Katy Balls

Although Jeremy Corbyn's campaign team recently asked subscribers to donate £10 to help fund the management of 'selfie queues' at rallies, it seems the Labour leader isn't struggling too much when it comes to finding the coffers to keep his leadership fight on the road. The latest Register of Interests shows that since July Corbyn has raked in nearly £190,000 worth of funding towards his campaign. The hefty sum includes an 'interest free, unsecured loan of £50,000' from Momentum as well as two more 'interest free, unsecured' loans from Len McCluskey's Unite the union, totalling £75,000. All three loans are 'for an indefinite period'. Unite have also provided 'serviced offices' for Corbyn's campaign, valued at £6,000.

As the government try to work out what 'Brexit means Brexit' really means ahead of triggering Article 50, an announcement today from the European Parliament is likely to send a shiver down the spine of No.10 officials. Guy Verhofstadt, the MEP and former Belgian Prime Minister, has been appointed as the European Parliament's lead Brexit negotiator. The outspoken Belgian will work with Michel Barnier, who is leading negotiations for the European Commission. Verhofstadt's duties include helping prepare the EP position in the negotiations and -- once Article 50 is triggered -- helping to shape the EP’s negotiating position. On the surface, this appointment does not appear to be great news for Theresa May.

In the EU referendum, Brexit triumphed after 17 million people plumped for Leave while 16 million voted for Remain. This act of democracy was not enough to satisfy some, however, with four million people subsequently signing a petition calling for a second referendum. As a result, a number of MPs spent their first day back from recess debating the motion. While David Davis set out the agenda for Brexit in the Chamber, the SNP's Ian Blackford opened the debate in Westminster Hall. He said that the government's 'irresponsible' behaviour was evident by the fact that all the public have been told is that 'Brexit means Brexit'. So, what should Brexit mean? Blackford appeared to imply that it means breakfast.

This morning Jeremy Corbyn has woken up to find his face plastered across the front pages of the Daily Mail and the Times following 'traingate'. After Corbyn appeared in a video calling for the railways to be re-nationalised while sitting on the floor of a 'ram-packed' Virgin train, the company hit back. On Tuesday, Richard Branson's team released a press release and CCTV footage which appears to show that Corbyn did have a seat after all. As the media feasted on the footage yesterday, Corbyn's team first dismissed the claims as a 'lie' before offering an alternative account several hours later. Now with the spin machine firmly back in action, the Labour leader's campaign manager appeared on Today for an exercise in damage limitation.

With just over a month to go until Labour party conference in Liverpool, the party ought to be turning its attention to setting the agenda for the year ahead. Instead, there are doubts over whether the event will even take place. Earlier this month, a leaked memo to Guido revealed that the party was facing a conference crisis. Following a decision to boycott G4S after over 20 years working together, the party had approached five firms but only one - Showsec - was willing to provide security for the event. As Iain McNicol -- the general secretary -- pointed out, this was an unsatisfactory option as the Liverpool-based firm do not have a unionised work force and, as a result, are in a row with the GMB union. Three weeks on and things have taken a turn for the worse.

Following the ruling from Ukip’s national executive committee that Steven Woolfe is not eligible to run for leader, a fresh bout of civil war has broken out in the party. The party's top financier Arron Banks has -- as James predicted -- suggested that the party could now split. Meanwhile three Ukip councillors have immediately resigned from the NEC, declaring the committee 'not fit for purpose'. This is the same sentiment expressed by Nigel Farage in a Breitbart article this week when he described its officials as 'total amateurs'. Woolfe has released a statement in which he expresses his deep disappointment at the decision.

For the past few weeks there have been reports circulating that David Cameron's resignation honours list has been held up over 'ethical concerns' regarding his nominees. Today the Sunday Times offer a glimpse as to why this may be by publishing the 'leaked list' on its front page. It does not make for an inspiring read. Although David Cameron was criticised for awarding Sir Lynton Crosby a knighthood for 'services to politics' in the new year honours, at least Crosby actually won an election. The same cannot be said for the majority of the Remain campaigners, donors and aides who allegedly make up the bulk of the roll call.

