James Heale

Education has been in the spotlight in recent weeks, as the government’s Schools Bill makes it way through parliament. So far, the legislation has grabbed headlines precisely for all the wrong sorts of reasons. Critics claim it will water down standards and that Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, is effectively doing the teaching union’s bidding. Particular attention has been paid to the thorny issue of Ofsted school inspections, following the suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry. Today was Phillipson’s chance to respond. In her first major speech since taking up the role, the Education Secretary sought to shift her rhetoric – while ardently standing by the changes she proposed.

There's a new sheriff in town. Trump's election means a new Secretary of State; the world's most powerful foreign minister is now a Republican. Out goes Anthony Blinken, Joe Biden's longtime Francophone aide. In comes Marco Rubio, the three-time Florida Senator. Unlike some of Trump's cabinet picks – like the unorthodox Pete Hegseth at Defence – Rubio sailed through his Senate confirmation, winning the unanimous approval of his former colleagues. This is partly because the ideological switch from Blinken to Rubio is less dramatic than in other cabinet posts. Both men are staunch supporters of Nato; both received a big thumbs up from national security establishments across the West. Europe is important to the worldview of both men.

After last week’s bond market jitters, the Chancellor pledged to go ‘further and faster’ to improve the UK’s anaemic economic growth. An early test of that resolve looks now to be looming in the familiar form of a third runway at Heathrow airport. As I reported earlier this month, Reeves is poised to make a swathe of announcements intended to increase economic growth in a speech later this month. Among them includes giving a political green light to Heathrow’s third runway and an expansion of Gatwick and Luton airports, according to Bloomberg. Successive governments – of various stripes – have ducked Heathrow expansion for decades, with the airport’s last remaining diagonal runway being decommissioned in 2003.

Less than 24 hours after Mark Carney's launch, Chrystia Freeland announced her bid to be the next Liberal party leader of Canada. The former finance minister – whose resignation last month triggered Justin Trudeau's downfall – put out a pithy six word statement this morning. 'I'm running to fight for Canada', it said, simply. She intends to officially launch her campaign on Sunday, having already gained public endorsements from Mark Holland and Diane Lebouthillier. The leadership field has narrowed considerably this week as possible contenders Christy Clark, Dominic LeBlanc, Francois Phillipe Champagne and Mélanie Joly all ruled themselves out. It leaves Freeland and Carney as the only two serious candidates for the post of Canada's next Prime Minister.

After nearly a decade of speculation about his political aspirations, Mark Carney has today formally declared that he wants be Canada's next Prime Minister. The former Bank of England Governor kicked off his campaign to be the next Liberal party leader at a community centre in Alberta, promising to build the fastest-growing economy in the G7 if elected. 'I'm doing this because Canada is the best country in the world, but it still could be even better,' he said. Carney was tipped as one of the first names to replace Justin Trudeau when the latter announced his resignation timetable ten days ago. He teased a bid on Tuesday when appearing on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, suggesting that for the Liberals to win an election 'in a situation like this, you need change.

It used to be said that parties were Eurosceptic in opposition but Europhile in government. The same might be true of China too. Under Keir Starmer’s leadership, Labour initially adopted a Sinosceptic stance, strongly condemning the Hong Kong crackdown and promising to recognise China’s treatment of the Uyghurs as genocide. Yet in office, they have abandoned such postures and instead sent various ministers out East. The latest to go and tout for trade is Rachel Reeves, in her never-ending quest for growth. For the first time in five years, the Chancellor will hold an Economic and Financial Dialogue between China and the UK tomorrow in Beijing.