Allegra Stratton: Rachel Reeves Finds Herself in Zugzwang
'Contrary to some conventional wisdom, I didn't come into politics because I care passionately about fiscal rules.'
So said our chancellor this morning as she, erm, reiterated her commitment to fiscal rules.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Who's that knocking at your door? It's Anthony Weiner on a comeback tour
NEW YORK (AP) — Imagine this: You're home for the evening, winding down. There's a knock at the door. Who's there? It's Anthony Weiner. And he wants your vote. Yes, that Weiner: The guy whose once-promising political career was derailed by sexting scandals and then seemingly ended forever when he was imprisoned for sending sexually explicit messages to a 15-year-old girl. But now Weiner's hoping to convince enough voters in lower Manhattan that he deserves yet another chance in a comeback bid for a seat on the New York City Council. On a recent weekday at an apartment complex in the Lower East Side, the former congressman, 60, was knocking on doors, reintroducing himself to voters and reminding them about the election. And, on this Thursday at least, the would-be constituents aren't slamming their doors in the registered sex offender's face. 'It's Anthony Weiner!' the candidate said after knocking on a door. A man opens the door, his face lighting up with surprise. 'It is Anthony Weiner!' the man said, a big smile spreading across his face. After some pleasantries and a reminder about the race, the man had an important question for the candidate: 'Mind if I get a picture with you?' And so it went as Weiner walked down floor after floor, knocking on doors. A quick hello here, a fast thank you there. Campaign literature flowed into hands. People seemed happy to see him. It isn't always this friendly. Weiner said he still struggles with how to speak about his scandal, calling it the 'fundamental, unsolvable problem of the campaign.' 'Sometimes it's with like real painful, kind of, honesty about what happened and sometimes it's a little bit defensive, and sometimes, like, a woman at this street fair last week, she's like, 'I love you and I'm going to vote for you, but I voted for you before and how can I ever trust you?'' he said. But, he notes, some people would rather talk about anything else. 'They're like, 'I don't want to hear about that. I want to hear about me and I want to hear about how come there aren't cops on the street and I want to hear about why my taxes are so high,'' he said. From Congress to prison Weiner, a brash and ambitious politician whose New York accent and wily, kinetic style made for solid theater on the House floor, was once someone worth watching in the Democratic Party. Back then, he represented a district in parts of Brooklyn and Queens. His latest return to the political stage — this time for a City Council seat that covers Union Square and the East Village — pits him against state lawmaker Harvey Epstein, whose name's unfortunate proximity to convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein inspired a 'Saturday Night Live' bit, along with a handful of other low-key candidates. The primary, on June 24, is considered the defining contest of the election, given the district's heavy Democratic bent. It's hard to know how it'll turn out in a low-turnout, early-summer primary where there's no deep political polling. The comeback attempt comes more than a decade after his career imploded for sending a lewd picture of himself to a college student over Twitter in 2011. He first tried to claim his account was hacked but eventually admitted to having inappropriate online interactions with at least six other women and resigned from Congress after serving there for more than a decade. After leaving Washington, Weiner mounted a campaign for New York City mayor but was again undone after it was disclosed that he sent explicit photos under the alias 'Carlos Danger' to at least one woman after leaving the House. The revelation tanked his mayoral bid. Along the way, his marriage collapsed. In 2017, his scandal entered the criminal realm after prosecutors said he had illicit online contact with a high school student. During the proceedings, Weiner's lawyer said he probably exchanged thousands of messages with hundreds of women over the years and had been communicating with up to 19 women when he encountered the student. He eventually pleaded guilty to transferring obscene material to a minor and was sentenced to 21 months in prison. He was required to register as a sex offender after his release in 2019. Since then, he's worked as the CEO of a countertop company in Brooklyn and hosted a radio show where he would muse about politics, eventually finding himself ginning up his own ideas and wondering: Why not get back in the game? He opened a campaign account and donations started flowing in. He'd go out on the street and people wanted to sign his petitions. 