Uk politics

How serious are Jeremy Corbyn and the Corbynites about winning power? Deadly serious, if the remarkable tactical flexibility he displayed on his first official visit to Belfast as leader of the Labour Party is anything to go by. Corbyn took care to genuflect not just to nationalist idols such as Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness and John Hume, but also to three Unionist big beasts – Arlene Foster, Ian Paisley Sr and David Trimble. The Labour leader has not suddenly become a “revisionist” in the affairs of Northern Ireland, which to this day remains one of his longest-lasting and deepest ideological commitments.

Gavin Williamson is the unfortunate victim of the Parliamentary recess. With little in the way of political news, the Defence Secretary's awkward exchange with Richard Madeley over his 'shut up and go away' Russia comment has received a lot of attention. Now the Good Morning Britain presenter has decided to prolong Williamson's turmoil a bit longer by penning a Guardian deep dive on the interview: Madeley says that he was keen to ask Williamson about his un-statesmanlike Russia comments as he was rather unimpressed by them at the time: 'I freely admit that I was one of those who thought Gavin Williamson’s “Shut up and go away” instruction to the Kremlin after the Salisbury nerve-agent attack was risible. Defence secretary as petulant pre-adolescent. Not a good image.

Oh dear. It's six months since Philip Hammond stood up in the Autumn Budget and announced a new railcard for those aged 26-30 'giving 4.5m more young people a third off their rail fares'. Yet the millennial railcard remains a near mythical artefact – with a mere 10,000 released on the day of the official 'national' launch. It's understood the delay is down to a row over who should pay for them. The Treasury had hoped they would be a cost neutral policy but Network Rail aren’t convinced so it is being slowly trialled – and in the short term the Treasury don’t want to be landed with a bill while everything is worked out. Now it seems even Tory MPs are growing tired of the delay.

‘Onward’ is the name of the latest movement — ‘think-tank’ is not quite the right phrase — to try to revitalise Conservatism. It is led by some of the most able of the new political generation, such as Neil O’Brien and Tom Tugendhat, and under the patronage of the only current cabinet minister who never stops thinking — Michael Gove. It will perform the necessary healing work of linking metropolitans and provincials currently at loggerheads — Camerons and Mays, you might say — in a creative alliance. But there is an annoying convention of party political thinking that one always has to be gooey about the future. Words like ‘modern’, ‘En marche!

Political Cabinet on Tuesday was treated to a polling presentation that highlighted the dilemma the Tories are facing. When voters are asked what the most important issue facing the country is, they reply Brexit and the NHS. But when they are asked what the most pressing issue for them personally is, they say the cost of living. And what’s the most popular Tory policy since the election? The stamp duty cut for first time buyers. As I write in the Sun this morning, the political implications of all this is clear: Voters, who are most worried about the cost of living, won’t thank politicians who hike their taxes.

Although Conservative MPs were recently given training to brush up their Instagram skills, there's one Cabinet minister who requires no such help. Step forward Liz Truss. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury has carved out a niche on social media thanks to her hashtags and puns. https://twitter.com/trussliz/status/971846829284446208 Now that enthusiasm has reached the Cabinet table. Mr S understands that Truss raised Instagram at this week's Cabinet. The Conservative MP told her colleagues that it had 'never been better time to be a young woman in Britain' before going on to mention Instagram as one of the reasons for this. Perhaps an empowered Truss can save the party some money and lead the next tutorial?

Trying to make Christian politicians squirm is a favourite occasional sport among political broadcasters in Westminster. The former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron was, for a season, the preferred quarry as he writhed for the cameras most obligingly under increasingly forensic questioning of his views on gay marriage. More recently, the attention has turned to Jacob Rees-Mogg, who has now endured several rounds of on-air questioning about his Catholic faith. Refreshingly, Rees-Mogg has proven to be both unapologetic and unflappable when quizzed about his faith.  https://twitter.com/daily_politics/status/998894234659799042?