UK signed deals with US firms that were clients of Mandelson lobbying company

A lobbying firm co-owned by Peter Mandelson worked for OpenAI before the US tech company signed a wide-ranging agreement with the UK government to explore deploying AI in Britain’s justice, security and education systems.In 2024, the $500bn-valued maker of ChatGPT was a client of Global Counsel, which Mandelson co-founded and part-owned. Keir Starmer subsequently appointed Mandelson as ambassador to Washington.OpenAI last summer signed a memorandum of understanding with the UK government to develop partnerships “to expand public engagement with AI technology”.In September it signed another deal to provide 2,500 ChatGPT licences to UK civil servants, starting in the Ministry of Justice

Who could fill key No 10 vacancies – and win the battle for Starmer’s ear?

With three vacancies opening up at the very top of Keir Starmer’s operation, there is already a battle over who will win the war for his ear – and the direction of the government.The departure of Starmer’s most important political advisers – his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, who was focused on the fight against Reform in Labour’s working-class heartlands; and Tim Allan, the director of communication, considered a Blairite – has immediately raised hopes on Labour’s soft left of a shift in their favour.At the same time, Starmer’s decision to get rid of the bureaucratic Chris Wormald as cabinet secretary has opened the door for a more radical replacement to drive through some of the Whitehall reforms and policy changes the prime minister has been calling for.The frontrunner for cabinet secretary is understood to be Antonia Romeo, the dynamic permanent secretary of the Home Office, who has impressed Shabana Mahmood, but other possible names floated include Minouche Shafik, Starmer’s economic adviser, and Louise Casey, the lead non-executive director for the government, who has previously said she would not be suited to the job.The one thing that everyone around Starmer agrees on is that the current void in Downing Street cannot be allowed to continue for long

Starmer says he ‘will never walk away’ as Burnham joins Labour figures backing PM – as it happened

Keir Starmer is speaking at an event in Hertfordshire.He starts with a reference to the events of yesterday – saying there has been a lot of politics around recently.But he is focused on the cost of living, he says. He says he knows what it is like to struggle, because when he was growing up his family couldn’t always pay their bills.He says he leads the most working-class cabinet in history

Steady Ed conjours up a Keir in his own image – complete with fake steering wheel | John Crace

It was a day for one of the Top Team. The safest of safe hands. A grownup. That didn’t mean the likes of Emma Reynolds. Emma looks permanently startled at the best of times

Fighting Starmer wins another chance, but is still surrounded by peril

“Is it over?” That was the question that Labour MPs have been asking themselves and each other. But the meaning has shifted over the last 24 hours.After last Wednesday afternoon’s chaos in the Commons over the release of the Peter Mandelson documents, MPs widely believed it was the final throes of Keir Starmer’s leadership.But what looked like the start of a coup – when the Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, called for Starmer to resign – seemingly turned out to be a damp squib.When the prime minister really puts up a fight, people often see a different side to him

Andy Burnham backs Starmer but urges him to be bolder and more inclusive

Andy Burnham has publicly backed Keir Starmer while calling for him to show more boldness and be more willing to accept contributions from others within Labour.After a day of turmoil on Monday when the Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, called for Starmer to resign, the Greater Manchester mayor used a speech and Q&A in Westminster to call for unity while promoting his views on what the government’s platform should look like.Burnham’s intervention followed comments by the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, who used a round of morning media interviews to say Starmer should use his seemingly narrow escape from a leadership challenge to reshape his prime ministership and demonstrate “much greater clarity of purpose”.Burnham echoed the sentiment, saying it was time for everyone to be “facing in the same direction and pulling in the same direction around our ambitions”, but that the government should be more ambitious, notably on housing.“I think we are at a generational moment in politics,” he said