Presented by Lloyds Banking Group
London Playbook
By EMILIO CASALICCHIO
with NOAH KEATE
Good afternoon. This is Emilio Casalicchio.
MONDAY CHEAT SHEET
— MPs are debating a bill crucial to Labour hopes on growth as the public finance clouds darken and Britain reels from a massive infrastructure failure.
— Keir Starmer asked Donald Trump again last night about sparing Britain from growth-stunting U.S. tariffs.
— A Cabinet minister made clear Britain could water down its tech tax to please MAGA land.
— Scoop: A Labour peer is urging her MP counterparts in the Commons to break the whip on Chinese slave labor.
— Labour bible the New Statesman has a new editor-in-chief.
**A message from Lloyds Banking Group: Right now, over 1.5 million households across the country are on waiting lists for social housing. At Lloyds Banking Group, we are continuing to champion social housing and that’s why we have supported £19.5 billion of funding to the sector since 2018. Find out what’s ahead**
TOP OF THE NEWSLIST
IF YOU BUILD IT, GROWTH MIGHT COME: MPs have begun debating the legislation Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer are banking on to dig them (in a literal sense) out of their economic hole.
Brick walls etc: The Commons has in the past hour got stuck into scrutinizing the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, aimed at easing planning regulations and ushering in a huge boost in housebuilding and other bricks-and-mortar projects. The second reading debate is a significant moment for this Labour administration in a week set to illustrate the scale of the challenge.
The illustration: That expected halving of growth forecasts at the spring statement.
Getting the willies: The resulting spending squeeze is the talk of SW1 right now, with MPs, civil servants and campaign groups worried about where ax might fall at the June spending review predicated on the numbers this week. The Tories are stirring the pot with claims it’s “Reeves austerity” — a weird attack given their own David Cameron-led government. Labour argues it’s not austerity if overall spending is rising — even if unprotected departments face massive real-terms cuts (of 11 percent,according to the New Statesman’s George Eaton.)
Not on the chopping block: Reeves made clear in a broadcast clip this morning free school meals for kids, period products in schools and extra-curricular clubs will be spared, despite eye-opening reports overnight. “This government is rolling out free breakfast clubs in all primary schools from April,” she said. “I don’t recognise those claims that the government are looking at means-testing free school meals.” Aides said it was a clear indication that the reported possible cuts were wide of the mark.
Hoping to find out more: Two MPs tell my POLITICO colleague Dan Bloom that Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones will convene a meeting of Labour frontbenchers in Downing Street tomorrow morning. So hush-hush are things ahead of the big fiscal event on Wednesday that the words “spring statement” or “spending review” don’t even appear on the invitation. Cuts due to a lack of growth are no fun to shout about.
In the hope of avoiding future cuts: The big heave to raise that stubborn growth rate was in full show in the Commons as the debate on the planning bill opened. “Everywhere I go, I hear the same frustrations: ‘We just can’t build anything anymore in this country,’” Rayner said. “That is choking off growth, leaving working people worse off, and leaving Britain behind. We are turning the page on years of defeatism and decline. Where once the answer was always ‘no’, to get Britain building, to drive growth and to deliver opportunity, the answer must now be ‘yes’.”
Homework moment: The new Substack from growth campaigner Sam Dumitriu about possible problems in the bill is well worth a read.
Side note: Might the Tories back a Lib Dem gambit to tweak the bill then vote against it? Tough call for Kemi Badenoch.
Speaking about infrastructure for growth: Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander was up in the Commons beforehand telling MPs there must be lessons from the electrical substation fire that grounded flights at Heathrow for hours last week — a nightmare scenario for growth. She said the investigation the government launched at the weekend will look at what went wrong and “seek to understand any wider lessons to be learned for energy resilience for critical national infrastructure.” The report should come back within six weeks. Heathrow is doing its own probe too.
