Who would be in Wes Streeting’s corner if he ran for the Labour leadership?
For all that Labour’s left denounce Wes Streeting as a reincarnated Blairite, he has friendships and alliances across various Labour factions, not all of which lean into each other.As he considers a bid to challenge Keir Starmer, the MPs supporting him are not ideological clones.Some are personal allies, while others simply see him as one of the few senior Labour figures capable of communicating beyond Westminster.Former health ministerThe Glasgow South West MP is among the small group of Streeting-supporting junior ministers who resigned on Tuesday.Working in Streeting’s health department, the former surgeon collaborated closely with Streeting on NHS reform.
Ahmed used his resignation to publicly criticise Starmer’s leadership.Former safeguarding ministerOne of the better-known ministers, despite her officially junior role covering safeguarding in the Home Office, Phillips also resigned on Tuesday as Streeting’s allies sought to pick up momentum to push Starmer out.The Birmingham Yardley MP departed with a stinging letter of departure, saying the prime minister was too cautious and wedded to process to deliver bold action, even in her vital brief.Former parliamentary private secretary to StreetingThe MP for Hexham since 2024 – the first Labour representative for the Northumberland seat since it was created – was Streeting’s own parliamentary private secretary (PPS), the lowest rung of frontbench work.His resignation on Monday evening was seen as firing the starting gun on a possible Streeting bid.
The two are close – Streeting travelled north to campaign for Morris to become an MP,Former victims ministerThe Pontypridd MP, who was the well-regarded victims minister in the Home Office, is also viewed by colleagues as in Streeting’s orbit, and resigned on Tuesday,She was also adamant that Starmer should step down, writing in her resignation letter to him: “I implore you to act in the country’s interest and set out a timetable for your departure,”Chair of Labour Growth GroupAnother 2024-intake MP, after taking Milton Keynes North from the Conservatives, Curtis is chair of the influential Labour Growth Group, which lobbies on economic and planning reform,Speaking on Monday after a speech by Starmer in London, Curtis said it had not done enough to save the prime minister, and that he should set a timetable to leave.
MP for Central AyrshireYet another member of the 2024 intake, the Central Ayrshire MP and former diplomat is close to Streeting, and like Curtis, on Monday called on Starmer to resign.Former parliamentary private secretary to David LammyAlso a 2024 arrival, and also a Scottish MP, representing Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy, Ward was PPS to David Lammy, the justice secretary and deputy PM, before stepping down on Monday amid a wave of resignations by Streeting allies.Business secretaryThe business secretary has been publicly loyal to Starmer so far, and thus has not acted like an outrider, as those above have.But Kyle, who represents Hove and Portslade, is very close friends with Streeting, and shares a similar ideological viewpoint.Sent out to represent the government on Monday’s early media round, Kyle dismissed the idea of Streeting mounting a challenge, saying that in the wake of last week’s local elections, rather than plotting the pair had gone out to dinner and to watch The Devil Wears Prada 2 at the cinema.
Google announces raft of free upgrades for Android phones
Google has announced a range of features coming to Android phones this year, including a new Gemini Intelligence AI system and a tool to help users avoid distracting apps.Revealed in a livestreamed “Android Show” event, the free upgrades are scheduled to arrive in waves over the next year for high-end new and old phones alike, including Samsung and Pixel devices. Google also revealed that a new lineup of laptops will arrive in the autumn.Gemini Intelligence will combine the company’s top AI tools into one system aimed at being more proactively useful.It will be able to automate tasks by directly interacting with the apps already on a phone
Head of Microsoft’s Israel branch to step down after inquiry into dealings with Israeli military
The head of Microsoft’s Israeli subsidiary will step down in the wake of an inquiry that has scrutinised its business dealings with the Israeli military.Microsoft ordered the inquiry last year in response to a Guardian investigation revealing the military had used the company’s technology to operate a powerful surveillance system that collected Palestinian civilian phone calls on a mass scale.The joint investigation with the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call found the military’s elite spy agency, Unit 8200, had used Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform to store a vast trove of intercepted calls from Gaza and the West Bank.The inquiry commissioned by Microsoft is understood to have recently concluded. Its findings are unclear; however, sources familiar with the situation said they prompted an announcement last week that Microsoft Israel’s general manager, Alon Haimovich, would leave the company
GameStop’s $55.5bn bid for eBay rejected as ‘neither credible nor attractive’
The board of eBay has rejected the US video games retailer GameStop’s surprise $55.5bn bid (£41bn) for the online marketplace, describing the proposal as “neither credible nor attractive”.Earlier this month, GameStop made an unsolicited bid for eBay, publishing a letter on its website outlining a half-cash, half-stock proposal.This was despite the US games company – which became a global household name during the meme stock craze of 2021 – being worth far less than its takeover target. GameStop had a market valuation of roughly $12bn before its bid, almost a quarter of eBay’s $46bn valuation
Trump heads to China to spread the gospel of American tech
Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery, US tech editor at the Guardian.Donald Trump is headed to China this week. If his guest list is any clue, he wants to discuss technology with Xi Jinping, though perhaps after the war in Iran.On Monday, news broke that outgoing Apple CEO, Tim Cook, as well as SpaceX and Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, would join Trump
Trump heads to China to spread the gospel of American tech while emulating Xi Jinping on AI
Donald Trump is heading to China this week. If his guest list is any clue, he wants to discuss technology with Xi Jinping, though perhaps after the war in Iran.On Monday, news broke that outgoing Apple CEO, Tim Cook, as well as SpaceX and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, would join the US president. Other guests from the tech sphere include Meta’s recently appointed president, Dina Powell McCormick; Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of computer memory maker Micron; Chuck Robbins, CEO of longtime telecom giant Cisco; and Cristiano Amon, CEO of semiconductor maker Qualcomm, according to a White House official.Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s CEO – who is close to Trump but criticized the US’s limitations on chip sales to China in an April interview, saying that he didn’t want a “loser mentality” to cost the US its edge in AI – will not be joining the president
Molière Ex Machina: AI used to create ‘new work’ by beloved French playwright
Molière is to the French what Shakespeare is to the English: the last word in historical literature, drama, wit and satire.Now, more than 350 years after his death, the 17th-century dramatist has been revived after scholars at the Sorbonne University in Paris used artificial intelligence to help write an experimental play in his style.L’Astrologue ou les Faux Présages (The Astrologer, or False Omens), a three-act comedy, made its debut at the Royal Opera at the Château de Versailles last week.The two-hour play tells the story of a wealthy bourgeois Parisian who, under the instruction of a charlatan astrologer called Pseudoramus, insists his daughter Lucile marry a debt-ridden and elderly wigmaker.While the theme could well have been dreamed up by Molière, the dialogue, music, costumes and scenery were all created with the help of a French AI tool called Le Chat (The Cat)
How to make arancini – recipe | Felicity Cloake's Masterclass
Mitsu, London EC2: ‘Determinedly fun and delicious’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants
Benjamina Ebuehi’s recipe for Mexican-style vanilla bean flan | The sweet spot
How to match wine with vegetables
‘Restaurants won’t survive’: Michelin chef opens venues abroad to withstand UK taxes
Rachel Roddy’s recipe for spring chicken thighs with spring onions, mint and peas | A kitchen in Rome