Politics
However bad this government is, its post-Starmer iteration will be worse
Has sacrificing the critical advisors ever worked? It depends, I suppose, on how one defines ‘worked’. Theresa May managed to limp on for a couple of years after the departure of Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, but her authority was broken. Does that count?
Perhaps Sir Keir Starmer will cling on following Morgan McSweeney’s exit (and, it is sincerely to be hoped, that of Jonathan Powell). As in May’s case, one might argue that this would simply be an exercise in prolonging his misery. But the circumstances aren’t entirely similar; whereas May at least started out with a distinct vision for her premiership, Starmer did not.
Certainly, Conservatives hoping for – or trying to precipitate – the Prime Minister’s resignation should be clear-eyed about the potential consequences. Not because any of the hopefuls out on manoeuvres in the press would deliver any lasting revival of Labour’s fortunes, but the opposite: a change of leadership is likely to see the party retreat even further into its castle in the sky, indulging the whims of backbenchers even as reality closes in around it.
To put it another way, the status quo is about as right-wing as any Labour government in the current parliament is going to get. Even if the Parliamentary Labour Party were more disciplined and less self-indulgent, the fact that the final choice of the leader rests with the party membership militates against any candidate prepared to tell hard truths or try to sell difficult choices. There seems little prospect of Shabana Mahmood’s bare-minimum changes to indefinite leave to remain surviving a leadership contest, let alone a victor emerging with the will or means to combat the unsustainable trajectory of this country’s public spending.
There is some little irony in Starmer’s outriders warning that the markets would react very badly to his ousting; everyone hates being in hoc to the bond vigilantes until they’re the reason you can’t be sacked. But the warning is not wrong. However bad this Government is proving – and that is very bad indeed – it is by no means the worst we could get.
Nor is there likely to be a general election. Constitutionally none is required, and politically it just seems highly unlikely that any new prime minister would choose to go to the polls when hundreds of Labour MPs are sitting on slender majorities and Reform UK is still in first place. (The Conservatives, at least if they think Kemi Badenoch’s recent rally in the polls has legs, might quietly welcome this, although they wouldn’t say so.)
Perhaps a new leader in those circumstances would accelerate the collapse in Labour’s position, making life easier for the Right at the eventual 2029 general election. But the trade-off would be that the scale of the problems facing the country – and thus, the unpleasantness of the decisions a future government would have to make to fix them – would be that much worse. Which is an ill omen, given that neither the Conservatives nor Reform are currently exhibiting much willingness to face up to those problems in their current form.
Were we the southern European country whose politics ours increasingly resembled, this is about the point where the European Central Bank would step in and appoint the prime minister for us. Happily, our democratic system is stronger than that; less happily, that means we have nobody to save us from the consequences of our choices.
Joe Egerton is a former Parliamentary candidate for Leigh who once worked for the Macmillan family.
The commentariat is drawing a comparison between the Profumo affair of 1963 and the Mandelson affair. It is important to start by recognising that the Profumo affair, although very damaging, did not bring about the fall of Macmillan. As it is often suggested that it did, the brief facts are as follows.
On 8th July 1961, Profumo, Secretary of State for War, was introduced to Christine Keeler “a very pretty girl and sweet” who had been swimming naked in the pool at Cliveden and was trying to cover herself with a skimpy towel. The next day there was “a light-hearted and frolicsome bathing party, where everyone was in bathing costumes and nothing indecent took place at all”. One of the party was Yevgeny Ivanov, nominally a naval attaché at the Soviet Embassy but actually GRU.Profumo arranged to meet up with Christine Keeler. The two had a brief affair which ended before the New Year.
In 1963 the affair became fairly widely known. On 21 March 1963, George Wigg MP, Harold Wilson’s witch finder general, many years later to be convicted of kerb crawling, hinted at it in the Commons. That night Profumo was got out of bed and questioned by colleagues. On one account, Iain Macleod, the Leader of the House, asked Profumo outright: “John, did you fuck her?” The next day Profumo made a statement in the House denying “any impropriety”.