To illustrate how much this stuff matters: Alexander said the outage led to more than 1,300 flights and more than 200,000 passengers having their travel disrupted or cancelled — proper growth-grounding stuff. She said an ongoing Cabinet Office review of critical infrastructure resilience now has added impetus. And Shadow Transport Secretary Gareth Bacon warned that malicious actors (looking at you, Vlad … and Extinction Rebellion) will have taken note about the damage that can be done via infrastructure attacks.
More to come: Heathrow boss Thomas Woldbye will be hauled before MPs on the transport committee next week to find out how he intends to stop such a damaging economic (and logistics) event happening again. (H/t LBC’s Henry Riley.)
Also not helping on growth: Donald Trump — natch. Downing Street confirmed the government is undertaking “scenario planning” for April, when the Orange One is threatening to slap tariffs on every speck of dust that enters the U.S. market. No.10 revealed Keir Starmer had another phone call with his U.S. counterpart last night to discuss “progress” on economic trade deal negotiations. (Translation: The PM asked again for British carve outs on tariffs. Will he be ignored again?)
Yet another sweetener for Trump: Tech Sec Peter Kyle confirmed to my POLITICO tech-focused colleagues the government could indeed cave on its principled digital services tax (the one aimed at leveling the playing field between struggling high streets and the likes of Amazon) to keep MAGA-land sweet. Downing Street noted that Reeves has branded the tax “important.” But a spokesperson for the PM would not get into whether the measure would remain in its current form.
The list grows: A second state visit … warm words … a significant defense spending boost at the cost of overseas aid … an expected backing down on tax. What might be next for, as yet, not much to show in return?
It’s all something to think about while … new U.K. ambassador to Trumpland Peter Mandelson visits New York to chat with tech and finance bosses, my POLITICO Trade U.K. Pro colleague Graham Lanktree hears. “Growth is the U.K. government’s number one priority, and the foreign secretary has made clear that ambassadors should be giving equal weight to building ties to businesses as they do to politics,” an FCDO spokesperson told Graham. Shame Trump appears not to agree.
Still to come on growth: Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey will give a lecture on growth in the U.K. economy at the University of Leicester. It’ll kick off at 6 p.m. with a Q&A afterwards.
DRIVETIME DEBRIEF
MEANWHILE, IN WAR: Downing Street swerved a response to Donald Trump envoy Steve Witkoff after he slagged off Keir Starmer and his Ukraine peacekeeping ambitions. A spokesperson for Starmer defended the “coalition of the willing” plan and said the PM had “been clear” about its importance, but managed (like ministers over the weekend) to avoid getting into a tit-for-tat. No.10 is well aware it’s not worth the future headaches to row with these MAGA characters.
It comes as … British army chiefs host their French counterparts for Ukraine peacekeeping planning talks, ahead of three days of meetings with other COW nations at Northwood from tomorrow.
SCOOP — BREAK FOR CHINA: A Labour peer has penned a letter to her Commons counterparts urging them to ignore the government whip and back her amendment aimed at stopping public funds going to solar and wind power manufacturers reliant on Chinese slave labor in their supply chains. Baroness Helena Kennedy, who alongside crossbench peer David Alton inserted the amendment into the Great British Energy Bill in the upper chamber, argued in the letter to all MPs (which Playbook PM has seen) that without an explicit statutory prohibition on the procurement of slave-made goods, companies will continue to depend on Uyghur forced labor. The amendment is set to face its Commons vote tomorrow.
The government line: Downing Street said enforcing wide-ranging guidance on combatting slavery would be “more effective” than doing so on a company-by-company basis.
NEST OF SINGING BIRDS LATEST: Ben Houchen — the most senior Conservative in office in Britain right now — launched a delicate attack on Kemi Badenoch in this House Mag interview, over her speeches at Westminster policy shops. “We do not live in a world of academia and think tanks,” he told Tali Fraser. “That’s not what modern politics is about. It’s a street fight. You’ve got to get out there. You’ve got to dig your nails in … We’re not doing enough to earn the respect from others, journalists, political parties or the public, because we’re not doing that.” He said the Tories “have not done enough in the last six months to earn a right to be heard by the public.”
