Chief Political Commentator at The i Paper. Ex-Political Ed for Bloomberg News. [email protected] For speaking engagements [email protected]
House of Commons
Joined March 2010
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Kitty Donaldson retweeted
Brits are being advised to use neighbourhood WhatsApp groups to share emergency stockpiles in a disaster scenario, under new guidance by the government @theipaper: inews.co.uk/news/politics/fi…
Kitty Donaldson retweeted
🚨Excl: Pupils should get career plans from age 14 under proposals to cut reliance on benefits after they leave education.
Alan Milburn’s NEET report looks set to propose a shake-up of the way teenagers plan their futures, according to leaked docs.
inews.co.uk/news/new-plans-1…
Kitty Donaldson retweeted
💥exc: Major row over Shabana Mahmood’s immigration reforms
Talks between Home Sec and key union break down after Mahmood blocks Unison boss from bringing migrant care worker to meeting
Deepens Labour rift over indefinite leave to remain
inews.co.uk/news/politics/ma…
Kitty Donaldson retweeted
The woman was left feeling “shocked, embarrassed and humiliated”, docs seen by @ObserverUK state.
Three weeks later, the prior offer of a permanent position was withdrawn
Reform mayor under police investigation for alleged cyberflashing
Luke Campbell, an Olympic gold medallist boxer and rising star in Nigel Farage’s party, is accused of showing naked pictures of himself to female colleague
✍️ Catherine Neilan
bit.ly/4zvosgW
Tory MP Jesse Norman asking whether PM Andy Burnham was prejudicial in his comments about the suspect in the Ann Widdecombe case at PMQs
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch cites detail from my column earlier in the week at #PMQs today. Read the full piece below
Andy Burnham’s tendency to shoot from the hip is starting to raise eyebrows in Whitehall (as officials have to deal with the fallout).
My column this evening:
inews.co.uk/opinion/burnham-…
NEW: Director General of MI5 Sir Ken McCallum has been delivering his annual assessment on the threats to the UK.
💫Terrorists could harness artificial Intelligence to create bioweapons, even "low sophistication actors"
💫A new AI Threat Assessment Centre will combine information from spies and open sources to “separate the bluster from the realities” to seek “both to seize the huge opportunities of Al and manage the risks thrown up by its misuse.”
💫McCallum warned Prime Minister Andy Burnham not to re-run old Brexit battles at risk of amplifying the Russian trolls and bots who sowed division at the time although he said he agrees "strongly with what the prime minister said yesterday, we did see a hack and leak inside the 2019 general election."
💫McCallum named the greatest threat to UK security from Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin
💫“The Russian military and intelligence services are once again escalating their attempts at hybrid warfare- being careful to stay below the NATO Article V threshold it would be foolish for them to cross. This means Russia is using tactics that stop short – though sometimes not much short – of conventional conflict.”
💫 He also warned Iran-linked operations have led to more than fifty arrests in the UK”
💫The attack on RAF Fairford is not unique, he said, with Iran aiming to hit harder targets here and abroad.
Andy Burnham’s tendency to shoot from the hip is starting to raise eyebrows in Whitehall (as officials have to deal with the fallout).
My column this evening:
inews.co.uk/opinion/burnham-…
Follow our live blog on the arrest of a Royal Navy able seaman linked to Russia on espionage charges
inews.co.uk/news/royal-navy-…
EXC: Tories expected to reject Andy Burnham’s social care plans
The Conservatives are moving towards plans for a payment cap, which would put the party at odds with the PM’s proposals for an NHS-style National Care Service
inews.co.uk/news/politics/to…
Kemi Badenoch delivered a thoughtful keynote speech.
But at the Tory conference in Birmingham there was a lot of wishful thinking that British politics will get back to a two-party race by the next election
inews.co.uk/opinion/the-72-m…
Kitty Donaldson retweeted
Thank you to @kitty_donaldson, @CER_Grant, @bernardjenkin, @Jesse_Norman, @jukka_salovaara & Tobias Winkler for speaking at our @CER_EU/ @EUdelegationUK fringe event at the @Conservatives
party conf on 'Europe in the world: Building international partnerships' yesterday.
At their conference the Tories are recycling a stunt from 2007, handing out water bottles saying “Bottler Burnham” on them.
This time it’s water, not Newcastle Ale #CPC2026
“I am the leader now” Kemi Badenoch tells @bbclaurak on the triple lock. “This is a ledger on the budget. There are more fundamental problems that need to be tackled.”
