Major Reshuffle. By Starmer, not Major.

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A dozen names flitted past me but these are the obvious big ones:

David Lammy will be justice secretary and deputy prime minister

Yvette Cooper will be foreign secretary in his place

Shabana Mahmood will be home secretary

And the previous deputy prime minister Angela Rayner onto the back benches after her resignation, unable to survive the PM’s ethics adviser declaring that while Rayner “acted with integrity”, she had breached the ministerial code after failing to pay enough stamp duty on her £800,000 flat in East Sussex, having an interest in another property by reason of a trust fund she set up previously.

So, no more world travel for Lammy. A politician I have admired since he entered the House twenty five years ago.



https://www.theguardian.com/politics/li ... ws-updates


I concede that had this been a resignation in a Nasty Cabinet I would have gloated, while the loss of Angela Rayner is saddening. She has been attacked over and over for no good cause by the Nasties, and this lack of care in her affairs has justifiably brought her down; whereas the loss of any in a Nasty Cabinet was invariably of an intolerant reprobate who deserved all that was coming to them. They now happen to be split into two wings with different names but they're the same people they always were and directly responsible for maligning Angela Rayner throughout this parliament. Bad cess to their collective unpleasantness.

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I'm at a bit of a loss to know why Mandelson was fired as Ambassador in Washington. He was selected for the post because he and Trump had so many common acquaintances going back decades.

Sir Keir Starmer explicitly asked Lord Mandelson about his links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein before deciding to appoint him as the UK's ambassador to the US, the BBC understands.

The prime minister is believed to have asked Mandelson three questions, via an email sent by his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, relating to his friendship with the disgraced financier while he was being considered for the influential role.

The questions came after initial vetting of the peer flagged his relationship with Epstein.

The revelation is likely to pile further scrutiny on what Sir Keir knew before Mandelson got the job. While his friendship with Epstein was known at the time of his appointment, No 10 said new information about it only came to light this week, prompting his sacking.

Downing Street and Mandelson have declined to comment.

Mandelson was asked to leave his post on Thursday after a now notorious cache of emails was reported by Bloomberg on Wednesday evening.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn82rdmzr20o

Mandelson was the only suitable person. He'd spent time over there, he and Trump were both best mates with Epstein, he had entrée to the very top of the administration.