Coffee House Shots

• Can Keir defrost the 'entente glaciale'?

  Zut alors! The French are in town. Emmanuel Macron is on his state visit this week, spending time today with the King and tomorrow with the Prime Minister. His itinerary includes a state dinner and an address to both Houses of Parliament this afternoon.All the pageantry, of course, is for a reason: to defrost what Tim Shipman calls the ‘entente glaciale’ and the stalemate over migration. Keir will be hoping to get the French to sign a ‘one in, one out’ migration deal – with Labour seemingly surprised that, upon coming into power, the French didn’t roll over and make concessions on small boats when a left-wing government took office. Can we expect a new entente cordiale? Is there anything in it for Macron when it comes to stopping the boats?We also received the sad news today that Tory grandee Norman Tebbit and regular Spectator contributor Jonathan Miller have passed away. We remember both of them on the podcast.James Heale speaks to Tim Shipman and Freddy Gray.Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Megan McElroy. For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: [email protected]

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• Keir can't catch a break

  Keir Starmer will have been hoping for a more relaxed week – but he certainly won’t be getting one. He is facing a fresh rebellion over support for children with special educational needs (SEND), which threatens to become welfare 2.0.The plan involves overhauling the SEND system and it’s another case of Labour MPs exclaiming that they didn’t stand on a Labour ticket just to target the most vulnerable in society. The main concern among backbenchers is whether it should be legally enforceable for parents to ensure their children receive bespoke support. Elsewhere, all roads lead to the Treasury, as Neil Kinnock has a solution for increasing Rachel Reeves’s headroom: a wealth tax. It’s the idea that never seems to go away – but will it just increase the number of billionaires fleeing the country?Oscar Edmondson speaks to Tim Shipman and Michael Simmons.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: [email protected]

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• Labour’s first year (in review) with Tim Shipman & Quentin Letts

  Cast your mind back a year. Labour had just won a storming majority, promising ‘change’ to a stale Tory party that was struggling to govern. But have things got any better?In the magazine this week, Tim Shipman writes the cover piece to mark the occasion of Labour’s first year in government. He takes readers through three chapters: from Sue Gray (freebies scandal and winter fuel cut) to Morgan McSweeney (a degree of professionalisation and dealing with the Donald) to the point at which ‘things fall apart’ (assisted dying, the welfare vote and Reeves’s tears).On the podcast, Tim is joined by The Spectator’s James Heale as well as sketchwriter and long-time Westminster mischief-maker Quentin Letts to go through the events and personalities that have contributed to the dysfunction.Listen for: Tim’s run-in with Lord Hermer at the US Ambassador’s bash; why Jeremy Corbyn’s mooted political party could cause a chasm in the Labour party to rival the one tearing the Conservatives apart; who the targets for the chop might be, should there be a reshuffle; how young members of the Labour party are beginning their charm offensive on Angela Rayner; and why politicians have failed to grasp the banal fundamentals that make a great political performer.Produced by Oscar Edmondson. For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: [email protected]

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• Corbyn is back! ... or is he?

  Some sore heads on Coffee House Shots this morning, after last night’s Spectator summer party. But while we were having fun, a drama was brewing in the Labour party after it was finally confirmed that Jeremy Corbyn is starting a new left-wing party... or is he?The news was broken last night by another MP: Zarah Sultana, a long-time admirer of Corbyn. Elected as a Labour MP in 2019, she lost the whip last July for voting to lift the two-child-benefit cap. However, after discussions with figures within the Labour party, it has become apparent that Sultana took many of those involved completely by surprise. She has, in the words of one, ‘completely jumped the gun – no ideas had been properly decided’. It has plunged the new party into a crisis even before its creation. What next for Corbyn’s splinter party?Lucy Dunn speaks to James Heale and Michael Simmons.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: [email protected]

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• NHS reforms: Labour puts on a brave face

  Today Wes Streeting – with the help of Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves – announced his 10 year plan for curing the NHS. It’s all about creating a ‘Neighbourhood Health Service’, but what does actually mean in practice? Much of the plan was leaked in advance: first, focusing on preventing disease before it becomes too late; second, improving community healthcare services to help reduce pressure on hospitals; and third, embracing the tech revolution to bring the NHS into the ‘digital age’. One of the glaring omissions is a chapter on how this will all be delivered.Perhaps the most notable part of today’s launch was the decision to include Rachel Reeves – last seen in the Commons looking distraught as the Prime Minister (brutally) failed to back her. He has since thrown his support behind her – but has he made his political bed? Are Starmer and Reeves codependent?Oscar Edmondson speaks to Lucy Dunn and Isabel Hardman.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: [email protected]

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