Alex Wickham

Delighted to become new @BloombergUK political editor, following the legendary @kitty_donaldson As always please get in touch with any stories / tips / if you fancy lunch — even if you’re not free for six weeks…

Joseph Stalin's cult of personality was dismantled by Soviet leaders in the 1960s — but thanks to Putin, his reputation is undergoing a dramatic revision bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

The equality impact of the UK's decision to slash aid spending is a v difficult read: Health + education cuts in Africa will have "adverse impacts" on children with disabilities + increase the risk of disease and death among women + those living in poverty, the assessment says.

NATO ambassador Matthew Whitaker on Fox Business: “China, I think, has miscalculated…they need to be called out for their subsidizing this killing that is happening on the battlefields in Ukraine.” bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

EXCL: Former Unite boss Len McCluskey enjoyed private jet flights and football tickets arranged by the firm who built a multi-million pound hotel for the union, a report seen by BBC finds bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

Exclusive: The government is planning to change the National Security and Investment Act to ease the burden on businesses while focusing scrutiny on those most vulnerable to malign foreign interests Some notification requirements will be lifted after a Cabinet Office review…

Poor UK borrowing figures announced this morning by the ONS The budget deficit came in worse than forecast at £20.7 billion in June Economists had expected £17.5b It’s around £7.5b worse than June 2024 Puts further pressure on Rachel Reeves ahead of the budget

Almost 1,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed by Israel while seeking aid since May, @DavidLammy says “The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths” UK announces new aid package with UK-Med, which says it has “never seen a crisis of this scale and severity”

UK urges 50-day drive to arm Ukraine and will pledge new air defence systems with Germany today Comes as Russia targeted civilians in Kyiv and other cities in another massive attack overnight, including the entrance of a metro station air raid shelter bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

News from @EllenAMilligan >> UK does not have Patriots so there were questions over if/how Keir Starmer would contribute to the Trump weapons plan for Ukraine — this looks to be the answer:

Scoop: The UK wants to participate in European purchases of US military equipment for Ukraine + is considering jointly financing Patriots with Germany or separately buying other weapons + munitions from the US. NATO will discuss Trump's proposal Monday -bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

The UK has sanctioned 18 people it named as spies from Russia’s military intelligence agency responsible for conducting cyber and hybrid warfare operations against Britain and Ukraine GRU Unit 26165 carried out online reconnaissance to help target missile strikes against…

EU’s latest sanctions package includes some of the bloc’s toughest measures so far - a lower oil price cap, restrictions on refined petroleum products, dozens more shadow vessels, sanctions on third country enablers and full transaction ban on many banks bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Good story here >>>

New: The UK is considering buying weapons from the US to provide to Ukraine. Starmer hinted today that he may join Germany in purchasing missiles under Trump’s new plan. I’m told early stage talks between the UK, US + Europe on this have begun: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

The bad news for Rachel Reeves today: Unemployment is up to 4.7%, the highest since 2021 185,000 jobs have been lost since last year’s budget The slightly better news: It’s less bad than feared A revision means it’s 91k fewer job losses than thought bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Bloomberg exclusive: Russian Banks Have Discussed Seeking Bailouts Within Next Year bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Breaking: Trump is likely to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell soon, a White House official said, and discussed the possible move in a meeting with congressional Republicans on Tuesday night bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

New: Donald Trump says he’ll meet Keir Starmer in Scotland later this month to “refine” the trade pact between the UK and US that has still left key issues such as steel unresolved Trump says meeting with Starmer is likely to take place in Aberdeen Calls him “very respected”

New warning for Rachel Reeves and Labour from OBR chair Richard Hughes He says tax rises are insufficient to fix the UK’s debt spiral “higher and higher levels of taxes are not good for growth” Ie spending cuts are needed Via @PhilAldrick >> bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

The UK’s previous government set up a secret immigration route for Afghans affected by a data breach three years ago and then kept it secret from the British public, Defence Secretary John Healey said bloomberg.com/news/articles/…