
Kim Leadbeater's office blunders again
Oh dear. It seems that the office of the Hon. Member for Spen Valley has put their foot in it again. Kim Leadbeater might have hoped for a quieter life now that her much-criticised Assisted Dying Private Members' Bill narrowly scraped through the Commons by 23 votes on Friday. But Leadbeater has started the new week off in the worst possible way in her capacity as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy.
Leadbeater's office gaily sent around an email to her Labour comrades this afternoon, giving them their lines to take at this week's oral questions on Thursday. 'Dear colleagues', it began, 'we're writing ahead… to share a few suggested questions for tabling.' There then followed a list of ten suggested ideas to fearlessly hold Nandy and her fellow ministers to account. Zingers included, 'What steps her Department is taking to support the delivery of major sporting events?' and 'What steps her Department is taking to promote participation in sport?' Talk about a curveball.
Unfortunately, with a trademark attention to detail, it seems that the planted Labour questions were sent to a bunch of Tory MPs too. 'At least it's not people's lives this time', said one of them to Mr S.
Forensic stuff indeed…

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Leader Live
40 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Zelensky welcomed to No 10 for meeting with Starmer ahead of Nato summit
The Ukrainian president arrived in Downing Street where he was expected to discuss Britain's ongoing support for his war-torn nation on Monday afternoon, after being welcomed to Windsor Castle for lunch with Charles. Mr Zelensky, who is usually seen wearing military fatigues, wore a black blazer and trousers throughout his Monday visits. He and Sir Keir embraced on the doorstep of No 10, where a red carpet had been rolled out for the Ukrainian leader. Charles and Mr Zelensky were earlier pictured chatting as they made their way through Windsor Castle, and smiling as they shook hands in the Grand Corridor. During his visit to London, the Ukrainian leader was also welcomed to the Palace of Westminster and met Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and his Lords counterpart, Lord McFall of Alcluith. His arrival in the UK follows reports that Russia fired 352 drones and 16 missiles at Ukraine overnight, killing at least 10 civilians including seven in Kyiv. Mr Zelensky said preliminary reports indicated Russia had used North Korean missiles to attack Kyiv and described those two countries, and Iran, as a 'coalition of murderers'. His visit to London takes place the day before Nato leaders are set to meet in The Hague for a two-day summit, with increased defence spending top of the agenda. Mr Zelensky has been invited to the summit but will not take part in its main discussions, and it is still unclear whether he will attend at all. Ahead of the visit, a Downing Street spokesman said Sir Keir would 'reiterate our steadfast support for Ukraine' during his meeting with Mr Zelensky.


Glasgow Times
40 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
British state ‘overbearing' ministers say as they lay out industrial overhaul
In the Industrial Strategy published on Monday, the Government has backed UK industries it thinks have the potential to grow, with the aim of creating jobs and prosperity across Britain and Northern Ireland. Artificial intelligence (AI), offshore wind power, and electric vehicle batteries are among the sectors which feature. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer during a visit to Horiba Mira in Nuneaton to mark the launch of the Government's Industrial Strategy (Jacob King/PA) The strategy aims to help realise Labour's mission pledge to create sustained economic growth, which ministers want to see become the highest in the G7. In the strategy's foreword, alongside Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, Sir Keir said that 'when new opportunities present themselves, Britain often finds itself too regulated to take advantage'. The ministers added: 'The result is a state that is both overbearing and feeble, poorly serving an economy that has become too reliant on one place, too exposed to global volatility and too sluggish to take advantage of transitions like the move to homegrown clean energy'. They said that the strategy marks a 'new approach' and accounts for a decade-long plan to make Britain an attractive country to invest in. The industrial strategy focuses on eight areas. As well as the main strategy, on Monday the Government also published five separate 'sector plans', with more details on distinct policy areas: advanced manufacturing, creative industries, clean energy, digital and technology, and professional and business services. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves (third from right) and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds (right) during a visit to Nuneaton (Jacob King/PA) Plans for the defence, financial services and life sciences sectors will come later. The ministers said that the eight sectors had been 'identified as those best placed to create the wealth, jobs, and higher wages our country needs in every community'. The five sector plans published on Monday emphasised the opportunities for growth across the regions and nations of the UK. Edinburgh's robotics and agri-tech research hubs, and the space industry of the Oxford to Cambridge corridor featured among advanced manufacturing industries. Onshore and offshore wind in south-west Wales, and heat pump producers in Northern Ireland feature in the clean energy sector plans, while Birmingham and Manchester's AI and cyber industries are highlighted in the plan for digital technology. Several of the sector plans also address the changes which AI could have upon their industries. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer during a visit to Horiba Mira in Nuneaton, to mark the launch of the Government's Industrial Strategy (Jacob King/PA) The creative industries for example, will need to 'embrace new technology', one document says, insisting the Government will maximise the value of AI, while 'protecting and incentivising human creativity'. The strategy includes details on several ways the Government wants to make it easier for firms to do business, such as tackling 'high industrial electricity costs' and reducing 'regulatory burdens'. It also says ministers will 'remove planning barriers' and 'ensure our tax system supports growth'. As part of the plans, energy costs for businesses will be cut by scrapping green levies to help them compete with foreign rivals. From 2027, a new British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will cut costs by up to £40 per megawatt hour for over 7,000 manufacturing firms by exempting them from levies on bills including the renewables obligation, feed-in tariffs and the capacity market. The strategy comes after the latest figures indicated the economy shrank by 0.3% in April, the biggest monthly contraction in gross domestic product for a year-and-a-half, as businesses felt the impact of Donald Trump's tariffs and domestic pressure as a result of hikes to firms' national insurance contributions.


South Wales Guardian
40 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Zelensky welcomed to No 10 for meeting with Starmer ahead of Nato summit
The Ukrainian president arrived in Downing Street where he was expected to discuss Britain's ongoing support for his war-torn nation on Monday afternoon, after being welcomed to Windsor Castle for lunch with Charles. Mr Zelensky, who is usually seen wearing military fatigues, wore a black blazer and trousers throughout his Monday visits. He and Sir Keir embraced on the doorstep of No 10, where a red carpet had been rolled out for the Ukrainian leader. Charles and Mr Zelensky were earlier pictured chatting as they made their way through Windsor Castle, and smiling as they shook hands in the Grand Corridor. During his visit to London, the Ukrainian leader was also welcomed to the Palace of Westminster and met Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and his Lords counterpart, Lord McFall of Alcluith. His arrival in the UK follows reports that Russia fired 352 drones and 16 missiles at Ukraine overnight, killing at least 10 civilians including seven in Kyiv. Mr Zelensky said preliminary reports indicated Russia had used North Korean missiles to attack Kyiv and described those two countries, and Iran, as a 'coalition of murderers'. His visit to London takes place the day before Nato leaders are set to meet in The Hague for a two-day summit, with increased defence spending top of the agenda. Mr Zelensky has been invited to the summit but will not take part in its main discussions, and it is still unclear whether he will attend at all. Ahead of the visit, a Downing Street spokesman said Sir Keir would 'reiterate our steadfast support for Ukraine' during his meeting with Mr Zelensky.