'I knew I had things I wanted to say and I knew that I thought it was important that everyone try to do something at this point,' he said. The elephant in the room Still, his scandals are so much an elephant in the room that his campaign recently started circulating a mailer that, on one side, features a massive elephant alongside the text 'Anthony Weiner knows you may have questions.' On the other side, a note from Weiner reads: 'Since I am asking you for your vote again, I want to address the elephant in the room.' It goes on: 'I accepted responsibility, I did my time (literally) and paid my debt to society in full." A man who answered one of Weiner's door knocks told the candidate that he saw the mailer and said it was a smart move to address the scandals head-on. The two then dove into political issues, chatting about crime, the subway and homeless people. As the conversation was coming in for a landing, the man told Weiner that showing up at his door to speak with him showed that he cared. He declined to give his name to an Associated Press reporter who approached him after Weiner had said goodbye and taken off down a flight of stairs. After a few more meet-and-greets, Weiner wrapped up for the day. He left he complex, hopped on a bicycle and zipped off down the street.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Leaked Audio Reveals DNC Chair in Despair Over Dem Civil War: ‘No One Knows Who the Hell I Am'
The Democratic National Committee's internal chaos shows no signs of slowing down—just ask the chair. DNC chair Ken Martin accused vice chair David Hogg of undercutting his leadership and confessed he'd considered quitting his position during a Zoom call with party leaders, a leaked recording has revealed. 'No one knows who the hell I am, right? I'm trying to get my sea legs underneath of me and actually develop any amount of credibility so I can go out there and raise the money and do the job I need to to put ourselves in a position to win,' Martin said in the recording, which was obtained by Politico. 'I don't think you intended this,' Martin told Hogg on the May 15 Zoom meeting, 'but you essentially destroyed any chance I have to show the leadership that I need to. So it's really frustrating.' Martin, 51, has been grappling with an intraparty feud ignited when Hogg, 25, announced that his organization, Leaders We Deserve, intends to spend $20 million backing primary challengers to what he called 'ineffective' Democratic incumbents in safe blue districts. Martin won a contested leadership election in February and has been tasked with getting the Democratic party back on its feet after crushing election defeats in November. But he admitted the challenges of his job have left him demoralized. 'I'll be very honest with you, for the first time in my 100 days on this job… the other night I said to myself for the first time, I don't know if I wanna do this anymore,' he said in the meeting, which was attended by approximately 10 DNC officers, according to Politico. In a statement to Politico, however, Martin said, 'I'm not going anywhere.' 'I took this job to fight Republicans, not Democrats,' he added. 'As I said when I was elected, our fight is not within the Democratic Party, our fight is and has to be solely focused on Donald Trump and the disastrous Republican agenda. That's the work that I will continue to do every day.' Malcom Kenyatta, a second vice chair who was also on the Zoom meeting, came to Martin's defense, as did other party officers who were on the call. 'Breaking news: a human being had a frustrating day at work. That's all Ken expressed on that call,' he said, according to Politico. In response to Hogg's divisive pledge to try to oust Democrats he believes are 'asleep at the wheel,' Martin has attempted to pressure him into signing a neutrality pledge. At the same time, a DNC panel has voted to advance a challenge to Hogg and Kenyatta's election over alleged rule violations and concerns about gender equity. After the vote, Hogg said it was 'impossible to ignore the broader context of my work to reform the party which loomed large over this vote' and that the 'DNC has pledged to remove me, and this vote has provided an avenue to fast-track that effort.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Trump Stumbles On Air Force One Stairs After Mocking Biden For The Same Thing
President Donald Trump nearly face-planted as he climbed the stairs of Air Force One on Sunday ― something he once mocked former President Joe Biden over. Trump was gripping the handrail when his left foot caught the edge of a step. He stumbled, but steadied himself with a hand on the stair and quickly recovered as he proceeded to the top. The moment was caught on video: And by a still photographer: Presidential stumbles are nothing new, especially on the Air Force One stairs. President Barack Obama did it, so did President Ronald Reagan and President Gerald Ford. Biden fell more than once, and Trump repeatedly mocked him for it. 'Joe Biden can't even walk up a flight of stairs on Air Force One,' he said in 2023. Later that year, he said Biden uses 'the children's stairs' on Air Force One and that he 'he can't quite make it up or down' those stairs. Fox News also turned Biden's stumbles into multiple stories on its website and on the air as they became talking points among right-wing media.
