Deals, donations and damage limitation
Political Fix5 Dec 2025

Deals, donations and damage limitation


Sir Keir Starmer started the week with not one but two speeches defending his party’s Budget decisions in the wake of claims that chancellor Rachel Reeves had misled the public and fellow MPs about the state of the nation’s finances. Was his sell convincing? The prime minister also brought up Brexit, but as panellist Robert Shrimsley points out, Starmer was characteristically unclear as to whether the Labour party was ultimately leaning into or out of the EU.


Plus, host George Parker and the rest of the panel, Miranda Green and Jim Pickard, discuss the FT report that Nigel Farage told Reform UK donors he expects his party to do some sort of deal with the Tories in the run-up to the next general election — potentially helped by the single biggest donation any UK political party has had from a living donor.


Follow on Bluesky: George, Miranda, Jim, Robert


Want more? Free links:

Farage tells donors he expects Reform UK will do an election deal with the Tories

Head of UK fiscal watchdog quits after Budget leak

UK government orders review into rising diagnoses of mental health conditions

Janan Ganesh: The rise of unpopular populism

UK envoy to Moscow enters race to be next ambassador


Political Fix will go live next week on 10 December at 1.15pm. If you don’t want to wait for it to drop in this feed on Friday, register here.


Sign up to Stephen Bush's morning newsletter Inside Politics for straight-talking insight into the stories that matter. Get 30 days free at https://www.ft.com/InsidePoliticsOffer. For details about the FT’s Financial Literacy and Inclusion Campaign, read more about it here or click here and to donate, click here.


Presented by George Parker, and produced by Lulu Smyth. The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Original music and mix by Breen Turner. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Manuela Saragosa.


What did you think of this episode? Let us know at politicalfix@ft.com


Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Avsnitt(573)

Bonus: What does the 2025 Budget mean for your money?

Bonus: What does the 2025 Budget mean for your money?

It’s been a rollercoaster week for both UK politics and our personal finances, with chancellor Rachel Reeves setting out tens of billions of pounds of tax rises in the Budget. But how will these new t...

1 Dec 202553min

Budget bonanza: tax highs and growth lows

Budget bonanza: tax highs and growth lows

After months of speculation, predictions and U-turns, Rachel Reeves finally announced her Budget this week. And, symptomatic of the chaos this Budget has wrought, there was one final twist: the entire...

28 Nov 202539min

Coming soon from Tech Tonic: Defying death

Coming soon from Tech Tonic: Defying death

Investors are spending billions of dollars on novel ways to extend human life through inventive treatments, therapies, and even manipulating our genes. And increasingly, it seems as though anti-ageing...

24 Nov 20251min

Boats and the Budget: the battlelines are drawn

Boats and the Budget: the battlelines are drawn

Home secretary Shabana Mahmood announced a tough set of measures overhauling immigration policy this week, in a bid to deter illegal boat crossings and tackle the thorny issue of asylum seekers that d...

21 Nov 202534min

Is Starmer’s leadership on the line?

Is Starmer’s leadership on the line?

It has been a whirlwind week in Westminster with the BBC in crisis and a supposed challenge to the prime minister’s leadership. So, was there a putative coup from within Keir Starmer’s own cabinet? Is...

14 Nov 202532min

To tax, but who to tax, that is the question

To tax, but who to tax, that is the question

With just three weeks to go until the Budget, Rachel Reeves gave a surprise speech to reset expectations on who she’s planning to hit with more taxes on November 26. This has fuelled further speculati...

7 Nov 202534min

Reeves’ £30bn treasure hunt

Reeves’ £30bn treasure hunt

With a month to go until the Budget, chancellor Rachel Reeves needs to find a projected £30bn to balance the books. And the forecasts are not in her favour, with the OBR’s bigger than expected product...

31 Okt 202533min

Budget, boats and a by-election

Budget, boats and a by-election

Chancellor Rachel Reeves received a rare bit of good news from lower inflation statistics this week, which could reduce government borrowing ahead of the November Budget. But the uphill struggle to im...

24 Okt 202528min

Populärt inom Politik & nyheter

aftonbladet-krim
motiv
p3-krim
fordomspodden
rss-viva-fotboll
flashback-forever
spar
svenska-fall
aftonbladet-daily
svd-dokumentara-berattelser-2
rss-sanning-konsekvens
rss-krimstad
rss-vad-fan-hande
rss-krimreportrarna
krimmagasinet
rss-frandfors-horna
olyckan-inifran
dagens-eko
rss-aftonbladet-krim
svd-ledarredaktionen