Eleanor Langford
@eleanormia.bsky.social
15K followers 640 following 28 posts
📰 Political Reporter for The i Paper 🎙️ Sometimes heard on TV / radio 📧 Tips: [email protected]
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eleanormia.bsky.social
Thrilled to be a blue tick person once more after the other app took it away from me!
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eleanormia.bsky.social
Exclusive: Disabled people and groups will have direct influence over the forthcoming PIP review, Stephen Timms has told @theipaper.com

The DWP minister said the review would be led by two co-chairs and a steering group “of about a dozen people, most of whom will be disabled”
PIP reform proposals will be decided by disability groups, minister pledges
Stephen Timms said he hoped the review would create a ‘consensus about the right way forward’ on PIP after MPs’ rebellion
inews.co.uk
eleanormia.bsky.social
US negotiator Steve Witkoff takes a much more conciliatory tone this morning after yesterday’s comments from Mike Huckabee (both from the bird app)

Reminder: Huckabee said the Bridget Phillipson was "delusional" to claim the UK had played a leading role "behind the scenes" in the Gaza peace plan
eleanormia.bsky.social
Exclusive: Food prices could rise even more if Reeves pushes ahead with plans to make big stores pay higher business rates

The British Retail Consortium (BRC), MPs and economists have urged ministers to rethink the plans due to be confirmed in the Budget

👇 Story w/ @adamforrest.bsky.social
Why food prices could rise after Reeves's Budget, according to retailers
Economists say higher business rates risk keeping food prices above 5 per cent next year
inews.co.uk
eleanormia.bsky.social
Exclusive: The MOD will be forced to keep soldiers' homes free of mould and damp under a new amendment being added to the Renters’ Rights Bill

It follows a campaign by @libdems.org.uk after reports military families were living in homes with black mould, flooding and pest infestations
MoD will be forced to keep soldiers' homes free of mould and damp
Service families have faced sub-standard accommodation
inews.co.uk
eleanormia.bsky.social
Asked if Reform was appealing to racists, Starmer added: “No, I think there are plenty of people who vote Reform or are thinking of voting Reform who are frustrated... They want us to change things... and they want the change to come more quickly.”
eleanormia.bsky.social
Keir Starmer tells the BBC that Reform's plan to scrap ILR is a "racist policy", but that those who support Reform are not racists

"I do think that it is a racist policy. I do think it’s immoral. It needs to be called out for what it is," he said
eleanormia.bsky.social
EXC from @theipaper.com's Kitty Donaldson

Labour sources fear Andy Burnham‘s attempt to win a safe seat to support a leadership bid could be doomed due to the threat from Reform

“That seat is not slam- dunk winnable for us... it could easily be Reform’s for the taking,” one source said
Burnham leadership 'plot' could be killed off by Reform before it even begins
Speculation has been growing that Burnham may be planning a leadership challenge to Keir Starmer next year
inews.co.uk
eleanormia.bsky.social
Tory MP Danny Kruger has defected to Reform

The signs were there - he said in a welfare spending debate in July that he did "quite like the Reform party and agree with its members"

But he did also say they'd "spend money like drunk sailors" and make a pact with the Lib Dems...
eleanormia.bsky.social
I'm back at work after what appears to have been a very quiet two weeks of news...........

I'll be attending Lib Dem and Labour conferences this year, so drop me an email if you're attending either and want to grab a ☕ or 🍺
eleanormia.bsky.social
I’ve written for @theipaper.com about the growing talk around Andy Burnham’s future – and whether he’s quietly lining up a third bid for Labour leader

“He is definitely running though, as it stands,” one former aide told me. “Ideal timing is him finishing in 2028.”

Read it here 👇
'The only one who can save Labour': How King of the North Burnham could become PM
Mayor of Greater Manchester has been critical of his own party's government
inews.co.uk
eleanormia.bsky.social
Final vote on assisted dying is tomorrow, and only 28 MPs need to change their minds for the bill to fall

Some MPs are pulling back over concerns about safeguards & scope, while others will support it for the first time

👇 I spoke to some of the MPs who've changed their view to find out why
The MPs who changed their mind on assisted dying, and why
As the landmark legislation approaches its final House of Commons vote tomorrow MPs are switching sides
inews.co.uk
eleanormia.bsky.social
ICYMI: I spoke to several Gen Z voters to ask why their generation is increasingly finding they can't vote for Labour anymore, and whether there is anything the party can do to stop the young exodus
Why Gen Z is deserting Labour for the Greens and Reform
Both Gaza and trans rights have proven problematic areas for Labour
inews.co.uk
eleanormia.bsky.social
For months, there have been rumours that Lisa Nandy will be sacked by Keir Starmer. But, where are they coming from, and why won't they go away?

According to one of her allies, it's because of "a strain of anti-Northern prejudice that Lisa faces from a small group of people in Westminster"
Why rumours about Lisa Nandy being sacked by Keir Starmer won't go away
The Culture Secretary's allies say she is the victim of prejudice and sexist briefings
inews.co.uk
eleanormia.bsky.social
👋 “I think we are in massive trouble, we are now facing an existential threat to our very existence,” one former MP who lost their seat in last year’s general election said

Another insider said: "The odds are shortening on us living through the end of the Conservative Party."
eleanormia.bsky.social
😬 This read from @theipaper.com's Hugo Gye has become even more timely after one poll this morning put the Tories *fourth* behind the Lib Dems

New YouGov/Sky News/Times poll puts Tories on 16% and Lib Dems on 17%, with Reform and Labour leading on 29% and 22%
'It's a sh*tshow': Why Tories now fear extinction within two years
Donors leaving for Reform and Badenoch 'invisible' to voters. Some insiders think they could be 'living through the end of the Conservative Party'
inews.co.uk
eleanormia.bsky.social
Excellent piece by my colleague on how Keir Starmer's immigration crackdown - and the rhetoric that came with it - is dividing the Labour Party

Some defended the PM's words as "listening to people’s genuine concerns", but others have denounced his language as “shameful and dangerous”
Red Wall Labour MPs welcome immigration plan, while left attacks Starmer
The reforms have elicited opposing views among different wings of the Labour Party - at a time when tensions were already building
inews.co.uk
eleanormia.bsky.social
It's always deeply concerning and a threat to democracy when the lives of politicians and their families are targeted - good news that somebody has been arrested
Man, 21, arrested over three fires at sites linked to Keir Starmer
The man was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life
inews.co.uk
eleanormia.bsky.social
He calls for the UK to negotiate a new deal with the EU to send a message to Trump, warning that Starmer's current approach amounts to "saying 'No' more politely than the Conservatives"

"The UK must be far more positive, far more ambitious, and act with far more urgency"
eleanormia.bsky.social
In a speech in London, Lib Dem leader Ed Davey says the UK cannot take the "Farage approach" to the US of "fawning over Trump and licking his boots"

He said the Reform leader was "seemingly more interested in advancing Trump’s agenda over here than the UK’s interests over there"
eleanormia.bsky.social
NEW: Opponents of the assisted dying bill have expressed concerns after it was suggested MPs should vote for it even if they are worried about the "practicalities" of the bill

Many fear the lack of Commons time means the bill won't get proper scrutiny
MPs urged to ignore flaws in assisted dying bill and vote for it anyway
MPs are in growing turmoil over legalising assisted dying
inews.co.uk
Reposted by Eleanor Langford
paulbrand.bsky.social
Wes Streeting’s further interventions today on assisted dying demonstrate that Simon Case’s advice that ministers should not publicly intervene on the matter was fairly pointless. Opponents in the cabinet have been especially outspoken.