Summary
Overview
The News Agents dissect Labour's mounting leadership crisis as backbench MPs openly discuss replacing Keir Starmer, while corruption scandals threaten to undermine Zelensky's standing in Ukraine. With a critical budget looming and Starmer now the most unpopular PM in modern polling history, the episode explores whether the government can survive its self-inflicted wounds and what Trump's dealings with Saudi Arabia reveal about his second term.
Labour's Leadership Crisis Intensifies
Clive Lewis, Labour MP for Norwich, publicly declares he would give up his seat for Andy Burnham to run for leadership, marking a psychological shift among Labour MPs from knowing Starmer is struggling to believing he cannot lead them into the next election. Number 10's briefing about potential leadership challenges has legitimized discussions that were previously kept private, creating what one analyst calls a 'common knowledge' moment where everyone now knows that everyone knows Starmer is in trouble. MPs are increasingly concerned that Starmer is irreparably damaging not just himself but the Labour brand overall, with his approval ratings now the worst of any prime minister since modern polling began in 1977.
- Clive Lewis says he would give up his Norwich seat for Andy Burnham to run for Labour leadership
- Starmer is now the most unpopular prime minister on record since modern polling began in 1977
- Number 10's briefing about potential challenges legitimized open discussion of a leadership contest
- The Tribune Group claims to have 80 MPs needed to trigger a leadership contest
- Labour MPs increasingly believe Starmer cannot lead them into the next election
" If I'm going to sit here and say you know country before party party for personal ambition then yes I have to say yes don't I you give up your seat for Andy Burnham I would yeah "
" What is going on when backbench MPs feel emboldened to go on television and openly call for a mutiny against their own leader? "
" We're in a quandary. It feels like we're in checkmate, and it's hard to see a way out of it. "
The Budget Disaster and Manifesto Betrayals
Rachel Reeves' budget preparations have descended into chaos after she signaled income tax rises only to retreat from the pledge within days, undermining the one argument that made her unsackable—her willingness to make tough decisions the markets would respect. The reversal means the upcoming budget has been hastily cobbled together without strategic thinking or reform-minded proposals. Labour MPs are furious that the run-up to what should have been a defining political moment has been botched, with one unnamed MP quoted as saying they 'rolled the wrong fucking pitch.'
- Reeves held a morning press conference suggesting income tax rises, then reversed the policy within days
- The budget is now being hastily rewritten without coherent strategy or reform proposals
- MPs are angry the budget run-up has been botched at a crucial political moment
- Inflation has fallen lower than predicted, but political chaos overshadows the good news
- The income tax U-turn undermined Reeves' one card—her willingness to make unpopular decisions
" This is the only budget which has fallen apart before it even happened "
" They rolled the wrong fucking pitch "
" We are going to get a budget next week that has been cobbled together, that hasn't got any strategy, that has not got reform-minded kind of proposals in it because it's all being rewritten really fast. "
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