Joe Bedell-Brill

Oliver Dowden – the unions have a decent deal now, ‘let’s move forward’ The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Oliver Dowden faced up to the media this morning to speak on a number of issues, beginning with the NHS strikes. Dowden claimed the government had always been willing to engage with the unions, but Laura Kuenssberg questioned why they had taken so long to come to an agreement, to the detriment of the public: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFnZIWshZJ4 Dowden – ‘I am confident Rwanda is safe for people’ Oliver Dowden also spoke to Sky’s Sophy Ridge about the government’s policy of sending asylum seekers to be processed in Rwanda.

Covid and partygate still haunt Sunak Rishi Sunak will have wanted to use this week to sell his new Brexit deal. The ghosts of governments past had other ideas. Fresh evidence suggesting Boris Johnson might have misled parliament over partygate, and the embarrassing leak of Matt Hancock’s WhatsApp messages, have led to some uncomfortable questions. Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris told Laura Kuenssberg he believed Johnson was an honest man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

Dominic Raab – ‘There is a degree of quiet confidence’ about a Northern Ireland Protocol deal Brexit dominated the news once again this morning, with government officials making positive noises about an imminent deal on the Northern Ireland Protocol. Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab sat down with Laura Kuenssberg to discuss the likelihood of the deal’s success, although he was vague about whether parliament would get a chance to have a proper vote on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAefV5HBn1M David Lammy – Labour expects to ‘support this deal’ Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy sounded a similarly optimistic note, telling Sophie Ridge he expected the deal to be an improvement on Boris Johnson's deal.

Liz Truss - Thwarted by a ‘powerful economic establishment, and a lack of political support’ After Liz Truss claimed in a Telegraph essay that the ‘economic establishment’, and flaws in the Conservative Party’s preparations, had prevented her from enacting her policies, Laura Kuenssberg pressed Business Secretary Grant Shapps on whether he agreed with any of Truss’ claims: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAnhc3a5KWA Liz Kendall - Liz Truss is back with ‘no apology and no humility’ Former Conservative party chair Jake Berry told Kuenssberg that he still agreed in principle with Liz Truss’ policies, even if they weren’t delivered in the correct way.