Rumours continued and on 4th June, during a short Commons recess, Profumo confessed to Macmillan’s Principal Private Secretary Tim Bligh who telephoned Macmillan who was in Scotland. Profumo resigned from the government and resigned his seat. The press had a field day. Family newspapers could safely recount a story of fun-loving attractive girls, a cabinet minister, the Russian Naval attaché, a leading member of the House of Lords (Lord Astor) and other rather shady individuals frolicking round the swimming pool at a great house. I was at prep school at the time and we had great fun piecing together a story parents judged not suitable for our innocent ears…
We can take up the story from Macmillan’s Diary and an entry written on 7 July recorded that on 17th June 1963 seventeen Conservative MPs abstained – a very large rebellion for those days. During the week there was a flood of rumours of widespread discreditable sexual behaviour involving numerous ministers. The Diary recorded that on 24th June “I had announced the appointment of Lord Denning to hold a judicial enquiry” and added “I hope that this will clear the ministers and make people a little ashamed of their behaviour” (Diaries, Page 572)
On 3rd August, Macmillan noted rumours that Denning would condemn (“or rather fail to clear…of scandalous conduct”) one important and one unimportant minister. Macmillan then commented:
However all this is pure rumour. Naturally I have been careful not to see or get anything out of Lord D. I think he will, in fact, seek the unofficial help of the Ld. Chancellor (Reginald Manningham-Buller, Lord Dilhorne) before he actually sends in his report.
(Emphasis in original)
Macmillan was not disappointed. On 19th September, he recorded:
At 2.45, Wilson came with his Chief Whip. He had read the report on Tuesday and commented rather sadly to Bligh that there wasn’t much in it. I suppose he meant ‘not much for me’.
During the summer of 1963, Macmillan had reflected on whether he should step down as leader. But for the Profumo scandal, he might have done so in June, but he was determined not to look as if he had been driven from office. By the time the cabinet met on Tuesday 8th October he had decided to stay on to fight the next election. He told the cabinet, left the room and the cabinet, with only one dissenting voice (Enoch Powell), endorsed his decision to remain and fight the forthcoming election.
At this point fate – in the form of his prostrate – intervened and he was told he needed an emergency operation. Although both de Gaulle and Pope St Paul VI were to have similar operations and continued to work, neither faced the constant pressure Parliament imposes on a British Prime Minister. Also Macmillan knew he needed to use the rally at the end of the Conference to give impetus to the party as it prepared for an election in 1964. So he resigned. Profumo did not cause his resignation.
The real lesson from the Profumo affair is that Macmillan survived it because he kept his nerve and set up an enquiry headed by Britain’s best-known judge. With this assurance, there was no question of handing the files over to Parliament. Nobody could object to Denning and nobody did at the time.
The contrast with Starmer’s announcement that he would entrust Sir Humphrey Appleby with providing those papers on Mandelson which did not impinge on national security or international relations to Parliament is marked. Starmer has done what Macmillan avoided – provoked the House of Commons and his own backbenchers into setting up a process bound to lead either to a flood of damaging papers or a steady stream of embarrassing disclosures.
Macmillan of course knew exactly what he was doing in appointing Denning. In 1980, Denning was to preside over a claim for damages from the Birmingham Six, men convicted of bombing a pub in 1974 who alleged that they had been forced into giving false confessions. This was how Denning dismissed their claim:
Just consider the course of events if their action were to proceed to trial… If the six men failed it would mean that much time and money and worry would have been expended by many people to no good purpose. If they won, it would mean that the police were guilty of perjury; that they were guilty of violence and threats; that the confessions were involuntary and improperly admitted in evidence; and that the convictions were erroneous… That was such an appalling vista that every sensible person would say, ‘It cannot be right that these actions should go any further’.
In time it turned out that the allegations against the police were well-founded, the convictions quashed and substantial compensation paid for the many years imprisonment the men had suffered. In his 1991 book The Conscience of the Jury Lord Devlin – the distinguished judge Parick Devlin – wrote that together the miscarriages in the cases of the Guildford Four, the Maguire Seven and the Birmingham Six were “the greatest disasters that have shaken British justice in my time”.
