Britain should seek to rejoin EU, says civil servant who led Brexit department

Britain should start talking about rejoining the EU, according to a former senior civil servant who ran the Brexit department.Philip Rycroft, who was permanent secretary of the Department for Exiting the EU, said the “argument was there to be won” about going back into Europe, adding that a “clear-headed appraisal of what is in the country’s best interests” was needed. However, he said rejoining the bloc could be a “long and windy” road.“Most economic analysis suggests that we have taken a significant hit to GDP as a result of leaving the single market,” he wrote in the Times. “The precise number, and the impact on our export performance to the EU and beyond, might be subject to debate, but no one can credibly claim that we have marched to the sunny uplands of sustained economic growth as a consequence of Brexit

Who is ‘cravat man’? Neckwear steals the show in Olly Robbins parliamentary grilling

It was blockbuster viewing for politicos across the country: the livestreamed grilling of Olly Robbins. While the sacked Foreign Office civil servant was billed as the star of the show, for many he was upstaged by a well-dressed man wearing a cravat.“I’ve got a big collection,” said Andrew Edwards, the scene stealer in question.His appearance in the background of parliament’s foreign affairs select committee on Tuesday provoked many questions. Who is he and why is he rocking a cravat? The answer to the latter question is actually quite simple

McSweeney denies bullying civil servants into appointing Mandelson

Morgan McSweeney has denied claims he bullied civil servants into appointing Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US, before an evidence hearing with MPs next week.Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff resigned in February over his role in the hiring of Mandelson, but the move failed to end the crisis over the peer’s appointment. On Thursday, McSweeney told a security forum in Kyiv that he did not recognise his “character” as it was portrayed in the media.At a planned appearance before the foreign affairs committee on Tuesday, he is likely to face questions over reports he told Philip Barton, the then permanent undersecretary at the Foreign Office, to “just fucking approve” Mandelson’s appointment.“I find it strange reading about a character with the same name as mine sometimes,” McSweeney told the security conference, as first reported by the Times

‘Toxic’ views of Reform UK candidates raise questions about party’s vetting

A Reform UK candidate who called for a “white Britain” and said Keir Starmer should be shot is among a number of contenders fuelling doubts about the party’s claim to have tightened up its vetting.The past comments of Linda McFarlane and other political hopefuls have been unearthed ahead of the 7 May elections, including one who complained about “constant kowtowing to the black community” and others who endorsed the far-right activist Tommy Robinson.On Friday morning, Labour released a party election broadcastthat exposed some of the “toxic” views of Reform figures, warning viewers in advance of offensive language.While Nigel Farage, the Reform leader, and senior colleagues have insisted the party’s vetting processes are as tough as any other, Reform was under pressure this week over views and positions linked to a fresh batch of candidates identified by the anti-racism campaign group Hope Not Hate.They included McFarlane, who is Reform’s candidate in the Gateshead ward of Chopwell and Rowlands Gill

‘This election is all to play for’: Can the Scottish Labour leader defy political gravity in May?

Anas Sarwar says he is certain he can pull off one of the greatest escape acts of modern British politics. It is 14 days until the Holyrood election, and the polls consistently show Scottish Labour is in a battle simply to come second, never mind win.Those polls are wrong, Sarwar says, and in two weeks plans to prove it. Claiming to be “more than happy” with his party’s underdog status, the Scottish Labour leader insists the media are too obsessed by polling numbers.Now that postal voting packs have arrived Labour’s canvassers report that many among the unusually high number of undecided voters in this election are shifting towards Labour, he says

‘It’s Andy or bust’: MPs could keep Starmer in place to give Burnham time to return

If Keir Starmer is looking for a saviour to keep him in No 10 after the May elections and the scandal of the Mandelson saga, there is an unlikely figure in the north-west who might help him – temporarily.It has been the week where the prime minister seemed at his most isolated. But Labour MPs told the Guardian they were urging colleagues not to depose Starmer next month, and were instead preparing to demand that Andy Burnham return to parliament in order to succeed him before the next general election.Burnham had a busy day on Thursday, in the week that Starmer was at war with Whitehall over the failed vetting of Peter Mandelson. The mayor of Greater Manchester was campaigning in the local elections in five London boroughs – Haringey, Islington, Southwark, Lewisham and Bromley