Ed Miliband, being urged towards another leadership bid, has the strange feel of British politics rummaging through an old drawer and finding a charger that might still work. Nothing says renewal quite like asking whether the previous chapter has become useful again.
Politics
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Plaid Cymru Nears the Door
Plaid Cymru’s expectation to take the First Minister’s office would mark a hard turn in Welsh politics. Labour dominance has lasted long enough to feel like furniture, which makes any move towards change both dramatic and oddly practical: someone finally checking what is under the carpet.
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Labour Studies Wales
Labour’s review of its losses in Wales has the familiar sound of a party asking voters what went wrong after voters have already answered rather loudly. There will be meetings, lessons and perhaps a few brave uses of the word ‘listening’. Politics does love a post-mortem with biscuits.
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Equity Calls Time on Starmer
Equity’s demand for Starmer to plan his departure adds a theatrical note to government-union relations, which feels apt. The arts world has long experience of poor funding, awkward reviews and people pretending the show must go on when the backstage mood has clearly curdled.
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Leadership Panic Denied
Bridget Phillipson says removing Keir Starmer would be completely wrong, which is what ministers say when nobody is panicking, except for the people briefing that some people are panicking. British politics does enjoy turning a poor set of results into a room full of locked-jaw loyalty.
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Harman Gets the Equality Brief
Harriet Harman being put in charge of women and girls policy is the sort of appointment that sounds serious until everyone asks the same dull question: will the brief come with power, money and teeth, or just another taskforce with a very determined chair?
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Gordon Brown Returns to the Homework
Gordon Brown, being asked to review global finance, feels less like an appointment and more like finding the one adult who still keeps the notes. The world has debt trouble, market nerves and institutional fog, so naturally Britain has sent for the man who understands spreadsheets emotionally.
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Diplomatic Concern, Formally Delivered
The FCDO summoning the Chinese Ambassador is diplomacy doing its stern voice in a room with good carpets. Hong Kong’s legal clampdown is answered with formal concern, careful wording, and the faint hope that being summoned still ruins someone’s afternoon.
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The G7 Discovers AI Has Lawyers
A leaked G7 agenda suggests leaders are preparing to discuss artificial intelligence and tax transparency, which means the future has reached the meeting-room phase. Tech firms will warn about too much regulation, governments will warn about too little, and everyone will ask for innovation while clutching a risk register.
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Beirut Counts the Cost Again
Beirut is back in the familiar horror of rubble, rescue teams and official statements that explain everything except how civilians are meant to survive being near the target. The language of military necessity always arrives neatly pressed. The buildings do not.