Politicians, writers and academics respond to Nigel Farage’s surging party.
Read the symposium in full on our website
Illustration by André Carrilho. Photo by Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images
Prime Minister Al Carns would "confuse the hell out of Reform", says Ailbhe Rae.
The junior minister appears to be preparing to run in a future leadership contest. While some consider this "deeply unserious", Ailbhe Rea explains why Carns could win the hearts of Labour MPs.
As I write amid a fast-changing tumble of events at Westminster, we are close to a full-on left-vs-right battle for the soul of the Labour government. As MP after MP, minister after minister, deserts Keir Starmer, the authority of the state is visibly crumbling in a way all too familiar after the downfall of Boris Johnson. The bond markets have been watching and are already jacking up the price of British debt. Ahead of us is the possibility of a complete fiscal collapse: opposition MPs talk privately and with excitement about an implosion big enough to cause an emergency general election.
Read Andrew Marr’s essay in full on our website
Illustration by Nate Kitch
"They're all getting tired of Wes Streeting's manoeuvrings"
Ailbhe Rea reports that Wes Streeting has lost friends in cabinet, which is why he is struggling to get the necessary numbers to trigger a leadership contest.
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Before the country went to the polls on 7 May, one of Keir Starmer’s cabinet ministers offered a word of warning. Even though bad results for Labour were “baked in”, it was impossible to know what might happen afterwards. “There’s a visceral emotional reaction when you hug your colleagues who have lost,” the minister told Starmer. And that might cause Labour MPs to behave unpredictably. Wes Streeting was that cabinet minister, writes Ailbhe Rea.
Read Ailbhe’s column in full on our website
The economic dominance of McDonald’s 🍔🍟🥤
The fast food industry is still the largest employer of minimum wage workers in the United States yet fights against any minimum wage increase.
Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation joins us on The Exchange.
