Steerpike

Happy spring statement day, one and all. Today's fiscal event – which is definitely NOT an 'emergency Budget' – looks set to contain more gloom and doom about Rachel Reeves' vanishing fiscal headroom. Looks like that £40bn October tax raid didn't help much eh? So, with inflation still running high and the growth figures revised downward, it might be a good time for ministers to reassure the markets that Labour knows what it is doing in office. Far from it. For Seema Malhotra, the minister for migration, this week took to X to illustrate her own economic credentials. She took aim at the last government, declaring that 'Under the Tories', there was 'open borders, interest rates at 11 per cent, a £22 million blackhole and 14 years of failings.

As Denis Healey said: 'when you’re in a hole, stop digging.' It has been a furious day in Trumpland after White House officials accidentally added journalist Jeffrey Goldberg to a highly sensitive group chat on Signal about planned airstrikes in Yemen. Initially, the administration went on the offensive, with Defense Secretary Pete Hesketh calling Goldberg a 'guy that peddles in garbage.' But now, 24 hours on, Trump's National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz, has held his hands up for 'signal gate.' Speaking to Fox News’s Laura Ingraham, Waltz accepted responsibility for making the Signal group – while, er, continuing to deflect blame. 'It’s embarrassing, yes.

Should the race to net zero come at any cost? Ed Miliband's crowd appears to think so. The Energy Security Secretary will overturn a ban on forced labour to further his zero carbon ambitions, it transpires, as today the government will whip its parliamentarians to vote down an amendment that would prevent eco-friendly materials being purchased by the government from supply chains relying on 'modern slavery'. How noble… As Mr S wrote in January, Lord Alton of Liverpool tabled an amendment to stop money being spent by state-owned GB Energy on solar panels, among other green materials, from places where there exists 'credible evidence of modern slavery'. As reported by the Times, and as conceded by Miliband himself, a number of Britain's solar panels come from China.

This week was never going to be an easy one for Rachel Reeves, what with her Spring Statement – likely to include controversial spending cuts – tomorrow. But things are going from bad to worse for the beleaguered Chancellor as yet more Labour ministers hit out at her latest Sabrina Carpenter freebie. Dear oh dear… Now housing minister Matthew Pennycook – whose constituency contains the O2 arena where Carpenter performed – has taken a pop at the Cabinet Secretary. When asked on LBC this morning why he would not accept tickets at his local venue, Pennycook remarked: 'Well, I don't personally think it's appropriate. If I want to go to a concert at the O2, I'll pay for it. But individual MPs, individual ministers, make their own decisions.' Shots fired!

It's a day ending in 'y' which means there's more bad news for the Scottish Nats. Now new polling for unionist group Scotland in Union shows that most Scots feel safer as part of the United Kingdom. The Survation survey revealed that most of Scotland's population believe they are more secure – and have more influence – as part of the UK, with the country's people also in favour of retaining the nuclear deterrent. For the anti-Trident, secessionist Nats, it's quite the blow… Today's poll found half of participants believed Scotland is more secure as part of the UK, while almost six in ten respondents felt that the country should hold onto Trident.

It's a hard time to be in Sir Keir Starmer's Labour government, what with poor poll ratings and dismal economic forecasts to contend with. Perhaps that's why Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner felt she deserved a free safari tour during a work trip to Ethiopia earlier this year. But it transpires her hopes were rather quickly dashed after civil servants told her that, no, the day out would not be possible on an official visit. Awkward… As reported by the Times, two government sources revealed to the newspaper that Starmer's second-in-command had hoped to tie in a bit of recreational sightseeing – as part of February's east Africa visit to meet political leaders and oversee the signing of an investment deal.

To Scotland, where the Holyrood exodus continues. Now SNP veteran Fergus Ewing – son of Winnie Ewing, one of the first nationalist politicians to be elected to Westminster – has announced that he will not stand for the party at the 2026 election. But on whether he will leave frontline politics altogether, Ewing is less sure – with the Inverness and Nairn politician suggesting he could stand as an independent candidate to rival his party. How very interesting… As reported by the Press and Journal, Ewing has announced that he will not stand as an SNP candidate next year, saying that he 'cannot defend the lack of delivery' by his party on key issues.

Uh oh. As the news about the closure of Heathrow airport circulates around the country, Mr S has been rather concerned to see instances of faulty reporting by the media. Both Sky News and, surprise surprise, the Guardian got rather confused in their coverage this morning – mixing up the Swedish airline SAS with British special forces unit, the Special Air Service. Awkward… Sky News broadcasted that 'the Special Air Service says all 12 of their round trips to and from Heathrow are cancelled', while the Guardian reported at 7 a.m.: 'The Special Air Service, or SAS, has said that it [is] also impacted by Heathrow's closure.' An hour later the newspaper's online site updated its coverage, noting: 'This post was amended at 7.38 a.m. GMT.

Back to Scotland, where former chief executive of the SNP, Peter Murrell, has appeared in court charged with embezzlement. The ex-husband of Dear Leader Nicola Sturgeon was charged in connection with the ongoing police probe into the party's funds and finances last April – and this morning appeared in Edinburgh Sheriff Court. And now, it transpires, Sturgeon and ex-treasurer Colin Beattie are no longer under investigation by Police Scotland. It's the latest set of developments in the Operation Branchform investigation, which has limped on for a staggering four years. Speaking outside her Glasgow home today, Sturgeon told reporters it was 'a day of mixed emotions', adding: I am completely in the clear. That is the outcome I had always expected.

What does it take to be excluded from the SNP's candidate list? Quite a lot, it seems, as being arrested in connection with a police probe into your party's funds and finances doesn't appear to be a barrier anyway. Colin Beattie, the SNP's ex-treasurer who was arrested as part of the Operation Branchform investigation, has revealed his intentions to stand again for the SNP ahead of 2026's Holyrood elections. How very interesting… John Swinney has refused to comment on whether Beattie would be a liability to his party, with the First Minister telling reporters on Wednesday: 'I'm not going to talk about any issues that have any proximity to a police investigation.

As if Brits haven’t had enough elections and leadership competitions lately, north of the border political parties are gearing up for the 2026 Scottish parliament poll. While the embattled SNP has had a rocky few months, now Scottish Labour is under fire thanks to Sir Keir Starmer’s unpopular policies. But there is one party that only seems to be picking up support: Reform UK. New Survation polling for Quantum Communications reveals support for the Nigel Farage-led party in Scotland has surged again. Reform is predicted to pick up 17 per cent of the constituency vote share and 16 per cent on the regional list – leaving the group with 14 MSPs in Holyrood next year from a standing start.

The Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall announced a range of cuts to benefits payments in the Commons on Tuesday in a bid to save money and get people back to work. On the evening broadcast round that followed, Labour MP and pensions minister Torsten Bell was quizzed on Newsnight about what exactly the reforms would mean. But rather than reassuring viewers, Bell’s tone-deaf interview has left benefits-receiving Brits even more concerned about their futures.  Challenging the Labour minister on how the welfare reforms will affect young people, the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire put it to him that ‘some young people are going to be living on around £70 a week’.