But as Macmillan knew Devlin was a judge of a very different character from Denning. Four years before Macmillan had appointed Denning, Mr Justice (later Lord Justice) Devlin had produced a damning report on the killing of 11 detainees at the Hola Camp in Kenya on 3 March 1959. This provoked one of the most famous passages in the Macmillan Diaries:
Incidentally, I was away in Russia when the Devlin Commission was chosen.Why Devlin? The poor Lord Chancellor (Lord Kilmuir, David Maxwell-Fyfe, who had prosecuted at Nuremburg so knew what a concentration camp looked like) – the sweetest and most naïve of men – chose him. He was able; a Conservative runner-up or nearly so for Lord Chief Justice. I have since discovered that he is:
- Irish – no doubt with that Fenian blood that makes Irishmen anti-Govt on principle
- A lapsed R.C. His brother is a Jesuit priest; his sister a nun. He married a Jewess who was converted and has remained a Catholic
- A hunchback
- Bitterly disappointed at my not having made him Lord Chief Justice.
I am not at all surprised that his report is dynamite. It may well blow the Govt out of office. (Diaries 13 July 1959 Pages 234-5)
Macmillan would have enjoyed Devlin’s later humiliation by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse which published evidence from his daughter on the abuse she had suffered from her long-deceased father.
One can understand why Macmillan took care to appoint a Denning rather than a Devlin when the future of his government was at stake.
He may well have given Mrs Thatcher some helpful advice on the inquiry into the Falklands War. When Galtieri seized the Falklands in 1982, Mrs Thatcher was given invaluable support by Harold Macmillan in the days immediately after the invasion. His son Maurice who had served in the Heath cabinet played an important role in calming colleagues in the Parliamentary Party and had encouraged Macmillan to give public support to a beleaguered PM.
Forced to agree to an inquiry into how the Galtieri was allowed to grab the islands, in due course Mrs Thatcher appointed as chairman a distinguished 77-year-old civil servant, diplomat and provost of an Oxford college – Lord Franks – an old colleague of Macmillan’s whom he had defeated for Chancellor of Oxford. Macmillan dropped her this note when the Franks report was published:
I am glad to observe that the time-honoured judgment in the famous case of Albert and the Lion has been respected by these distinguished Privy Councillors.“The magistrate gave the opinion that no one was really to blame.”
We can learn indeed something from how Macmillan survived the Profumo affair by setting up a process that was pretty certain to clear him. No doubt is left that Sir Keir Starmer lacks the political skills of a Macmillan or a Thatcher.
There is one other point worth noting. In 1963 shameful allegations were made by male MPs against the fun-loving attractive girls who had been caught up in the scandal – one MP even called them prostitutes. When the affair Mandelson is discussed in the Commons, there are repeated reminders that the victims of Epstein have suffered appalling mistreatment. The large number of women MPs who all too clearly empathise with the victims guarantees that these reminders are sincerely and deeply meant.
Keir Starmer has vowed to fight on as prime minister following the resignations of two top aides.
Morgan McSweeney, one of the prime minister’s longest-serving and closest lieutenants, resigned as Downing Street chief of staff on Sunday. In a statement, McSweeney said he took “full responsibility” after personally advising Starmer to appoint Peter Mandelson as British ambassador to the United States.
The outgoing No 10 chief of staff said the decision to appoint Mandelson was “wrong” and had “damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself.”
McSweeney stated: “When asked, I advised the prime minister to make that appointment and I take full responsibility for that advice. In public life responsibility must be owned when it matters most, not just when it is most convenient.
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“In the circumstances, the only honourable course is to step aside.”
McSweeney said he remained “fully supportive of the prime minister”. His former deputies Jill Cuthbertson and Vidhya Alakeson have stepped up as acting chiefs of staff.
On Monday morning, Tim Allan resigned as the prime minister’s director of communications, having only spent five months in the role.
In a statement, Allan said: “I have decided to stand down to allow a new No 10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success.”
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Starmer has since addressed staff at No 10 Downing Street, declaring that his government is united by a “driving purpose” of “public duty”.
Reflecting on the revelations surrounding Mandelson, which precipitated the present crisis, Starmer said that the scandal risked undermining “the belief that politics can be a force for good and can change lives.”
He added: “I have been absolutely clear that I regret the decision that I made to appoint Peter Mandelson. And I’ve apologised to the victims which is the right thing to do.”
Starmer also paid tribute to McSweeney, whom he referred to as a “colleague and a friend”.
The prime minister said: “We have run up and down every political football pitch that is across the country. We’ve been in every battle that we needed to be in together. Fighting that battle.
“We changed the Labour Party together. We won a general election together. And none of that would have been possible without Morgan McSweeney.
