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Unison Backs Ed Miliband for Chancellor Under a Burnham Government

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Unison Backs Ed Miliband for Chancellor Under a Burnham Government

Britain’s largest trade union has thrown its weight behind Ed Miliband to become the next chancellor, a move that sharpens an increasingly bitter contest for control of the Treasury under a prospective Andy Burnham government.

Andrea Egan, general secretary of Unison, has backed the energy secretary as one of two frontrunners to replace Rachel Reeves in No 11. Her endorsement matters: Unison is the largest union in the country, with more than 1.3 million members concentrated in the public sector. Yet the support is far from unanimous across the movement, with two other big unions, GMB and Unite, lining up against him.

The jockeying between supporters of Miliband and his most likely rival, Wes Streeting, comes as Burnham prepares to deliver his first major policy speech since being elected as the MP for Makerfield. The former Greater Manchester mayor will set out his thinking on devolution and the economy in Manchester on Monday, but he is under mounting pressure to name his chancellor, a choice that investors, MPs, unions and business groups all regard as the single most consequential decision he will make in office. For business owners watching from the sidelines, the identity of the next occupant of No 11 will shape everything from the autumn Budget to the future ownership of Britain’s utilities. We have set out the runners and riders for the Treasury here.

Egan did not mince her words. “Andy Burnham has a historic opportunity to rebuild our country in the interests of workers and communities, but that chance will be squandered if his government is made up of politicians determined to continue the same failed approach,” she said.

“We need a chancellor who will rewire the economy and properly invest to improve the lives of the majority. Of those reported to be in the running, only Ed Miliband could enact the kinds of policies trade unions and our members urgently need.”

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Burnham is assembling his inner circle of advisers and ministers, having entered the Commons only a week ago. Sir Keir Starmer’s announcement on Monday that he intends to resign as prime minister, swiftly followed by Streeting’s endorsement of Burnham, has made it overwhelmingly likely that the outgoing Manchester mayor will walk into No 10 as soon as next month.

Labour’s ruling national executive committee confirmed on Thursday that a new leader would be named on 17 July if only one candidate comes forward. Should a rival secure the backing of 81 Labour MPs and force a contest, the party will hold a full leadership election and declare the result on 29 August.

The new prime minister’s first appointment is already drawing fire. Burnham has chosen his former cabinet colleague and long-standing friend James Purnell as chief of staff, a decision that has irritated parts of the Labour left, who are wary of Purnell’s Blairite pedigree.

Attention has now turned squarely to who will run the Treasury, a brief that extends well beyond setting tax policy in this autumn’s Budget. The next chancellor will be charged with reigniting growth and overseeing the de-privatisation of some of Britain’s largest utilities, an agenda with direct consequences for investors and the wider business community.

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The two leading contenders, Streeting and Miliband, hail from different wings of the party and would almost certainly pursue different priorities. Streeting, like Purnell, is a Blairite who, as health secretary, welcomed private sector involvement in the NHS. He is regarded as the more business-friendly option and the candidate most likely to reassure international investors, though some on the left worry he would be lukewarm on returning water and energy companies to public ownership.

Miliband, by contrast, is seen as more ideologically aligned with Burnham’s programme. But he has drawn anger from sections of both the unions and the business community over his approach to net zero. Some investors believe he would prove anti-business, pointing back to his time as Labour leader, when he drew a sharp line between companies he cast as “producers” and those he branded “predators”.

Unions with a strong presence in the North Sea oil industry have been exasperated by Miliband’s refusal to soften his pledge not to issue new exploration licences. They also fear he will decline to approve the Jackdaw and Rosebank megafields, even though waving them through would not technically breach that promise, since both already hold licences. The two projects, analysed in detail by the Institute for Government, have become a lightning rod in the wider argument over energy security and the pace of the transition.

One senior union official told the Financial Times on Thursday: “There are ongoing discussions to try to stop Ed Miliband. There is a GMB-Unite axis on this.”

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Unison’s endorsement will strengthen Miliband’s standing within the labour movement, and he is not without other backers. Smaller unions, including the TSSA, are expected to issue similar messages of support in the coming days, while the National Education Union came out for him earlier on Thursday.

Even so, Miliband and Streeting are not the only names in the frame. Other possible candidates include Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, John Healey, the former defence secretary, and Jonathan Reynolds, the chief whip.

Allies of Reeves insist she would like to stay put, arguing she is best placed to keep markets calm while giving Burnham’s platform her full support. Her own appetite for the job has not gone unnoticed in the City, and her position has fed into a broader debate about fiscal devolution as Burnham eyes No 10.

Asked by the BBC on Wednesday about her chances of remaining in cabinet, Reeves said: “I’m not going to pre-empt the decisions that the new prime minister will make. I’m backing Andy and I think he’d be a great prime minister, but those are his decisions, not mine to make.”

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She later told the British Chambers of Commerce annual conference: “I hope that whoever is chancellor in the future, whenever that future may be, sticks to what I’m doing. Because it is beginning to bear fruit, and we are seeing that investment return to the economy, that growth return to the economy, and crucially, that stability, so that businesses can plan and invest in the future.”

