Crisis? What crisis? Starmer has a delivery plan – so chill out | John Crace

Don’t Panic! Don’t Panic! Over the weekend the newly promoted Darren Jones, Keir Starmer’s very own Keir Starmer tribute act, was out and about on the airwaves trying to convince everyone – himself included – that the government was not in crisis.What do you mean, chaos, he said time and again as the questions kept on coming. Each time sounding slightly more chippy. He’s not a man who takes kindly to even a hint of mockery. Darren takes Darren extremely seriously

Who is in the running to be the next Labour deputy leader?

The battle to become Labour’s next deputy leader is moving fast, with hopefuls needing to amass at least 80 MP nominations by Thursday evening. With several people having already ruled themselves out, here are some possible, and probable, runners:As someone from the backbenches who is nonetheless of cabinet-level heft, and who is seen as independent but not a recreational rebel, Thornberry is one of the more likely people to reach the nomination threshold.An MP since 2005, Thornberry was shadow attorney general for nearly three years – only to be dumped from the frontbench by Keir Starmer after the general election. She has since become chair of the foreign affairs select committee.One possible barrier for Thornberry is the fact that, like her leader, she is a north London MP

We need more politicians like Angela Rayner | Letters

The fact that Angela Rayner has described her journey from “a teenage mum from a council estate” to the highest levels of government as being “the honour of my life” is so sad, and a scandalous indictment of our country (Crisis engulfs Labour as Angela Rayner is forced to step down as deputy PM, 5 September).Privilege and inequality exclude the majority of ordinary people from entering, let alone achieving, influential positions in politics, the judiciary, media, business and increasingly in sport and theatre.The figures are astonishing. According to the Sutton Trust, 65% of senior judges, 57% of the House of Lords, 59% of permanent secretaries and 52% of diplomats are drawn from the 7% of the population who are privately educated. Achieving positions of influence in our society is less about merit and more about connections, accent and so on – all acquired at fee‑paying schools

Labour MPs must gain 80 nominations by Thursday to stand for deputy leader

Labour MPs hoping to replace Angela Rayner as the party’s deputy leader have until Thursday afternoon to gather the 80 MPs’ nominations they will need to stand, with the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, ruling herself out of the race.Mahmood is the latest mooted hopeful to decide not to run, with Jess Phillips and Lisa Nandy also opting out.According to a timetable from Labour’s national executive committee, MP nominations will open on Tuesday, with potential candidates having until 5pm on Thursday to gather 80 nominations, which is at least 20% of the parliamentary party.Nominations would be “updated on a daily basis on the Labour party website for the duration of the MP nominations period”, a statement said.Anyone who reaches this threshold must also receive nominations from at least 5% of constituency Labour parties, or about 30 in total, or at least three official party-affiliated bodies, of which at least two must be unions

George Osborne ‘to miss out on big windfall’ from sale of investment bank

George Osborne is expected to miss out on a large windfall payment from the $196m (£145m) takeover of Robey Warshaw, the investment bank where the former Conservative chancellor has been working since 2021.Osborne, who is a partner at the bank being acquired by its US rival Evercore, will miss out on a big payout from the deal, according to the Financial Times.The paper said most of the payout would be received by the bank’s three founding partners, with the largest cut going to Sir Simon Robey – the deal veteran known as the City’s “trillion-dollar man”.Evercore has agreed to pay $96m in shares when the deal – which was announced in July – closes in October, followed by a further $100m in cash or shares after it completes. There could be further payouts for the partners if certain performance targets are met after six years

‘We have to tell an alternative story’: Green leader Polanski chats to Nigel Farage’s constituents

The Greens are the only mainstream party seriously battling the prospect of a “far right-adjacent” government led by Nigel Farage, the party’s new leader, Zack Polanski, has argued, after spending a day in Farage’s constituency talking to voters.Two days after winning the leadership of the Greens in England and Wales with 85% of the votes cast, Polanski took the very direct route of travelling to Clacton-on-Sea to ask people about the policies supported by the MP they elected last year, and to listen to their views.The chats – some of which saw self-professed Farage backers express support for Green policies including a wealth tax and more official routes for asylum seekers – will be packaged into a social media video, part of a strategy by Polanski to reach more voters with the party’s messages, an approach directly echoing that of Farage.Polanski told the Guardian he was alarmed at the polling success for Reform UK, a party he described as “on the far right, or at least far right-adjacent in terms of the causes and issues they’re willing to align with”.He condemned Labour and Keir Starmer for failing to properly challenge Reform’s rhetoric over proposed mass deportations, saying that mainstream parties were failing to step up to the challenge of pushing back against Farage’s ideas