“His dedication, his commitment and his loyalty to our party and our country was second to none. And I want to thank him for his service.”
Starmer pointed to the work of his government around tackling the cost of living and cutting NHS waiting lists.
He continued: “In just a few months, we start the work of lifting half a million children out of poverty. A massive thing to do in this country because that means that lives will be changed.
“For decades to come, children who otherwise wouldn’t have fair chance and fair opportunity. Poverty holds children back like nothing else on earth. And so getting rid of child poverty opens up opportunities for so many.”
The prime minister concluded: “We must prove that politics can be a force for good. I believe it can. I believe it is. We go forward from here. We go with confidence as we continue changing the country.”
Josh Self is editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky here and X here.
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3 min read
The government must publish an impact assessment of its settlement reforms before going ahead with the changes.
Across the UK, families who have played by the rules and built their lives here are now being told the ground is shifting beneath their feet.
The retrospective extension of settlement routes — stretching qualifying periods from 5 years to 10, 15, or even 30 — breaks a fundamental promise at the heart of our immigration system. Migrants are expected to comply with every requirement at significant personal and financial cost, yet this government now appears willing to move the goalposts with minimal notice and scrutiny.
The government’s proposed overhaul of settlement pathways would be one of the most far-reaching rewrites of immigration policy in a generation. It would embed the hostile environment deeper into everyday life, destabilise communities, strain already-fragile public services, and trap hundreds of thousands of people in years of unnecessary insecurity.
New IPPR findings published this week lay bare the scale of the impact. Around 1.35m people already living in the UK would face a longer qualifying period for settlement. Of these, more than 300,000 — nearly one in four — are children. These are not abstract numbers. They are children growing up without security, families unable to plan for the future, and communities left in limbo.
Crucially, these proposals will not affect everyone equally. They will fall hardest on lower-income households, people of colour, women, those with caring responsibilities (particularly single mothers), people with mental or physical health conditions, disabled people, and children. In practice, someone who is unable to work, and therefore cannot meet the income thresholds, could effectively be barred from settlement altogether.
Evidence from the existing 10-year route shows that long, costly and complex pathways drive poverty and housing insecurity, erode people’s sense of belonging, and contribute to serious mental health challenges. These outcomes do not promote integration — they actively undermine it, limiting people’s ability to contribute fully to the society they call home.
Despite the scale of these risks, the government has yet to publish an equalities impact assessment, an economic impact assessment, or a child rights impact assessment for the earned settlement proposals. My parliamentary colleagues and I have been clear: these assessments must be published as a matter of urgency and before any changes are introduced.
This policy also sits in direct conflict with the government’s stated commitment to reduce child poverty and support integration. Extending qualifying periods for settlement and citizenship will lock families into prolonged uncertainty, delay access to stability, and entrench inequality for a growing group of second-class residents, many of them children. Migrant children should not be collateral damage of what amounts to precarity by design.
The retrospective aspect of these changes to an estimated 1.35 million migrants risks creating a huge group of people who feel betrayed by the system because they have already contributed and played by the rules. And we have been here before. The Windrush scandal showed how altering the terms for long-settled communities leads to years of political damage and distrust.
There is growing concern across Parliament about the direction of travel. The government should listen. These proposals fail to recognise that settlement should be the foundation for integration, rather than settlement as a reward that comes only after integration.
It must urgently reconsider its earned settlement proposals, particularly their retrospective application to people who are already living, working and contributing in the UK. Instead of extending insecurity, ministers should focus on building a settlement system that is straightforward, accessible and affordable, one that offers stability within a reasonable timeframe and allows people to put down roots, support their families, and fulfil their potential.
That is how we strengthen communities, reduce poverty, and deliver an immigration system that works for everyone.
Olivia Blake is Labour MP for Sheffield Hallam
Rachael Williamson argues that housing is a central issue for voters across the UK and Europe and that issues that stem from housing crises such as disconnection and distrust in institutions can lead to a rise in support for populist parties.
Housing has become a highly charged issue in the UK and Europe, transcending its traditional role as a matter of building homes to touch on people’s deeper feelings of fairness, identity, and belonging. The way housing issues are discussed and amplified on social media has become a significant factor in shaping public opinion and influencing the political landscape.
