Dan Bloom
@danbloom1
U.K. political editor for POLITICO
No word on Cleverly's position yet; full list only later today. Which job will he get? 🍿
🚨 Tory reshuffle kicking off imminently Cleverly's role to be announced soon & two people tell me they reckon Francis Maude is likely to return to a CCHQ-facing role. “He’s been around the LOTO block on a regular basis," said one shad cab minister
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
Sounds familiar theguardian.com/business/2025/…
EXCL: Ministers are poised to announce they will scrap Ofwat next week Two people with knowledge of the planning tell me an announcement on ditching the water regulator is being lined up for Monday (A long-awaited independent report on the state of the industry drops at 7am)
Yusuf: “Anyone who looked at the numbers knows the idea of council tax coming down is not going to happen, given the pressures in .. social care. “What we can talk about is council tax in Reform councils increasing slower than other councils. I think that’s a sensible target.”
EXCL: Council tax cuts are “not going to happen” in Reform UK-run authorities because the pressures on social care are too great, DOGE chief Zia Yusuf has told POLITICO He went further than Nigel Farage, who has said it wouldn’t be a priority politico.eu/article/nigel-…