All the evidence shows voters want Labour to shift to the left — but initial signs from Andy Burnham are worrying on that front, cautions DIANE ABBOTT
A WEEK, or so Westminster’s most cliched saying goes, is a long time in politics. This pithy turn of phrase from Harold Wilson is likely to get more than one outing in this weekend’s papers, as commentators seek to trumpet the defections from Labour and the Tories to the new Independent Group of MPs.
“Trumpet” is indeed the best verb, as there is likely to be little in the way of understanding or proper analysis.
As the Guardian’s Owen Jones argued earlier this week, no demographic has been crying out for this shift like Britain’s national press. And with this to spur them on, the total lack of a popular base is likely to be no barrier to the Independent Group — until they have to face the electorate, at least.
Once derided by Farage as a ‘fraud,’ Jenrick has defected to Reform, bringing experience and political ruthlessness to the populist right — and raising the unsettling prospect of a Farage-led movement with a seasoned operative pulling the strings, says ANDREW MURRAY
As the PM and his chief of staff’s blunders have mounted up, ANDREW MURRAY wonders who among Labour’s diminished ‘soft left’ might make a bid for the leadership
The suspended Labour MP’s historic resignation to found a working-class party has lit up social media with excitement as thousands knock at the door wanting involvement in the desperately needed project, writes ANDREW BURGIN