The rise of disconnection
Many people in Britain feel disconnected from their communities and society as a whole. Research by More in Common published last year shows that around half of the population experiences this sense of disconnection, which is not limited to specific age groups or areas. Housing is central to this issue, affecting people’s sense of security and belonging. When housing is unaffordable or feels unfairly allocated, individuals can feel excluded and disconnected. This sense of disconnection is not just a personal issue but has broader societal implications, contributing to the erosion of social cohesion and trust in institutions.
The feeling of being disconnected is often linked to a sense of insecurity and uncertainty about the future. As housing costs rise and affordability becomes a significant challenge, people begin to feel that they are losing control over their lives. This can lead to a sense of powerlessness and frustration, which can be exploited by populist narratives that promise simple solutions to complex problems.
Economic challenges and housing
The economic difficulties faced by many countries have significantly impacted housing. Reduced public spending has put pressure on housing systems, making affordable homes harder to access. This has led to feelings of insecurity and competition for limited resources, with people perceiving that if others gain, they lose out. The economic challenges have also led to a shift in the way people think about housing, from being a fundamental right to a scarce resource that is competed for.
The impact of economic hardship on housing is not just limited to the individual; it has broader societal implications. As housing becomes unaffordable, people are forced to make difficult choices between housing costs and other essential expenses. This can lead to a decline in living standards and a sense of insecurity that can have far-reaching consequences.
Housing and electoral politics
Housing is now a key issue at the ballot box. Research from the Social Market Foundation shows that support for populist parties is linked to local economic and housing conditions. People are more likely to back these parties when they feel left behind by changes and distrust institutions. The issue of housing has become a litmus test for whether people believe the system is working for them.
In Scotland, for example, housing is a key area of concern ahead of the forthcoming parliamentary election. Parties are facing pressure from the left for stronger intervention in the housing market and from the right over perceived impacts on investment and supply. Similarly, in Wales, housing is one of the defining issues ahead of the Senedd elections, with long-standing Labour dominance being challenged by both a nationalist left and a populist right.
The importance of transparency and fairness
Addressing these issues requires more than just making housing affordable; it demands fair and transparent decision-making. When people feel that changes are made without their input or benefit, they are more likely to feel disconnected and disillusioned. The lack of transparency and accountability in housing decision-making can lead to a sense of mistrust and disillusionment with the system.
To build trust and promote a more equitable housing system, policymakers must prioritise transparency, community engagement, and inclusive decision-making. This can involve engaging with local communities in the planning and development process, ensuring that their voices are heard and their concerns are addressed. It also requires a commitment to fairness and equity in the allocation of housing resources, ensuring that those who need it most are not left behind.
Conclusion
The connection between housing, populism, and people’s sense of belonging is complex and multifaceted. To address these challenges, policymakers must adopt a comprehensive approach that considers the economic, social, and cultural dimensions of housing. By prioritising transparency, community engagement, and inclusive decision-making, policymakers can build trust and promote a more equitable housing system that works for everyone. Ultimately, this requires a fundamental shift in the way we think about housing, from being a commodity to being a fundamental right that is essential to human wellbeing.
By Rachael Williamson, Exec Director of Policy, Communications and External Affairs, Chartered Institute of Housing.
Bad Bunny’s historic halftime performance at the Super Bowl on Sunday brought more surprises than just his sizzling set and celebrity cameos.
Ahead of Lady Gaga hitting the stage as one of the Puerto Rican superstar’s surprise guests, an officiant was seen appearing to wed two people.
After social media users speculated whether or not the two were a real couiple, and if they had actually tied the knot, NBC Sports’ Rohan Nadkarni confirmed that the wedding was, indeed, real.
Bad Bunny’s representatives have also confirmed to Variety that the nuptials were legitimate.
The moment reportedly came to be after the couple invited Bad Bunny to their ceremony, but the musician couldn’t attend as he was occupied with the Super Bowl halftime show — so the pair were offered the opportunity of a lifetime to get married on stage midway through the performance at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, instead.
JOSH EDELSON via Getty Images
As the couple got hitched on stage, Gaga sang a remixed version of her 2024 hit Die With A Smile and danced with Bad Bunny.
Reps for Bad Bunny and the NFL didn’t immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
In addition to Gaga, Bad Bunny kept the energy going when he brought out singer Ricky Martin, another Puerto Rican icon, for a rendition of El Apagón.
