Politics Watch

Politics, mostly for UK, sometimes for US, sometimes elsewhere.

Thoughts and prayers are with Ukraine 🇺🇦 🇺🇦

Previously World Cup of US Presidents

[Pippa Crerar @PippaCrerar]

BREAKING: Andy Burnham has ruled out plunging the country into an early general election before 2029, saying he can “knock dead” the prospect.

“Well yes that’s when the next election will be. All of this speculation on an early election, I can knock that dead,” he told @itvcalendar.

In an earlier interview with @BBCPolitics PM said he was “not particularly” tempted and there would be “no election any time soon” but answer became more unequivocal as afternoon wore on.

[Sky News @SkyNews]

BREAKING: Possible deal reached to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said the strait can reopen if certain conditions are met by the US - saying it would be "better to implement before the midterms".

＠Stone_SkyNews and ＠jamesmatthewsky break down his announcement ⬇️

@SkyYaldaHakim | https://t.co/H7KpJI3BZA

[Pippa Crerar @PippaCrerar]

Progressive voters could push Reform UK into fourth place and put Labour within touching distance of a majority if tactical voting is widespread at the next election, a major poll by @Survation for @38degrees finds.

Andy Burnham is beginning to attract a significant number of left-leaning voters back to Labour, motivated by a desire to stop Nigel Farage, the results suggest.

The poll of more than 8,000 voters indicates a widespread openness to voting tactically - and shows the PM’s most successful electoral strategy would be to unite the centre and left bloc of voters, while the right remains split.

@jessicaelgot @Ashley_J_Kirk report

https://t.co/r5Rha1UCa5

[CNN @CNN]

CNN journalists allowed back into the White House after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to temporarily reinstate access. Follow live updates.
https://t.co/T9xqT3OkZn

[Sky News @SkyNews]

BREAKING: White House confirms access restored for media outlets

https://t.co/QvMl6NoIXl

[Sky News @SkyNews]

BREAKING: A US judge has ordered the Trump administration to issue a response to three media outlets it has banned from accessing the White House.

Read more ⬇️
https://t.co/mwZiK0pYDt

[Sky News @SkyNews]

BREAKING: CNN, Politico and MS NOW journalists have been denied access to The White House despite a court ruling Donald Trump's ban against them was "unconstitutional".

Over the weekend, the president banned them over what he called “fake news”.

https://t.co/PAiZ4D1jU3

[Politics UK @PolitlcsUK]

🚨 NEW: Andy Burnham has announced the Government will introduce "Vocational GCSEs" from 2029

The first subjects are set to cover finance, business management, digital tech, creative media and construction

[Steven Swinford @Steven_Swinford]

BREAKING:

Reform UK would win less seats than both Labour and the Conservatives if a general election were to be held today in a dramatic reversal of fortunes for Nigel Farage’s party, a YouGov MRP has found

The new large-scale seat by seat MRP by YouGov suggests the UK is currently heading for a hung Parliament with Labour as the largest party with 241 seats

The Conservatives would be in second place with 130 seats, better than their result in the 2024 general election, while Reform would be pushed into third place with 123 seats

If replicated at the next election the poll suggests that both Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman, who deserted the Tories to join Farage, would lose their seats to their old party

Even if Reform and the Tories could agree a pact they would still not have enough seats to form a majority coalition government

However Labour would also struggle to govern having lost 162 of the 403 seats that it holds at present

It would have to rely on both the Liberal Democrats, predicted to win 71 seats, and the Greens, on nine, or one of the nationalist parties in order to command a majority in the Commons

It marks a stark reversal of Reform’s fortunes compared to a YouGov MRP a year ago:

September 2026

Seats

Labour: 241
Conservative: 130
Reform UK: 123
Lib Dem: 71
SNP: 40
Plaid: 15
Green: 9
Other: 3

September 2025

Seats

Reform UK: 311
Labour: 144
Lib Dem: 78
Conservative: 45
SNP: 37
Green: 7
Plaid: 6
Others: 3

https://t.co/GfJwMgkyNV

[Pippa Crerar @PippaCrerar]

This will be deeply problematic for some G20 leaders, especially those like UK that have aligned closely with Ukraine.

