Senior foreign and defence correspondent @POLITICOEurope https://nitter.cf/t.co/8QKRBXygK7
Joined March 2026
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I'm back on this website after a brief interruption. Sadly I wasn't able to recover my House of Lords content archive, but we'll have to make new memories 💖
Esther Webber retweeted
🪖 IFS on John Healey plugging the defense plan funding gap in part via rainy day reserves: "This is categorically not what the reserves are for."
Burnham’s budget blasts British baked beans
politico.eu/article/andy-bur…
HMT argues this is an improvement on DIP because it specifies 1% savings from capital budgets - but still doesn't tell you a lot about how those savings will be made
Unanswered questions from the Budget on defence spend...
... not just how we get to 3% in 2030, but how Treasury finds £4.7bn to plug gaps in DIP, which *was* expected in this Budget
HMT says "reprioritising capital budgets" which does not move us on from when DIP was published
John Healey commits to 3% of GDP on defence by 2030 - but not how to get there - holding himself to the timeline in his resignation letter as defence secretary
Esther Webber retweeted
PM Andy Burnham says he & the chancellor spoke with Ukraine's President @ZelenskyyUa this morning - ahead of the budget - to assure him of the UK's "steadfast support" to Ukraine for as long as it takes. It comes after Donald Trump's envoy called Vladimir Putin a "humanitarian"
Esther Webber retweeted
EXCL: Police are conducting a criminal investigation into a dispute connected to the founding of Your Party
Met Police received a report "relating to the alleged unauthorised access of a political party’s database"
A man in his 20s was recently arrested. Enquiries continue
🔎 Inside the British polling industry's moment of crisis
EXCL: The British Polling Council is struggling to punish firms who break their rules, in the wake of the Reform donations/polling scandal
In a transcript of a meeting leaked to POLITICO, officers admit their body is currently closer to a "bowling club" than a regulator.
w/ @estwebber @e_casalicchio
politico.eu/article/uk-polli…
Esther Webber retweeted
EXCL: The British Polling Council is struggling to punish firms who break their rules, in the wake of the Reform donations/polling scandal
In a transcript of a meeting leaked to POLITICO, officers admit their body is currently closer to a "bowling club" than a regulator.
w/ @estwebber @e_casalicchio
politico.eu/article/uk-polli…
Esther Webber retweeted
Andy Burnham’s industrial ambitions collide with reality in South Wales
Good dispatch here by @g_lanktree on Tata Steel sounding the alarm over the viability of its business .... just as the PM holds up a new electric arc furnace as a key bit of his reindustrialisation drive
⬇️
Esther Webber retweeted
EXCL: The government is planning to commit to a ban on "non-compete" clauses that are rife in high-flying tech and City workers' contracts
Ministers think they're a barrier to start-ups. Andy Burnham may announce tomorrow
But govt is set to stop short of confirming the details
Esther Webber retweeted
“Vile,” “horrible,” “betrayal,” “bastards,” “spivvery”
For top Tories, the hatred of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is v, v real
Kemi Badenoch said today she’d prefer a fresh election to a coalition.
No wonder. The hostility means a tie-up may not be practical even if she wanted it
Esther Webber retweeted
New: The Tories are considering not unveiling a major social care offer of their own, three shadow cabinet members tell us
Instead, they're banking on Andy Burnham’s proposals falling apart under the heat of scrutiny
“No policy is still a policy," said one
Esther Webber retweeted
The quick American withdrawal of its B1 bombers from the UK underscores a deeper distrust and frustration the Trump admin. has with British defense spending and policy. w/ @Masonboyowen @estwebber
politico.eu/article/b-1-bomb…
Esther Webber retweeted
🔴 NEW: Germany has held exploratory talks over joining Britain, Italy and Japan’s fighter jet program GCAP after the collapse of its FCAS fighter project with France.
Internal documents I’ve seen show London is now courting Berlin.
Here’s where things stand 🧵
Esther Webber retweeted
Here’s our read after dozens of convos and ministerial appearances in Liverpool:
AI legislation is firmly on the table, but AI Minister Kanishka Narayan has clear tests around effectiveness and capability for any interventions.
Esther Webber retweeted
EXC: Labour MSP Monica Lennon - who is set for a key role in new leader Michael Marra’s shadow cabinet - has been accused of bullying by multiple former members of staff
Concerns were raised when she returned to Holyrood following Anas Sarwar’s departure
scotsman.com/news/politics/h…