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Fans on X have been full of praise for Bad Bunny’s blazing performance.
“So many emotions. Bad Bunny got me feeling like I was at Puerto Rican wedding, family reunion and liberation party [dance emojis] Beautiful. He killed it,” one person wrote.
Another said: “Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance was able to encapsulate Latino culture in 15 mins. The kid being asleep on the chairs during the wedding is PEAK.”
“Didn’t expect to get choked up. That was beautiful, Bad Bunny! Loved the set and the camera work at the wedding scene specifically,” someone else commented.
As we reported on 8 February, Keir Starmer’s chief-of-staff Morgan McSweeney resigned in disgrace. What is it they say about rats and sinking ships?
Tim Allen – Blairite leaving the Labour right sinking ship. When self-serving careerists like Allen are crying off, you know Starmer is finished. The writing is on the wall.
— Simone (@Slimbo32) February 9, 2026
How long will Starmer last now?
As Skwawkbox wrote for the Canary:
Keir Starmer’s appalling chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, has quit. According to ‘mainstream’ media, Starmer hopes this will ease the pressure that he has been under from the ongoing Mandelson scandal. If he really thinks this, he’s more hopeless than we thought – and that’s a tough bar to cross.
We don’t think Allan going will help either. At the same time, it’s certainly not going to hurt. Like most of his colleagues, Allan is another washed up Blairite with nothing to offer besides spite and failure.
People have highlighted that Allan is just one in a long line of comms directors:
Tim Allan – Keir Starmer’s *fourth* director of communications since July 2024 – has quit his role.
He says: : “I have decided to stand down to allow a new No10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success.”
— Ashley Cowburn (@ashcowburn) February 9, 2026
A complete inability to hold on to a communications director hasn’t done much for Labour’s communications. Regardless of who’s in charge, it’s never reassuring to see four different people fighting over the steering wheel.
Here’s what HG wrote for the Canary in September 2025:
Keir Starmer has appointed Tim Allan as Downing Street’s new director of communications. Allan is a former trustee of Sex Matters – an anti-trans group.
According to the Financial Times, Allan has previously worked for Kazakhstan and Qatar, along with Vladimir Putin’s government.
He also worked as the deputy director of communications for former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair, under Alastair Campbell. Blair even called him ‘more right-wing than me’.
A transphobic errand boy to Putin and Blair – this is who Starmer wanted in charge of his comms?
It’s no wonder this ship is sinking.
Journalist Kevin Schofield said the following about Allan:
Tim Allan was brought in to No10 in September to replace the highly-effective and widely-respected Steph Driver and James Lyons.
Now gone. https://t.co/hEitd1A0g6
— Kevin Schofield (@KevinASchofield) February 9, 2026
We must have blinked and this period of ‘effectiveness’ and ‘respect’ that Starmer’s operation enjoyed.
Chaos with Keir
Speaking of Starmer, it was rumoured that he planned to step down today. That no longer seems to be the case – not for the moment at least:
Wait, has he even done a U-turn on his own resignation? pic.twitter.com/rdqaA9hlIj
— Jonathan Pie (@JonathanPieNews) February 9, 2026
We don’t know who’ll step into the comms role next, but good luck selling this absolute clusterfuck of a government to the British public.
Featured image via Terry Ott (Wikimedia)
Keir Starmer has insisted that the government will “go forward with confidence” even as his No.10 operation is falling apart.
The prime minister delivered his optimistic message in a highly-unusual address to his remaining Downing Street staff on Monday.
It came a day after his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney quit as the fallout continues over the Peter Mandelson scandal.
And in a further blow for the embattled PM, No.10 director of communications Tim Allan also quit this morning.
Starmer said: “We must prove that politics can be a force for good. I believe it can. I believe it is. We go forward from here. We go with confidence as we continue changing the country.”
A senior Labour source told HuffPost UK that Starmer’s comments were “delusional”.
Starmer also paid tribute to McSweeney, who said he was taking responsibility for advising the prime minister to appoint Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the Washington.
The disgraced former peer is now facing a police investigation over allegations he passed market sensitive information to the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein when he was business secretary between 2008 and 2010.
The prime minister said: “I’ve known Morgan for eight years as a colleague and as a friend. We have run up and down every political football pitch that is across the country. We’ve been in every battle that we needed to be in together. Fighting that battle.
