Latest Episode
June 17 0800 UTC Brief
In UK politics
Keir Starmer is trying to steady Labour as pressure grows over his future, with Wes Streeting warning a leadership contest looks likely unless the prime minister sets out a timetable to step aside. Starmer said he would talk to Andy Burnham after the weekend and called him a major asset to the party and the country. The message, in effect, was that everyone should calm down and wait for a conversation. That usually works brilliantly.
Starmer also said the UK and France will launch a drone task force to monitor Channel crossings, part of the government’s effort to step up surveillance and arrests against smuggling gangs. He says the crossings will take time to stop, which is true, and politically inconvenient, which is usually how these things work.
In the Channel
Starmer called a Russian warship’s warning shots near a British yacht “reckless” after a retired couple said the vessel fired as they sailed off the Isle of Wight. The couple rejected Moscow’s account, saying their yacht was turning away and that there was no radio warning. The incident was later checked by HMS Tyne, and the government says Russia remains aggressive across Europe.
In the United States
A small business jet crashed onto a highway in Laredo, Texas, killing one person and injuring five after the aircraft broke apart and burst into flames. It also struck a moving car, and bystanders rushed in with a shovel and sledgehammer to try to reach people in the wreckage. The plane had lost contact with air traffic control before going down near Laredo International Airport.
In government oddities
At the Department for Education, civil servants spent working hours playing Grand Theft Auto with members of the public as part of a taxpayer-funded Policy Lab project. Officials said it was meant to help understand participants’ experiences and create a safe space for discussion, while the unit has also tried clay modelling, Peruvian knot-tying, and commissioned artwork. Ministers are now looking into the unit’s future, which is one way to respond to a research method that sounds like it escaped from a training day.
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