Dear John,

Finally we can see what happens, what can be achieved, when individual players work effectively as a team. When there's a clear game plan. And when everyone's listening to the manager. 

You might just change the mood of a nation.

Oh no, sorry Keir, I was talking about the footie. You've got your eye on the ball too, have you? OK, let's VAR the week just gone.

Game of two halves

The week started with Rachel Reeves' first speech as Chancellor (and as the first female Chancellor in the UK's history), unveiling a long list of changes to some of the nuts and bolts of the British economy. She pledged to "get Britain building again" with compulsory house building targets, hitting 1.5 million homes in England over the course of this parliament; as well as overhauling planning restrictions and ending the effective ban on onshore wind farms. 

She's also been quick off the mark launching the manifesto-promised National Wealth Fund, with £7.3bn of state funds so far allocated for investment in areas like ports, manufacturing and green energy. Ed Miliband's also been making strides, with reports that he's ordered officials to block new licences for drilling for oil in the North Sea. 

So far, so quick off the mark. But the new government has got a howler of an intray waiting. Overcrowded prisons in England and Wales may be days away from running out of cells for convicted criminals and alleged violent offenders. A decade of funding cuts by the Conservatives has resulted in a run-down prison estate. Coupled with longer sentences, there has been an explosion in prison numbers over the past 14 years. Keir Starmer and his new justice team are deep into injury time on the issue, with little hint of a reprieve. As a short term solution to avoid the ‘collapse of the criminal justice system’ new Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood confirmed on Friday that some inmates would be eligible for early release with exemptions for sexual and serious violent offenders. To address the long term issue of prison space the government will publish "a 10 year strategy on prison supply". After less than a week in the job, the long shadow of 14 years of Conservative government might give the Government enough slack to avoid a significant public backlash - but such difficult decisions may swiftly curtail any lingering feel-good factor from last week's landslide victory for Labour.

Prisons aren't the only thing overflowing. After thousands of illegal sewage spills by water companies and the threat of spiralling water bills, public anger over the issue is reaching boiling point. In his first major intervention, new DEFRA minister Steve Reed hauled in water bosses for urgent talks on Thursday, saying the proposed increases to water bills are the "unacceptable result of years of failure". His plan includes ringfencing funding for infrastructure investment - anything not spent will be refunded to customers, not diverted for bonuses or dividends - and setting up customer panels, which will have the power to summon board members to hold water company bosses to account. Time will tell if these changes are enough to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas, and stop Labour falling into the cesspit created by years of weakened regulations by the Conservatives.

Man of the match?

Starmer enjoyed a warm welcome to the world stage at the NATO summit in Washington this week, celebrating 75 years of the North Atlantic treaty. The Guardian's Rafael Behr described Starmer as entering the fray "like a fresh-legged sub joining the pro-democracy team in extra time", as the shadow of the far-right creeps across Europe, and Trump looms on America's horizon. After 14 years of dysfunction and turmoil, the UK is back on the front foot with a centre-left leader in command of his party and taking a sizable majority in parliament. 

And a reset of relations with our allies, particularly in Europe, seems as welcome in the Oval Office as it is in Best for Britain's. His toe curling gaffe notwithstanding, Joe Biden stuck an extremely welcome post-Brexit tone endorsing closer UK-EU ties. "I kind of see you guys as the knot tying the transatlantic alliance together, the closer you are with Europe," he told Starmer.

The prime minister's decision to bring Nick Thomas-Symonds, in charge of the Europe brief, on the trip to DC did not go unnoticed. Along with foreign secretary David Lammy and defence secretary John Healey, the larger-than-usual entourage was designed to get a headstart on resetting UK-EU relations ahead of the European Political Community meeting at Blenheim Palace next week. Reports that Starmer is keen to progress toward a defence and security pact between the UK and EU are well trailed - but there are questions over how quickly such an agreement could be reached, and Starmer is facing criticism from some quarters over his reluctance to set a clear timeline for spending 2.5% of UK GDP on defence, something which we have to remind you, the Conservatives had no clear plan how to fund despite promising to do so. 

Needless to say, the groundwork is being laid, with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanking Starmer for his permission to use UK missiles against military targets in Russian territory, and the UK's unwavering support for Ukraine and its people. 

Own goal

It didn't take long, did it? For the lie at the heart of the Conservatives' election campaign to be revealed. This week, it was reported that Jeremy Hunt, at the first meeting of the Tories' new shadow cabinet, attempted to explain why Sunak went to the polls earlier than expected on 4 July. Apparently, the advice from Treasury officials was that there wasn't enough money to deliver the tax cuts they promised in their campaign come the autumn. Public sector pay demands would have used up the fiscal headroom that was assigned to the cuts - and simultaneously, the lingering aftershocks of Liz Truss' disastrous mini-Budget mean another 135,000 households paying higher costs on their mortgage every month over the summer, as their fixed-rate deals end. That's the dire economic outlook Rachel Reeves now has to grapple with.

At the same shad-cab meeting, leadership hopeful Kemi Badenoch criticised Sunak for not consulting his cabinet before calling the snap election, and for his “disastrous” decision to return early from D-Day commemorations. Then proceeded to complain that her comments had been leaked.

Get the popcorn popping. Rumour has it  the Tories may delay their leadership contest until their party conference. That’s a whole summer of blue-on-blue infighting! 

Red card

But quickly ruling herself out from the race according to reports, Suella Braverman made headlines this week for her disgusting comments on the Progress Pride flag and LGBTQ+ rights, saying the flag tells her that she was "a member of a government that presided over the mutilation of children''. She also blamed "liberal Conservatives'' and the "lunatic woke virus" for "trashing" the Tory party. 

Bear in mind that the Conservatives' 2024 general election manifesto read, "we are committed to promoting equality of opportunity, not divisive identity politics. We value a society that is inclusive no matter what sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity or religion a person is." Braverman is clearly at odds with the manifesto of her own party, let alone the views of the vast majority of our liberal, tolerant, open country which rightly celebrates and protects the rights of LGBTQ+ people.

Time for Rishi to show her the red card, and expel her from the Conservative party.

Brexit corner

After David Lammy's reaffirmed his resolve to reset relations with the EU at the start of the week, and Starmer telling the travelling press pack on the way to Washington that "we think we can get a better deal than the botched deal that Boris Johnson brought home", we're expecting a decent amount of action for Brexit corner in the coming months. 

So far we've had Patrick Vallance telling fellow science ministers at a G7 meeting in Italy "we will be a reliable partner, a dependable ally and a good neighbour on the world stage". He added, "I am proud to join a new government with a mandate for change, which also marks a reset in how the UK collaborates with the rest of the world, with humility and shared endeavour.” After years of Brexit-induced nightmares, it's like waking up to the sun shining, and a fresh cup of tea on the counter. Let's hope the milk doesn't turn too quickly when the churn of negotiation begins.

After 14 years in the wilderness, I think we're all ready to dream of a better Britain. But whatever happens in the political arena, there's more than a glimmer of hope to be found outside of it. Starting with that match at 8pm tomorrow night. Have a good one.

Julia Meadon
Director of Digital