“We changed the Labour Party together. We won a general election together. And none of that would have been possible without Morgan McSweeney.
“His dedication, his commitment and his loyalty to our party and our country was second to none. And I want to thank him for his service.”
Referring to Mandelson, he said: “The thing that makes me most angry is the undermining of the belief that politics can be a force for good and can change lives.
“I have been absolutely clear that I regret the decision that I made to appoint Peter Mandelson. And I’ve apologised to the victims which is the right thing to do.”
Starmer claims he was taken in by Mandelson’s “lies” about his friendship with Epstein when he decided to appoint him as the UK’s representative in Washington last year.
And hey, what 90s throwback is complete without a Friends nod?
In the minute-long advert, dubbed Good Will Dunkin’, Ben shares the screen with some of 90s TV’s most recognisable faces, including The Fresh Prince’s Alfonso Ribeiro, Seinfeld’s Jason Alexander and Joey Tribbiani himself, Matt LeBlanc.
After trying out Joey’s “how you doin’?” catchphrase – with mixed success – the Friends references just keep on coming, with Ben’s “girlfriend” Jennifer Aniston stopping by in denim overalls.
Check out the full advert for yourself below:
Back in 2024, Jen teamed up with her former co-star David Schwimmer for a star-studded Uber Eats campaign which saw them riffing off their professional relationship.
Meanwhile, in addition to the American football game itself, the NFL broadcast featured a show-stopping Super Bowl halftime set from Bad Bunny, which featured a host of celebrity guests, while singer-songwriter Charlie Puth kicked things off (not literally of course…) with his rendition of the US national anthem.
But while many of his musical peers hit the Super Bowl stage in designer gear, Bad Bunny went in a very different direction for his performance.
It turns out his entire outfit – an all-cream ensemble featuring a shirt-and-tie combo overlain with a football jersey with a subtle “64” detail – was designed by the Spanish high-street retailer Zara.
“Acho, PR es otra cosa!”
Politics
Politics Home | How can we deliver services in multiple sclerosis which are equipped for the future?
During this period of ongoing health system reform, leaders from across the sector must prioritise delivering a future-ready, patient-focused multiple sclerosis care pathway
Dr Ayesha Girach, Medical Lead, Sanofi UK & Ireland
Sanofi is proud to partner with experts across the multiple sclerosis (MS) community to set out the immediate priorities for change in MS care.
At Sanofi, we believe that no one living with MS should need to navigate care alone or face unnecessary delays and gaps in support. Yet, for too many people, this is still the reality.
That’s why we brought together leading voices from across the MS community, including clinicians, patient advocates, and people living with MS, to understand challenges within the MS care pathway and identify opportunities for meaningful improvement.
In 2025, we hosted two impactful roundtables led by Dr Waqar Rashid, a Consultant Neurologist at St George’s Hospital. Together, we’ve explored what is working, what isn’t working, and what needs to change to ensure everyone with MS receives the care they deserve.
This resulted in the development of a robust, evidence-informed consensus statement that reflects the realities of current MS care and lays the groundwork for impactful change, identifying three key priorities:
- increasing the accountability and empowerment of multidisciplinary teams to better manage patient needs
- transforming MS services to ensure that clinicians’ time is most effectively used across the MS clinical network
- improving patient and primary care access to local services
The vision set out in the consensus statement directly aligns with the government’s ambitions to better and more effectively meet the changing health needs of people across the country. As the NHS enters a new phase of reform and a decade of delivery ahead, there is now a window for decisive action to create a system that is proactive, personalised, and built around what matters most to people living with MS.
We are grateful to Katrina Murray for the opportunity to launch this consensus statement in Parliament, alongside the experts, patient groups, and people with lived experience who made this work possible.
Parliamentarians and policymakers now have the opportunity to champion a vision for MS care that enables healthcare providers to deliver for patients. By bringing people together, we can realise the opportunity to turn shared ambition into real change for people with MS.
About Sanofi
Sanofi has been committed to supporting the MS community for almost two decades, working in partnership with healthcare professionals and patient organisations across the UK to ensure MS is understood, monitored and managed in line with current science.
At the heart of our work is a commitment to protect what matters most to people – whether it’s the ability to keep working, stay active or be present for family, our goal is to help people living with MS retain their independence in the ways that matter to them, for as long as possible.