With nominations for the Ukip leadership contest set to close at the end of the month, today Suzanne Evans called a press conference to make a 'significant announcement' about the future. However in light of the current hostage situation in France and Labour's upcoming court battle, her speech failed to make it onto the news channels. Perhaps that was for the best given that Evans -- who is currently suspended from Ukip for disloyalty -- used the conference to announce that she would neither be quitting the party nor running for leader. Instead, she promised to fight to make sure Ukip was a party founded on the 'common sense centre ground' rather than a 'hard right Tea Party tendency'.

In David Cameron's final speech as Prime Minister, he attempted to set out what he would like to be remembered for -- focussing on progressive social change over the Brexit result. Tonight it was George Osborne's turn. Speaking at the annual Margaret Thatcher lecture for the Centre for Policy Studies, Osborne found himself giving a speech he had expected to give as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Now on the backbenches -- 'more ex than chequer' -- Osborne used the address to defend his record in government and point to his efforts to build a fairer society. Despite his recent sacking from the Cabinet by Theresa May, Osborne said he had no regrets when it came to his role in the referendum.

Following last night's terror attack in Nice which left over 80 dead, the Union Jack and the Tricolore are at half mast in Downing Street. Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, has issued a short statement confirming that there will be ministerial meetings today to discuss the implications. He went on to say that the attacks -- which have left at least one British national injured -- represent a continuing threat to Britain and the rest of Europe. He emphasised that countries must unite to tackle this together: 'Our thoughts are very much with the people of France and Nice, an absolutely appalling incident. If this is a terrorist incident as it appears to be, it represents a continuing threat to us and the whole of Europe and we must meet it together.

So, can Jeremy Corbyn automatically qualify as a candidate in Labour’s coming leadership election? The future of the party might well hang upon this question, being decided today at a meeting of the NEC, Labour's governing council. With the decision expected to be close -- down to just one or two votes -- both sides are feeling rather nervous. So nervous in fact that some party members are resorting to underhand tactics. At today's Shadow Cabinet meeting, I understand there was an attempt to 're-level' the playing field. Jeremy Corbyn's team made a last-ditch effort to remove Jon Ashworth from the NEC so there would be one less anti-Corbyn voice when it came to deciding whether the Labour leader has to be nominated by MPs to be on the ballot.

With Angela Eagle clear that she will run to be the next Labour leader and Jeremy Corbyn willing to contest any such challenge, the Labour party is in a state of stalemate until Tuesday's meeting of the National Executive Committee. At the crunch meeting, the NEC will announce whether or not Corbyn is automatically on the ballot -- with a legal challenge expected whatever the result. So with the result looming, Monday's PLP meeting proved to be a rather muted affair as MPs wait to learn their party's fate. Tom Watson's spokesman described the mood as 'not the greatest', while John Mann walked out halfway through complaining that Emily Thornberry was 'prattling on'. However, the Deputy Leader did do his best to soothe party tensions.

After weeks of uncertainty, the Labour coup is officially on. While Jeremy Corbyn made clear on Marr that he has no intention of stepping down, Angela Eagle has done the rounds on Peston and Sunday Politics declaring that she will run for leader if Corbyn refuses to go. So with a fresh leadership election on the horizon, it's now on Eagle to make the case for her candidacy. In an interview with Andrew Neil on Sunday Politics, Eagle argued that Corbyn's position was untenable now he had lost the confidence of the majority of the PLP -- stating that he couldn't 'lead behind a closed door'. She also argued that Labour's electoral performance under Corbyn was not up to par, and that they should strive for better results.

Last week Labour's own inquiry into anti-Semitism in the party descended into chaos after Jeremy Corbyn managed to spark a new anti-Semitism row at the press conference. Discussing the findings of Shami Chakrabarti's report, Corbyn appeared to compare Israel to Isis. So, Corbyn faced a tough ride today as he appeared before the Home Affairs select committee on anti-Semitism. The committee -- chaired by Keith Vaz -- began by asking Corbyn to clarify his comments on Israel: KV: Would you like to take this opportunity to clear this up? That you didn't mean to compare a democratically elected government -- no matter that it holds a different view to yours -- with the criminals who run Daesh/Isil?

On a day when the Conservative party leadership has been thrown into disarray, there ought to be an opportunity for Labour to turn the Tory chaos to their advantage. Instead, today is shaping up to be one of Corbyn's most catastrophic days as leader yet.