Allies of Burnham, however, are adamant that he will not keep her in place. For Britain’s businesses, the only certainty is that the answer is coming, and soon.


Paul Jones

Harvard alumni and former New York Times journalist. Editor of Business Matters for over 15 years, the UKs largest business magazine. I am also head of Capital Business Media’s automotive division working for clients such as Red Bull Racing, Honda, Aston Martin and Infiniti.

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CLSE: Buy Rating Maintained As Masterful Maneuvers Reinforce Thesis

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PVAL: Cautiously Optimistic Owing To Recent Outperformance, Factor Mix, Buy Rating Maintained

CLSE: Buy Rating Maintained As Masterful Maneuvers Reinforce Thesis

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A Preferred Stock And A Dividend Compounder Have Drawn My Interest

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Janus Henderson Forty Fund Q4 2025 Commentary (MUTF:JACCX)

This article was written by

As an individual investor nearing retirement I am trying to build my financial assets in order to have a fulfilling retirement. I am interested in trading both long and short; or at least using inverse ETFs, to take advantage of market declines. Having long term and short term trading strategies, proper execution of my trading plan, and absolute investing results are my goals. I see my articles as a way to keep me focused on developing winning trades. I also expect to learn much from the feedback that is provided in the comments section.

Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of MCD, COF.PR.N either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

I own COF, COF.PR.N and MCD

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Seeking Alpha’s Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

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Ransom notes tied to Nancy Guthrie kidnapping released six months into unsolved case

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Bessent warns China over rare earth minerals and AI model IP theft

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Bessent warns China over rare earth minerals and AI model IP theft

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview on Thursday that he expects economic growth to pick up later this year with core inflation trending lower, while he warned that there have been growing tensions with China over artificial intelligence and rare earths.

Bessent spoke with FOX Business’ Edward Lawrence following Thursday’s release of the initial estimate of second quarter GDP growth, which showed GDP slowed to 1.5% annualized growth from 2.1% in the first quarter.

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The Treasury secretary said that the GDP “number is very noisy because a lot of that was very technical,” explaining that releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to ease energy prices came out of GDP and that “core GDP was actually quite strong.”

“We’re seeing manufacturing is doing well, the jobs numbers are strong, the consumer is strong. So it was a technical adjustment in the number, I wouldn’t worry about it,” Bessent said, adding that he thinks GDP is “going to be substantially above 2% for the year.”

US ECONOMIC GROWTH SLOWS UNEXPECTEDLY IN SECOND QUARTER

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks with reporters in Paris

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent  (REUTERS/Abdul Saboor/File Photo)

Thursday also saw the release of the June personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index which showed the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge slowed to an annual rate of 3.7% last month, down from 4.1% in May.

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Core PCE, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, also declined to 3.3% from 3.4% the prior month. Both measures remain well above the Fed’s 2% target.

Bessent said that he sees the trend in core inflation as important, saying the report showed it and service inflation declining.

“Energy can be volatile,” Bessent added, saying that “we’ll get to the other side of the Iran war, and you know it will come down.”

FED’S FAVORED INFLATION GAUGE SHOWED PRICES PULLED BACK IN JUNE

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The Treasury secretary was also asked about recent economic friction between the U.S. and China over issues like AI development and supplies of rare earth minerals that are used in advanced tech and military hardware.

“The good thing is the overall relationship comes down from the top, and President Trump, Xi Jinping have a very good relationship. But, you know, that’s not an excuse for them to do things underneath the surface,” Bessent said.

“Sometimes I describe it as a water polo match where our leaders could be hitting the ball back and forth, but under the water, the Chinese seem to have done a lot of kicking lately. And you know, if we have to, we’ll kick back,” the Treasury secretary explained.

“We expressed our concern that the rare earths are not flowing as freely as they could, that they have taken some measures that are detrimental to U.S. businesses. And we said that if this continues, we will push back,” he added.

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President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping

President Donald Trump invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington in late September after their meeting this spring. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP / Getty Images)

Bessent said that “we expressed our concern over Chinese AI that there is large-scale distillation” of American AI models that are making their way back into the U.S., adding that “we like open source, but open source has got to be legal – it’s not an excuse for IP theft.”

Lawrence asked Bessent if the Trump administration has raised the issue of U.S. tech companies’ AI model watermarks appearing in Chinese models.

“Well, we’ve done that at the staff level, and the good news is we are ahead of the Chinese in AI, I believe by a substantial amount, and they are number two,” Bessent said.

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He added that the two superpowers do need to have conversations “because we want to make sure that non-state actors do not get a hold of a powerful model, that everyone increases their resiliency and that we cooperate towards those goals.”

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(VIDEO) Michael B. Jordan Reimagines “The Thomas Crown Affair” in First Trailer Ahead of 2027 Theatrical Debut

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Natalie Portman

Amazon MGM Studios has released the first trailer for its upcoming remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair,” offering the earliest public look at director and star Michael B. Jordan’s take on the classic art-heist story ahead of the film’s March 5, 2027, theatrical release. Because the movie remains more than seven months from its debut and has not yet been screened for critics, a full review is not yet possible; this preview instead covers what has been revealed so far through the trailer and interviews with the director.