IN UNION LAND: A bloke called Luke Akhurst (nope not the Labour MP Luke Akehurst) plans to challenge former Fire Brigades Union chief Matt Wrack for the leadership of the NASUWT teaching union, Schools Week revealed. The union has not had a contest since the 1990s, and NASUWT board members had backed Wrack to take over from outgoing boss Patrick Roach. But Akhurst argues members should get a “genuine choice” and should have an actual teacher as leader.
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO TALK ABOUT: Keir Starmer insisted potholes are not dull as he plugged new funding for road fixes and a mechanism to reward councils (rules here) that sort the endless craters. Fielding a question on Radio 5 Live about whether potholes are “boring” (has presenter Rick Edwards never been outside his house or something?) the PM said bills for hundreds of pounds for damaged wheels “isn’t boring; that is really irritating.”
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BEYOND THE M25
IN RUNCORN: Reform UK announced former magistrate Sarah Pochin as its candidate in the upcoming Runcorn and Helsby by-election, which comes after former Labour MP Mike Amesbury’s resignation for punching a constituent. Pochin said voters should choose someone who will “fight their corner” in Westminster.
Backstory: The former Cheshire East Borough councillor was expelled from her Tory group in 2020 for agreeing to become mayor with Labour and independent backing. In 2022, Pochin then quit the council’s independent group after being suspended for … re-joining the Conservatives (keep up at the back) to vote in the summer leadership election.
Back when things were simple: There’s a nice snap of the now-Reform candidate campaigning with the Conservative candidate (when both were Tories back in 2018) here. Now sworn enemies.
IN TURKEY: More than 1,000 people have been detained after five nights of protest against the detention and jailing of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s main political rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. Ten journalists, including an AFP photographer, were also detained by police Monday. My continental colleagues have more.
MIDDLE EAST LATEST: An Israeli airstrike hit Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, the largest hospital in southern Gaza, killing five people including Ismail Barhoum, a member of Hamas’ political office. Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed Barhoum was the target of the strike. The Guardian has further details.
IN SOUTH KOREA: South Korea’s Constitutional Court rejected the impeachment of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and reinstated him as acting president. Duck-soo became acting leader after taking over from President Yoon Suk Yeol last December following an attempt to impose martial law. Duck-soo was then impeached by parliament two weeks into the job, when he blocked the appointment of new judges to the country’s constitutional court. The BBC has a writeup.
BONKERS STORY OF THE DAY: Top U.S. officials up to JD Vance accidentally included the managing editor of the Atlantic in their group chat as they discussed bombing the Houthis in Yemen.
**A message from Lloyds Banking Group: Tonight over, 164,000 children will go to bed in temporary accommodation. They will face real consequences over the course of their lives such as poorer health, lower wages and fewer opportunities. At Lloyds Banking Group, we are continuing to champion social housing and that’s why we have supported £19.5 billion in funding to the sector since 2018. We are going further – converting decommissioned data centers and former office sites into social housing, providing £200 million of funding for local projects, and working with the Government to unlock investment. Together with Crisis, we are calling for one million more homes at social rent over the next decade. Find out what's ahead.**
TONIGHT’S MEDIA ROUND
LEADING THE NEWS BULLETINS: Channel 5 News (5 p.m.) has an investigation into Cane Corso dogs … ITV Evening News (6.30 p.m.) focuses on National Grid Chief Executive John Pettigrew insisting Heathrow airport had enough power despite its closure Friday … Channel 4 News (7 p.m.) looks at the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict.
Drive with John Pienaar (Times Radio, until 7 p.m.): Former U.S. Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland … the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Max Bergmann … French Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Vice Chair Hélène Conway-Mouret … Russian politician Grigory Yavlinsky … former Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.K. Vadym Prystaiko.
BBC PM (Radio 4, 5 p.m.): University of Manchester academic Robert Ford … Public First’s Rachel Wolf.
