Noa Hoffman

On the eve of a by-election that could sound the death knell for his political career, Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to fight on. From the G7 summit in France, the Prime Minister made a few last-ditch attempts to try to put Andy Burnham off plunging the knife into his back a little while longer. On one side are the Burnham loyalists, exuding confidence with a hint of cockiness. On the other are Starmer loyalists One was the promise of a ‘big role in government’. The other was a reminder that Labour is about to be pulled into a high-stakes fight for the Manchester mayoralty. Sir Keir’s team are determined to delay a challenge so they can put as many hurdles in Burnham’s way as possible.

The Green party is considering a new policy to ban circumcision, The Spectator can reveal. The party’s Health Policy Working Group (HPWG) has launched a consultation seeking views on whether parents should only be allowed to consent ‘to an irreversible surgical procedure on a child if that procedure is medically necessary’. The HPWG is also requesting opinions on whether ‘non-therapeutic male circumcision should only be performed on children who are old enough to make an informed choice’. The policy proposal, launched ahead of the Greens’ Autumn Conference, is likely to provoke significant division within Zack Polanski’s party. Circumcision is an integral part of Judaism, with Jewish boys traditionally undergoing a ‘brit milah’ on the eighth day after birth.

A new row has broken out in Westminster over which party truly represents workers. After a poll found Nigel Farage was the most popular leader among trade union members, Reform reached out to union general secretaries, asking them to formally affiliate with the party. Meanwhile, in an address to the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union this week, Green leader Zack Polanski railed against supermarkets for selling low-cost vegetables because, he said, that came at the cost of higher wages. As the two-party system continues to erode, populist alternatives on the left and right are laying claim to being the workers’ party. However, The Spectator can reveal that Zack Polanski may perhaps need to get his own house in order first.

Defiant Sir Keir Starmer today pledged ‘I’m not going to walk away’ after Andy Burnham finally admitted openly on Question Time that he has Labour leadership ambitions. The Prime Minister turned to his go-to list of crises – the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East – as he urged the Manchester Mayor not to trigger a contest. After the obligatory description of Burnham as ‘talented’, the Prime Minister, speaking to LBC in Swindon, got straight to it: I’ve said over and over again I’m not going to walk away. We won an election victory in 2024 with a five-year mandate.

Nigel Farage will seek to make Britain a ‘great power once again’, Danny Kruger announced today. Reform’s head of preparing for government pledged to upgrade the country from its ‘regional heavyweight’ status to that of a ‘leading economic, technical, diplomatic and security power' in Europe. Kruger set out the foundations of his party’s approach to defence for the first time in a keynote address at The Spectator’s National Security Summit. The intervention comes as the government faces mounting pressure to agree and publish its long-delayed defence investment plan, which is intended to explain how Britain will meet rising threats and address a £28 billion funding shortfall in its depleted defence base.

In case you feared that the onslaught of political essays by wannabe (and current) prime ministers was beginning to dry up, fear not! Kemi Badenoch has entered the debate with her own riposte to the Labour boys. In a letter published by the Times, the Tory leader declares that Sir Tony Blair’s legacy is a country ‘run by HR’. She also lambasts the former prime minister for introducing the Human Rights Act and paving the way for net-zero diktats. Turning her ire to the current crop of Labour leadership contenders, Badenoch describes the race to prove who has the stronger socialist credentials as ‘embarrassing’ and warns that the party has embarked on a battle to ‘test to destruction all the left-wing ideas that were mothballed in 1979’.

It’s been another bizarre week in Westminster, with Sir Keir Starmer going about business as if everything is completely normal while a shadow leadership race to replace him ramps up in the background. But the absurdity of left-wing turmoil hit its peak yesterday when Andy Burnham officially launched his campaign to win the Makerfield by-election and take over as PM. In the car park of a sports and social club in Ashton-in-Makerfield, the Greater Manchester mayor was flanked by a cadre of MPs from Labour’s more left-leaning flank, including the Corbynista Rebecca Long-Bailey, Barry Gardiner and Charlotte Nichols. Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram was there. And so, too, was Jonathan Reynolds, the chief whip and man in charge of upholding loyalty to the Prime Minister.

More than a year after the Supreme Court ruled that a woman is defined by biological sex, Labour has finally published its long-awaited trans guidance. The 342 page policy document pushes organisations towards providing male toilets, female toilets and an additional mixed-sex or private option where possible. Where there is no gender-neutral option, biology takes precedence. The guidance says trans people should not be allowed to enter single-sex sports that do not match their biology. Domestic abuse service providers must also maintain single-sex spaces.