Katrina Murray, Member of Parliament for Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch
I was delighted to sponsor the recent parliamentary launch of the Future of MS Care consensus statement, reflecting my ongoing interest in chronic and long-term conditions and the significant impact of multiple sclerosis (MS) in Scotland. Over 150,000 people in the UK live with MS, and nearly 7,100 people are newly diagnosed every year.1 MS is particularly prevalent in Scotland, which has one of the highest rates of the condition in the world, with an estimated prevalence of more than 200 per 100,000 population.2 It is now the most common disabling neurological condition among young adults in Scotland.3
No statistic can capture what it means to live with MS. While every experience of MS is unique, the frustration of delays, fragmented care, and the sense of being left to navigate an overwhelming system alone are all too common. Too many people face barriers at the first step of diagnosis,4 which can contribute significantly to patient anxiety and poor long-term engagement with services.5 For those living with progressive forms of MS, the challenge continues with accessing treatment from a neurologist,6 while women’s specific needs are often overlooked, despite the fact that they are three times more likely to develop MS than men.7
Yet, in the face of these realities, what stands out most is the strength and determination of the MS community. I have been very much encouraged by the ambition and insight shared by the MS community to drive improvements across the care pathway. Genuine improvement in MS care necessitates involving people living with MS to best understand the 360-degree nature of living with a chronic condition to shape their services.
Working with Sanofi gave me the opportunity to connect with people from across the MS community, as Parliament came together to consider how MS services can better deliver care that meets the diverse and changing needs of those affected.
A particular interest of mine is the need for improvements in MS diagnosis. As more people are diagnosed with MS every year, it is vital that the diagnostic pathway evolves and delivers responsive, timely care for people at what can be an incredibly vulnerable point in their MS journey, and I fully support the vision for a transformed diagnostic journey set out in the Future of MS Care consensus statement.
Now, more than ever, is the time to be bold. With the government’s 10 Year Health Plan and the upcoming update to the Women’s Health Strategy, we have an opportunity to make long-lasting change. We must aim to build a health system that’s not just responsive, but patient-focused.
There is real value in clinicians, patients and policymakers coming together to set out joint ambitions for the path forward. Parliamentarians from across the House of Commons must come together to listen to the voices of the MS community, work with them to rethink what good care looks like, and make their vision a reality.
To learn more about the ongoing work on the Future of MS Care Project, please contact WA Communications at [email protected]
This article has been produced and funded by Sanofi UK and Ireland. It has been co-authored by Katrina Murray, Member of Parliament for Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch, and Dr Ayesha Girach, Medical Lead, Neurology, Sanofi UK & Ireland.
MAT-XU-2600327 (V1.0) | February 2026
References
- MS Society (n.d.). MS in the UK. Available at: https://www.mssociety.org.uk/what-we-do/our-work/our-evidence/ms-in-the-uk [Accessed February 2026]
- Public Health Scotland (2024) Scottish Multiple Sclerosis Register 2024. Available at: https://webarchive.nrscotland.gov.uk/20241112193230/https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/scottish-multiple-sclerosis-register-smsr/scottish-multiple-sclerosis-register-smsr-report-2024-figures-from-january-to-december-2023/ [Accessed February 2026]
- Public Health Scotland (2025) Scottish Multiple Sclerosis Register (MSSR) – Overview of SMSR. Available at: https://publichealthscotland.scot/resources-and-tools/health-strategy-and-outcomes/scottish-national-audit-programme-snap/scottish-multiple-sclerosis-register-smsr/overview-of-smsr/ [Accessed February 2026]
- Uher T, et al (2023) Diagnostic delay of multiple sclerosis: prevalence, determinants and consequences. Mult Scler, 2023; 29 (11-12):1437-1451. Available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10580682/ [Accessed February 2026]
- Giovannoni G, et al. (2016) Brain health: time matters in multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler Relat Disord. Suppl 1:S5-S48. Available at: https:// pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27640924/ [Accessed February 2026]
- MS Society (2022) My MS My Needs. Available at: https://www.mssociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-05/My%20MS%20My%20Needs%202022.pdf [Accessed February 2026]
- MS Society. Women and MS. Available at: https://www.mssociety.org.uk/about-ms/what-is-ms/women-and-ms [Accessed February 2026]
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