News Hour (Sky News, 5 p.m.): Resilience First’s Executive Director Rick Cudworth (5.30 p.m.) … Chatham House’s Galip Dalay (5.45 p.m.) … the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Emily Harding (6.15 p.m.).
The News Agents (Podcast, drops at 5 p.m.): Turkish Republican People’s Party Deputy Chair İlhan Uzgel.
Sky News Daily (Podcast, drops at 5 p.m.): Author Hannah Lucinda Smith.
Tonight With Andrew Marr (LBC, 6 p.m.): Keir Starmer’s former Executive Director of Policy Claire Ainsley … Fire Brigades Union General Secretary Steve Wright … More in Common’s Luke Tryl.
Dewbs and Co (GB News, 6 p.m.): Labour MP Graham Stringer … Tory MP Esther McVey.
GBN Tonight (GB News, 7 p.m.): Labour MP Jonathan Brash … former Reform UK Director of Communications Gawain Towler.
Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge (Sky News, 7 p.m.): Former Downing Street Director of Communications Guto Harri … housing campaigner Kwajo Tweneboa.
Cross Question with Iain Dale (LBC, 8 p.m.): Labour MP Stella Creasy … Tory MP Graham Stuart … Social Market Foundation Director Theo Bertram.
Jacob Rees-Mogg’s State of the Nation (GB News, 8 p.m.): Former Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle … former Tory MP John Redwood … former Supreme Court Justice Jonathan Sumption … Former UKIP MP Douglas Carswell.
Patrick Christys Tonight (GB News, 9 p.m.): Former Tory MP Jake Berry … former Labour adviser Matthew Laza.
Newsnight (BBC 2, 10.30 p.m.): Labour peer Stewart Wood … Plaid Cymru’s Rhun ap Iorwerth.
TWEETING TOMORROW’S PAPERS TONIGHT: George Mann.
REVIEWING THE PAPERS TONIGHT: Times Radio (10.30 p.m.): Broadcaster Nina dos Santos and POLITICO’s Anne McElvoy … Sky News (10.30 p.m. and 11.30 p.m.): Broadcaster Steve Richards and former Tory SpAd Salma Shah.
WHERE TO FIND BOOZE IN WESTMINSTER TONIGHT
LET THE VODKA FLOW: Polish Ambassador Piotr Wilczek is hosting hacks for drinks from 5.30 p.m.
KURD BE A GOOD ONE: Speaker Lindsay Hoyle hosts the annual Kurdish New Year celebration from 6 p.m. Invites needed.
TOMORROW’S WORLD
HAPPENING OVERNIGHT: The business committee is publishing a new report about Horizon scandal compensation.
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO TALK ABOUT: Social and affordable housing … rural crime. No cabinet meeting expected.
GABBING ABOUT GROWTH: Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is among big Labour names speaking at a New Statesman all-dayer about growth, at etc Venues County Hall from 9 a.m.
COLD WAR OF THE WILLING: Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard chats “grey zone” threats from adversaries, from 10.30 a.m. at the defense committee.
MORE COW: Armed forces chiefs start three days of military planning at Northwood with allies about what a peacekeeping force in Ukraine could look like.
POST-HEATHROW: Grid minister Michael Shanks appears at the energy committee, from 10.30 a.m.
IN THE COMMONS: MPs sit from 11.30 for health and social care questions before voting on Lords amendments to a number of bills.
HAMMERING HERMER: Shadow Attorney General David Wolfson delivers a speech about the rule of law, at Policy Exchange from noon.
WHAT NIGE WANTS TO TALK ABOUT: Nigel Farage announces one Reform mayoral candidate in Doncaster at noon (and another in Lincolnshire at 6.30 p.m.)
OPEN GOAL FOR ANDY: Conservative former development minister Andrew Mitchell chats aid with the development committee, from 2.15 p.m.
ENVOY FOR THE NATION: Scotland Secretary Ian Murray chats all things north of the border with the Scottish affairs committee, from 2.30 p.m.