The project marks the third screen version of the story centered on a wealthy art thief named Thomas Crown, following the 1968 original starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway and a 1999 remake led by Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo. Jordan both directs and stars in the new version, playing the title character opposite Adria Arjona, who portrays a former FBI agent tracking Crown across a series of elaborate heists. Kenneth Branagh appears as a separate antagonist whose presence threatens to unravel Crown’s plans over the course of the film. The supporting cast also includes Lily Gladstone, Danai Gurira, Pilou Asbæk, Ruth Negga and Aubrey Plaza.

Drew Pearce wrote the screenplay, working from an earlier draft by Wes Tooke and Justin Britt-Gibson, adapting original material by Alan Trustman that formed the basis of the 1968 film. Bradford Young serves as cinematographer, while Jon Batiste, an Oscar, Emmy and Grammy winner, composed the score. The original 1968 film was nominated for the Academy Award for best original score and won the Oscar for best original song for “The Windmills of Your Mind,” a legacy that has fueled some anticipation around Batiste’s contribution to the new version.

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Jordan has been explicit in interviews that he views the project as a substantial reworking of the story’s core premise rather than a straightforward remake. “I didn’t want a reboot. I wanted a reimagination,” Jordan told Variety in November. “The first two films were about rich white guys stealing for fun. That doesn’t land today. Ours is more personal.” According to reporting on the film’s plot, Jordan’s version reframes Crown’s motivation for his heists: rather than stealing purely for the thrill of the act, as in the earlier films, this Crown is driven by a desire to return stolen or improperly sold artifacts to the communities and creators from which they originated.

Jordan first previewed footage from the film for audiences at CinemaCon in April, roughly one month after winning the Academy Award for best actor for his role in “Sinners.” He received an enthusiastic reception from the crowd during that presentation. Speaking about the long road to bringing the project to the screen, Jordan described it as a longtime personal ambition. “I’ve been dreaming about making this movie for years,” Jordan said, recalling that he first saw the Brosnan-Russo version of the film as a 12-year-old.

In a separate interview with Deadline, Jordan reiterated his intention to distinguish the new film clearly from its predecessors rather than simply retreading familiar territory. “That’s a baby of mine that I’ve been wanting to make for a really long time, so I’m excited about it,” Jordan said. “I think it’s not going to be what exactly people are expecting as well. When you’re re-imagining something, it’s not a remake. It’s not a reboot.”

Reaction to the newly released trailer has been mixed among early viewers and entertainment writers who have weighed in publicly. Some commentary has expressed skepticism about the tonal shift suggested by the trailer’s footage, with one reader comment responding to Deadline’s coverage arguing that the new version appeared to have moved toward a more conventional action-adventure framing at the expense of the romantic, cat-and-mouse tension that defined the earlier films. Other outlets covering the trailer’s release focused more on specific plot elements carried over from prior versions, including speculation about whether Jordan’s take would preserve or omit a psychologist subplot from the 1999 film that some viewers had previously found unnecessary to the central story.

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The film is being positioned as a significant theatrical release for Amazon MGM Studios, arriving as part of a broader slate that includes an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s novel “Verity,” scheduled for an October 2026 release. Studio executives have reportedly drawn comparisons between “The Thomas Crown Affair” and the studio’s earlier science-fiction hit “Project Hail Mary” in terms of its anticipated box-office potential, according to entertainment industry reporting on the project.

With filming completed and the marketing campaign now underway following the trailer’s release, additional details about the film, including further casting information, festival screenings or press events, are expected to emerge in the months leading up to its March 2027 theatrical debut. A full critical assessment of the film itself will not be possible until reviewers have had the opportunity to see the finished movie, which is expected to occur closer to its release date next spring.

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Peruvian ex-president Humala released from prison after court overturns conviction

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Our commitment for press freedom, and autonomy of public broadcast is absolute: Prakash Javadekar

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Minister of state (independent charge) for information and broadcasting, environment and climate change Prakash Javadekar has been busy sorting out the various hats he’s expected to wear in this government.

He spoke to ET on the Bharatiya Janata Party government’s approach towards media, social media, media controls and much more. Edited excerpts…

In terms of communication and messaging, the BJP’s electoral campaign has been termed an object lesson in the field. How can you translate that into the governmental structure?

All communication needs of the government will be handled in our ministry through a social media hub. I am offering this service to all ministers. Their facebook, twitter and other social media outreach will be handled by the new media wing, and the social media and communication hub.

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The advantage that the party saw in reaching out through all communication media has been tremendous, and it was felt that the government too use the available platforms. Therefore, this new hub will provide all the help needed by various ministers and ministries for setting up and operating their facebook pages, twitter handles and the outreach throughsocial media. Traditional media is important, of course, but social media vehicles have to be spruced up.

What are your priority areas as far as this (I&B) ministry is concerned?