If Putin decides to go (and he may not for multiple reasons) do Andy Burnham & Co then boycott Trump’s summit. Fraught with difficulty…

[Pippa Crerar @PippaCrerar]

Security chiefs to set up new national centre to tackle disinformation and deepfakes from hostile states like Russia - with Andy Burnham saying government has a duty to “stem the poisonous tide” from damaging British interests.

National Centre for Information Defence will “detect, attribute and disrupt” info attacks by foreign powers by bringing together intelligence agencies, law enforcement & social media companies.

It will boost UK’s defensive capability to combat information warfare and build national resilience by helping communities combat disinfo, preventing “distorted & untrue” narrative about UK.

https://t.co/zPImiHmeS0

[Politics UK @PolitlcsUK]

🚨 WATCH: Andy Burnham says he will review the Chagos Islands deal to find a "resolution" after Donald Trump called it "terrible"

[Sky News @SkyNews]

BREAKING: The UK will provide defensive military support to Saudi Arabia against attacks from Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels, Andy Burnham has confirmed.

Sky's @RobPowellNews has the latest.

Read more: https://t.co/KPP6iZoDf3

📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube

[Beth Rigby @BethRigby]

CNN had been the pool for Trump’s Monday engagements but has been removed. In act of solidarity, other news networks - Fox News, NBC, ABC, CBS - decided not to provide a replacement, which is a major escalation & quite something in a ferociously competitive press corps

[Sky News @SkyNews]

BREAKING: Michael Marra has been named the new leader of Scottish Labour, replacing Anas Sarwar.

Watch his winning speech ⬇️

https://t.co/5R6tzX8L2L

[Sky News @SkyNews]

BREAKING: US President Donald Trump has banned CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House.

Our US correspondent @jamesmatthewsky says this is "a significant escalation" in terms of "restricting the freedom of the press".

Latest: https://t.co/J6LAyBUZst

📺 Sky 501 and YouTube

[Pippa Crerar @PippaCrerar]

EXCL: The UK must fully commit to reaching net zero by 2050, Andy Burnham argues in the @guardian. In his strongest comments yet, he says it's no longer possible for Brits to believe they're not already affected by climate change.

The UK must “believe in itself”, he says, as he sets out his determination to reach net zero targets, which have been rejected by the Tories and Reform UK.

The tone marks a contrast to the summer, when he faced criticism for a muted response to the heatwaves, droughts and wildfires that affected the UK, with his main initiative being a ban on portable barbecues.

But the issue is still a tricky one for Burnham, who is facing significant pressure from both sides over whether to approve the Jackdaw gasfield (likely) and Rosebank oilfield (less so) in the North Sea.

Some Labour MPs believe approving the projects would send a negative signal to voters tempted by the Greens, who argue govt is insufficiently serious in tackling the climate emergency.

Full write up by @peterwalker99
https://t.co/nCXMWPOgT8

[Pippa Crerar @PippaCrerar]

Paul Nowak is replacing Frances O’Grady, his predecessor at the TUC, who was appointed a Bank of England director in 2019 under a Tory government.

She in turn replaced Unison chief Dave Prentis, also appointed under a Tory govt. He replaced Brendan Barber (TUC), who replaced Bill Morris (TGWU), who replaced Gavin Laird (appointed under Thatcher) etc etc. This is not new!

[Sky News @SkyNews]

Burnham to delay flagship investment summit until next year

https://t.co/RXLSMKvACq

[Sky News @SkyNews]

The upcoming budget will 'challenging' amid global economic shocks, prime minister Andy Burnham has warned.

Sky's @BethRigby says: 'When it comes to the economy this PM has a world of problems'

https://t.co/NbBPhJZVuC

📺 Sky 501