ON THE ED: A “leading voice on the intersection of journalism, politics, and digital innovation” addresses the Society of Editors 2025 conference, from 2.30 p.m.
THE WES SHOW: Health Secretary Wes Streeting appears at a Guardian live event with the paper’s Pol Ed Pippa Crerar, from 7 p.m. at Conway Hall.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
PACKED LUNCH OR PALACE LUNCH: Subject to change, here are the lunch menus on the estate tomorrow: Bellamy’s: Slow cooked shin of beef wrap with coleslaw and garlic aioli; Cajun butter bean and chickpea burger with lime mayonnaise; poached haddock with mash, sautéed leeks and caper sauce … The Debate: Szechuan beef with gherkin, noodles, sesame sauce and chilli dip; baked tandoori salmon on naan with red onions, carrots and coriander yoghurt; sweet and sour tofu with garlic and spring onion quinoa … Terrace Cafeteria: Beef chilli con carne with rice and sour cream; mozzarella, sundried tomato and mushroom parcel with cannellini beans and sweetcorn cream; polenta turkey escalope on ciabatta with lettuce, tomato and chipotle sauce … River Restaurant: Parmigiana with garlic and tomato jam toast and salad; red pepper and seafood gnocchi with bruschetta; beef madras with turmeric rice, cucumber yoghurt salad and naan.
NEW McSTATESMAN: As Playbook PM revealed this afternoon, Unherd Political Editor Tom McTague has landed a big new gig as editor-in-chief of the New Statesman. He replaces Jason Cowley, who stepped down from the title in December after more than a decade and a half at the helm. It comes at a crucial moment for the lefty bible, with Labour back in power for the first time since 2010.
From Sedgefield to Statesman: The well-connected McTague honed his craft of sweeping, reported think-pieces at POLITICO and the Atlantic before signing up with Unherd, the right-leaning upstart bankrolled by evangelical Christian and media tycoon Paul Marshall. McTague has written in the past about growing up in a Labour family in Sedgefield, former seat of ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair. So the move feels like a return home of sorts.
Not to mention … it’s another example of a former Mirror chicken reaching the highest realms of the British elite. More in Press Gazette here.
MORE NEW GIGS: Channel 4 News announced Penny Ayres as its new Westminster news editor — a move across from BBC Radio 4 where she’s been working on the World at One and PM shows. She takes over from Dani Isdale, now commissioning editor of the Foreign Film Fund. And Dan Patten has been appointed head of government affairs for U.K. and Europe for Scale AI — which the U.K. has already been in dealings with.
HE’S RUNNING: Labour Together CEO and former Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Jonathan Ashworth is running the London Landmarks half marathon on April 6 to raise money for the Nacoa charity, which supports children of alcoholics.
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING:The Guardian’s Simon Hattenstone sat down with Stephen Sackur to discuss the broadcaster’s anger about the end of his flagship BBC interview show HARDtalk — and being made redundant from the corporation he’s worked at his entire career. “I feel really, really cross at incredibly dumb decisions made by management that I fear is not doing the right thing for the BBC,” he said.
And also: Five years after the first Covid-19 lockdown started, the House of Commons Library has three handy guides about how the pandemic affected parliament, intergovernmental relations and public health measures. One for the uber political nerds (aka all Playbook PM readers).
OK one more: UnHerd’s Shaun Lowthorpe reports from Great Yarmouth after its local MP Rupert Lowe was suspended from Reform UK. The town has faced high migration and austerity, with many of Lowthorpe’s interviewees liking Lowe’s style — and one dismissing Nigel Farage as a “snake” who “shat his arse off” because he’s spooked by competition.
ON THIS DAY IN POLITICS: On March 24 1972, Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath announced direct rule from Westminster over Northern Ireland, in the midst of the Troubles.
WRITING PLAYBOOK TOMORROW MORNING: Sam Blewett.
THANKS TO: My editor Matt Honeycombe-Foster, reporter Noah Keate and the POLITICO production team for making it look nice.
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