[Abernathy]

I’m not yet convinced that there are hordes of Labour MPs whose dearest wish is to hand Starmer his sandwiches wrapped in a road map before the next general election comes around.

There is still no better person to be Prime Minister than Keir Starmer. Not remotely. And there is no eager successor waiting in the wings. Rayner is still tied up with her little misunderstanding with the Inland Revenue, Burnham is still out of parliament and not getting back any time soon, and Streeting has a distinctly perilous looking majority of 500 in his constituency to worry about. So unless Karl Turner fancies his chances, it’s nothing doing.

[Youngian]

There is still no better person to be Prime Minister than Keir Starmer. Not remotely. And there is no eager successor waiting in the wings.

As for the opposition, the person Labour fears is... err. I suppose Farage is a problem but he's on his last lap.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Starmer's properly gone after Ollie Robbins. Tmrw could be interesting.

[Tubby Isaacs]

It's already interesting. Ollie Robbins is claiming he had pressure from the Cabinet Office to the effect that Mandelson didn't even need vetting.

Olly Robbins has given remarkable evidence so far. He has spoken about the pressure the Foreign Office faced from Downing Street – weeks before he took the top job – about ensuring Peter Mandelson made it to Washington as ambassador. That included, Robbins claims, a discussion between the Cabinet Office and the Foreign Office as to whether or not Mandelson even needed to go through the vetting process.

I think Starmer may be in trouble here, though this could be arse covering.

[Andy McDandy]

Not seeing many names here, just offices spitting at each other.

[Tubby Isaacs]

On the other hand, Robbins confirms that "failed vetting" is misleading.

Robbins says Mandelson's vetting decision 'borderline'
Robbins confirmed that the decision about Mandelson’s developed vetting was “borderline”. (See 8.57am.)

I was told that UKSV [UK Security Vetting] were leaning towards recommending against, but accepted it was a borderline case.
He said that, although reporting suggests this is process you pass or fail, that is not how the system works.

Reporting from The Guardian when it broke the story and everyone else followed because they want Starmer out. How different this might be if they'd reported the process accurately. I don't think we'd even be talking about this.

You might have noticed, I'm not happy at all with The Guardian. It's been headhunting a politician it doesn't like, just like all the rest of them.

We'll see what the Cabinet Office stuff amounts to.

[Tubby Isaacs]

UK unemployment shows surprise fall to 4.9% as pay growth drops to lowest in five years
Bank of England expected to keep interest rates on hold as Iran war casts shadow over labour market

Quite a large fall too (from 5.2%). Possibly a fluke or possibly business was adjusting to the higher costs better than lots of people expected.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Robbins said he trusted UKSV when they said they could manage risks associated with appointing Mandleson

So this also suggests Mandelson never failed anything.

[Boiler]

This all feels like the Fourth Estate, broadcasters and twatcasters with Reassuringly Large Microphones (TM) engaging in a bloodsport, because Starmer isn't a populist prick like Farage or Plankski.