EXC: Members of the Shadow Cabinet say Kemi Badenoch should abandon the Tory commitment to the triple lock.
💫”It’s unaffordable in the long term, of course we should keep our options open,” a member of the Shadow Cabinet told The i Paper. “I see why Kemi’s doing it, but I don’t think we should commit to it so far away from an election.”
💫Another member of the Shadow Cabinet warned the Tory policy commitment is unlikely to last until 2029, when the election is due, “unless a miracle happens and the public finances pick up. We’ve still got to find the money for defence.”
💫 But the timing of an election is exactly why Badenoch is sticking to her guns. Even though Andy Burnham and his No 10 team have spent most of the last month hosing down the idea of going to the country before 2029, the Tory leader and her key allies think the Prime Minister could call an election as soon as next May.
💫 The Conservatives are so concerned about an early election that Badenoch has instructed Tory MP Neil O’Brien to draft the party’s next manifesto.
💫According to an aide, Badenoch’s commitment to the triple lock is because she is “very hot on the idea of contribution”.
“It’s the idea that if you’ve paid in, then you have made a contribution and you shouldn’t be penalised for that and that is where we start when it comes to pensions,” the aide added.
💫 As the Tories gather in Birmingham instead of calling this a normal, workaday conference, the party is dubbing it a grandiose “festival of ideas”.
💫Last year, organisers held Badenoch’s keynote speech in a smaller side room to avoid embarrassing photographs of empty chairs, but this year she will deliver it in the city’s International Convention Centre’s 2,200-seater Symphony Hall.
💫This will be the first time a leader’s speech has been held there since former prime minister Theresa May memorably walked out to ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” in 2018.
💫Read the whole piece here: inews.co.uk/news/politics/ad…
EXC: Members of the Shadow Cabinet say Kemi Badenoch should abandon the Tory commitment to the triple lock.
💫”It’s unaffordable in the long term, of course we should keep our options open,” a member of the Shadow Cabinet told The i Paper. “I see why Kemi’s doing it, but I don’t think we should commit to it so far away from an election.”
💫Another member of the Shadow Cabinet warned the Tory policy commitment is unlikely to last until 2029, when the election is due, “unless a miracle happens and the public finances pick up. We’ve still got to find the money for defence.”
💫 But the timing of an election is exactly why Badenoch is sticking to her guns. Even though Andy Burnham and his No 10 team have spent most of the last month hosing down the idea of going to the country before 2029, the Tory leader and her key allies think the Prime Minister could call an election as soon as next May.
💫 The Conservatives are so concerned about an early election that Badenoch has instructed Tory MP Neil O’Brien to draft the party’s next manifesto.
💫According to an aide, Badenoch’s commitment to the triple lock is because she is “very hot on the idea of contribution”.
“It’s the idea that if you’ve paid in, then you have made a contribution and you shouldn’t be penalised for that and that is where we start when it comes to pensions,” the aide added.
💫 As the Tories gather in Birmingham instead of calling this a normal, workaday conference, the party is dubbing it a grandiose “festival of ideas”.
💫Last year, organisers held Badenoch’s keynote speech in a smaller side room to avoid embarrassing photographs of empty chairs, but this year she will deliver it in the city’s International Convention Centre’s 2,200-seater Symphony Hall.
💫This will be the first time a leader’s speech has been held there since former prime minister Theresa May memorably walked out to ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” in 2018.
💫Read the whole piece here: inews.co.uk/news/politics/ad…
EXC: How the UK is resisting Abu Dhabi pressure over Man City cheating case
inews.co.uk/news/politics/ho…
Kitty Donaldson retweeted
🗓️ JOIN US: 5/10/26 - 15.30-16.45 @CER_EU/ @EUdelegationUK fringe event at @Conservatives party conference on 'Europe in the world: Building international partnerships'
With @kitty_donaldson, @CER_Grant, @bernardjenkin, @Jesse_Norman, @jukka_salovaara & Tobias Winkler
New: MI5 issues fresh warning to UK universities over Chinese spying link
inews.co.uk/news/mi5-univers…
A brave and sometimes emotional speech from Andy Burnham.
But he's yet to win the argument about scrapping the triple lock to help fund social care within his own Cabinet and his own party, never mind the country.
inews.co.uk/opinion/axing-tr…
Useful polling
With suggestions the PM might start a debate over the future of the triple lock, how are the public likely to react and what is a reform friendly framing? The danger will be making this a debate specifically about the triple lock or pitching an intergenerational fight. Asked in isolation the public across age groups tend not to think the lock is too generous
