Dear John,

This week has seen the government face down a significant rebellion over a Commons vote on welfare reform, leaving No10 and Keir Starmer’s authority bruised; the difficult spectacle of the Chancellor in tears during Prime Minister’s Questions; and a variety of new political parties - on both ends of the spectrum - appearing to be launched.

Perhaps not exactly how the government would have chosen to mark the end of their first year in power. 

But here to round it all up, is your Weekend Wire.

Twelve months of Labour

Today marks the first anniversary - to the very day - of the Labour government taking office after their landslide election victory on July 4, 2024. While the past twelve months haven’t exactly been a complete full stop to the chaos that so often defines Westminster - and the past week even more so - when it comes to Europe, and the UK’s trading relationship with our nearest neighbours, it’s been a thankfully different story.

Under Starmer, the government has offered a fresh, pragmatic and realistic approach. At the UK-EU reset summit in May, they quietly ticked key boxes, including on a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement, Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) and even energy co-operation.

While these are positive steps, we need to see much, much more progress. At Best for Britain, we’ll keep the pressure on both the government, and the EU, to deliver on its ambitions and make the promise of the summit a reality - and fast.

“For the sake of the small business owners losing sleep as they fear going bust, and the families and workers facing ever-rising energy bills, and stretching food budgets further and further. These are people who most need the change Labour promised - and they will be quickest to conclude that yet another government isn’t acting in their best interests.”

You can read more on this from our CEO Naomi Smith in an op-ed for Politics.co.uk.

Tears for (bond market) fears

It’s a cliche to say politics is a tough business, or that women in public office face increased scrutiny and unfair standards compared to their male counterparts - but neither are any less true for that. Rachel Reeves’ obvious distress on Wednesday was an uncomfortable reminder of these facts. It came just hours after government concessions to head off a major backbench rebellion over welfare left her fiscal rules in jeopardy, and offered an insight into her opponents who chose - or not - to use a publicly vulnerable moment as a political attack.

What was interesting to observe, and appeared to strengthen the Chancellor’s position, was the reaction of the bond markets. As speculation mounted that Reeves’ emotion related to her future in No11, UK bond yields rose sharply, before falling back after Downing Street clarified that she was “going nowhere”.

One financial analyst told the Guardian: “The markets are concerned that if the chancellor goes, fiscal discipline would follow her out of the door.” A smiling Reeves - perhaps buoyed by this shoring up of her position, appeared alongside the PM at the launch of the NHS ten-year plan on Thursday. 

She told journalists: “Clearly I was upset yesterday and everyone could see that… when I’m having a tough day it’s on the telly.” Who’d be a politician, eh?

Concession counter

In the end, following eleventh-hour changes, just 49 Labour backbenchers voted against the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill advancing to the next stage in becoming law - after some 126 threatened to.

Some campaigners welcomed a review by disability minister Sir Stephen Timms of the PIP assessment process, with no changes to come before that concludes. But Jon Sparkes, of learning disability charity Mencap, stressed: “Disabled people should not have to pay to fix black holes in the public finances.” We haven’t seen the last of this one.

The issues aside, Tuesday’s vote left the government with a headache both political and economic. Could MPs - emboldened by a taste of rebellion - continue to vote against flagship measures in future? And, with last minute concessions on the bill leaving a £4.8bn hole in Reeves’ public spending plans, where will the Chancellor find the money to meet her fiscal targets?

Party time

In a sign of the continued fracturing of Britain’s two-party system, a number of new political parties - or movements - reared their heads this week. On the right, former Reform UK and now independent MP Rupert Lowe launched his outfit, Restore Britain (sound familiar?), which sees the Great Yarmouth MP describe himself as “not a politician”, and call for the “carpet-bomb[ing of] the cancer of wokery”. Separately, former co-deputy Reform leader, Ben Habib also set up his own rival grouping, Advance UK. 

Meanwhile, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has hinted he could launch a new party born out of the group of left-wing non-party aligned MPs known as the Independent Alliance before the next general election. He told ITV’s Robert Peston on Wednesday that discussions were under way, adding that the grouping “will come together, there will be an alternative”. 

However, just 24 hours later Coventry South MP Zarah Sultana, who had the Labour whip suspended last year, announced on X (formerly Twitter) that she was resigning from Starmer’s party and would “co-lead the founding of a new party” with Corbyn. 

Despite this, Corbyn did not initially comment publicly. The Sunday Times political journalist Gabriel Pogrund posted he understood Corbyn had “not yet agreed” to join the new party and was “furious and bewildered at the way it has been launched without consultation”. 

But on Friday, he put out a statement of his own, confirming: "The democratic foundations of a new kind of political party will soon take shape." Corbyn maintained discussions were "ongoing" and said Sultana will "help us build a real alternative".

Waiting for the green light… 

The Green Party leadership race is now well underway, with the two teams in pole position to take over from current co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay being another co-leadership bid from Ramsay and his parliamentary colleague Ellie Chowns, up against London Assembly member Zack Polanski. 

For anyone keen to know more about the candidates, you can tune in to the corresponding episodes of Quiet Riot where Best for Britain CEO Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou interview Chowns and Polanski. Happy listening!

Cringe column

This has been your Weekend Wire from Best for Britain. 

Keep an eye out next week for French President Emmanual Macron’s state visit to the UK, as well as our next UK Trade Business Commission expert panel on navigating the uncertainty of the UK-US trade relationship.

Have a good one.

Jessica Frank-Keyes

Senior Press Officer

Best for Britain