast through the transponder to identify an aircraft. ICAO 24-bit addresses are supposed to be unique. But some operators use invalid or duplicate codes—either on purpose or by error.

In this case, 000001 is an invalid code that is being used by multiple aircraft. Because of this, our system attempts to join the positions received for this address into a flight path.

In addition to the invalid address being used across multiple aircraft, the aircraft using the address in the UAE is also being subjected to GPS interference, further degrading the data.

[Saul Staniforth @SaulStaniforth]

Sophy Ridge: "This is something I've been wrestling with... it is how Mandelson has been treated.. by the media.. he's friends with a lot of people in the media.. people who might look this & feel, we've all got a bit too close to him.. do they have a point?"

Sam Coates: "Yes"