Starmer has chance to put overseas aid and debt relief on G20 agenda | Heather Stewart

Reclaiming Labour’s internationalist heart could also stop disillusioned voters drifting towards Lib Dems and Greens

By Heather Stewart

I fear that Labour’s special needs revolution will instead be a catastrophic letdown | John Harris

A familiar story is unfolding: of lofty aims undermined by meagre budgets, constant anonymous briefing – and a drive to remove families’ basic rights, says Guardian columnist John Harris

By John Harris

I fear that Labour’s special needs revolution will instead be a catastrophic letdown | John Harris

A familiar story is unfolding: of lofty aims undermined by meagre budgets, constant anonymous briefing – and a drive to remove families’ basic rights Where is this government heading, and who is now in charge? Keir Starmer looks even weaker than he did a week ago, uncoupled from the aides who wrote his scripts and picked his fights, and only still in his job because the cabinet and parliamentary Labour party stared into a chaotic immediate future and decided not to pounce – for now. The high-stakes Gorton and Denton byelection arrives in less than two weeks’ time. Policy-wise, meanwhile, we are about to finally be presented with a set of plans that have been fitfully gestating for over a year, and causing a quiet chorus of jangling Labour nerves. That sound is now getting louder. Any day now, the government will publish the education white paper containing its plans for sweeping reform of England’s provision for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, or Send. Amid rising fears about current and future costs, that document will shine light not just on the government’s thinking about the system it wants to change, but even bigger questions about Labour’s views on disability and human difference, and the relationship between families and the state. And if the proposals misfire, this most fragile of administrations will find itself back in the nightmarish place it ended up in when Labour MPs refused to pass its cuts to disability benefits – only this time, the resulting chaos could consume it. John Harris is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

By John Harris

The slow implosion of Keir Starmer’s government is the ultimate repudiation of ‘Labour minimalism’ | Andy Beckett

This dominant tradition in the party has long insisted on appeasing powerful interests. But it’s unsuited to modern times, says Guardian columnist Andy Beckett

By Andy Beckett

The slow implosion of Keir Starmer’s government is the ultimate repudiation of ‘Labour minimalism’ | Andy Beckett

This dominant tradition in the party has long insisted on appeasing powerful interests. But it’s unsuited to modern times Labour is a more complicated political party than most. For over a century, it has tried to contain warring traditions, philosophies and factions. Internal disagreements have been driven not just by personal rivalries, but by profound differences about how, and how much, to challenge Britain’s deeply embedded arrangements of power and wealth. The party’s current crisis, while most directly caused by Keir Starmer’s political shortcomings and the chillingly selective morality of Peter Mandelson, is really the result of one Labour tradition demonstrably failing in government to meet the needs of today’s world. Often dominant in the party, especially over the past 40 years, you could call that tradition Labour minimalism. Andy Beckett is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

By Andy Beckett

Will Keir Starmer shift to the left?

Backbench MPs could have a greater impact on UK government decision-making after prime minister faced calls to quit

The Guardian view on Starmer’s trust crisis: it is unlikely to be managed away | Editorial

At a moment of stagnation and political drift, Andy Burnham’s push for a new plan suggests the centre-left debate has moved beyond Downing Street Once a political leader’s net favourability sinks deep into negative territory, recovery is the exception, not the rule. It usually takes an economic rebound, a dramatic political reset or an opposition implosion to reverse the slide. Sir Keir Starmer’s personal ratings are in a danger zone from which few escape. Yet the prime minister, like the Bourbons, has learnt nothing and forgotten nothing. He made a speech this week after coming close to being ousted suggesting he would “fight” on. He doubled down in parliament despite glaring errors in judgment. He forced out his cabinet secretary while his own failures remain unaddressed. He seemed to blame everyone but himself. When support slips and a leader answers with defiance, voters don’t see strength – they see denial. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

By Editorial

Martin Rowson on uncertain times for Keir Starmer – cartoon

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By Martin Rowson

Left or right, Keir? Labour factions jostle for influence in post-McSweeney No 10

Soft left senses chance to push Starmer into progressive pivot, but leftward turn would be fiercely resisted by some UK politics live – latest updates As the prime minister fought for his political life before Labour MPs at their Monday evening meeting, even hardened sceptics saw a flash of something different in Keir Starmer. Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, said Starmer had been “liberated”. He did not have to spell out who from. His comments came 24 hours after the departure of Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, a man who has shaped Labour’s modern incarnation. Continue reading...

By Jessica Elgot Deputy political editor

After a mad week, Labour is hopefully seeing sense: Starmer needs to stay | Simon Jenkins

The only winners from a political coup in Westminster would be Labour’s enemies on the left and right They roared, they stamped and they cheered. On Monday, the parliamentary Labour party reacted as it should when its leader hit a spot of bother. It knew it could not sack him, so it backed him. The constitution did its job and parliament supported the elected government of the day. The idea that what Britain most needs is a Downing Street conflict is madness. After a week of a truly almighty storm in a teacup, it was a relief that the Commons could recover and steady the ship of state. It should keep it that way into the immediate future. Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist and the author of A Short History of America: From Tea Party to Trump Continue reading...

By Simon Jenkins