Dan Bloom
Verified
As seen in:
POLITICO Europe,
Apple Podcasts,
Medium,
MSN,
MSN UK,
Daily Mail,
MSN South Africa,
Sunday Mirror,
The Daily Mirror,
The Telegraph,
Business Wire
and
U.K. political editor for POLITICO
Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Dan Bloom
Burnham tries to avoid a slavery reparations 'disaster'
Prime Minister Andy Burnham will have an unofficial goal when he meets members of Britain’s former empire next week: Avoid a fight about slavery reparations. Good luck, as they say, with that. His predecessor Keir Starmer’s trip to the last Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, at a beach resort on the Pacific island of Samoa in 2024, is still the stuff of rueful mutters in parts of Whitehall.
5 takeaways from Andy Burnham’s first budget
LONDON — Andy Burnham became Britain’s prime minister 100 days ago on a pledge to end 40 years of neoliberalism. His first budget announced he wouldn’t do that on the front page. Wednesday’s 150-page red book was titled “breathing space for today, fresh hope for the future”, a confession, with true British modesty, that it was a stepping stone to bigger pledges downstream.
‘Andy Time’: Why Burnham’s budget isn’t going to deliver a revolution
LONDON — When Prime Minister Andy Burnham arrived a few minutes late to a meeting with regional mayors on Thursday, his Cabinet ally Angela Rayner had a name for it. She joked they were on “Andy Time.” The rest of Britain is beginning to learn what that feels like. Burnham entered 10 Downing Street three months ago promising a “new economic model.” However, the prime minister’s first budget next Wednesday will ask voters to wait a bit longer for it.
Water sector to wait until 2027 for full details of Burnham’s overhaul
LONDON — Water firms and campaigners are set to wait until next year to see the full details of Andy Burnham’s plans to overhaul the sector in England. Britain’s new prime minister has promised greater “public control” of the water industry as a centerpiece of his domestic agenda, partly reversing a wave of privatization that began in the 1980s. Ministers are due to unveil more detail in a “10-year plan for Britain” that is currently expected in December.
Government expected to approve Jackdaw gas field on Wednesday
LONDON — The government is set to approve Jackdaw, a major proposed gas field off the coast of Scotland, on Wednesday. One senior government official and two people briefed on the plans told POLITICO they believed an announcement was planned for Wednesday. The official and one of the two people said it was expected in the early morning.
Man arrested as police probe Your Party database dispute
LONDON — Police are conducting a criminal investigation into a dispute connected to the founding of Your Party, a left-wing political party that was established last year.
Farage would take a ‘keen look’ at UK’s support for ‘corrupt’ Ukraine
LYMPNE, England — A Reform UK government would take a “keen look” at Britain’s support to Ukraine, the populist right-wing party’s leader Nigel Farage said Monday. Farage said Ukraine is “one of the most corrupt countries on earth” and that he is “very worried” about where some of Britain’s money has ended up — while also acknowledging the threat from Russian President Vladimir Putin is now the greatest it has ever been.
UK plans to announce ban on workers’ non-compete clauses in push for growth
LONDON — The U.K. government is planning to commit to a full or partial ban on non-compete clauses in workers’ employment contracts, six people with knowledge of the discussions told POLITICO. All six of the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss government policy, said they believed an announcement is due imminently and could be made as soon as Friday.
UK plans to announce ban on workers’ non-compete clauses in push for growth
5 hours ago ‘Hail Satan’: City council meeting opens with prayer to Lucifer The Independent - Independent Reporters • 5h A city council meeting in Iowa opened with a prayer to Satan, sparking heated reactions from some members.
UK and EU reach Brexit agreement to link carbon emissions trading systems
LONDON — Britain and the European Union have successfully reached an agreement on linking their respective emissions trading systems, four people briefed on the talks told POLITICO. The negotiations, which kicked off last year, have been wrapped up and a deal is set to be unveiled at the planned U.K.-EU summit in the coming weeks.
5 takeaways from Kemi Badenoch’s fighty Tory conference speech
BIRMINGHAM, England — Kemi Badenoch used her rare moment in the spotlight Wednesday to promise “a fight coming in British politics; a fight that we have not seen in this country for more than half a century.” Britain’s opposition Conservative leader, speaking at the close of her party’s annual conference in Birmingham, started as she meant to go on. She attacked Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s Labour Party and her right-wing rivals, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
Britain’s Tories really, really don’t want to team up with Farage. They might still have to.
BIRMINGHAM, England — “Vile,” “horrible,” “betrayal,” “bastards.” For Conservative aides and politicians gathering at their annual conference this week, the hatred of Nigel Farage’s rival right-wing party Reform UK is real. Since the opposition party’s last gathering, an already icy relationship with Reform’s national leadership has entered deep freeze.
Tories want to duck Burnham’s social care fight
BIRMINGHAM, England — Andy Burnham has laid a social care trap for Britain’s next general election. The Conservatives think they can waltz right past it. Three members of Kemi Badenoch’s shadow Cabinet said the party could opt not to unveil a major care offer of its own by the time the next election rolls around — in the hope the Labour prime minister’s proposals fall apart.
Conservative ex-mayor Andy Street out of the running for top railways job
LONDON — Conservative former mayor Andy Street will not be appointed to oversee Britain’s nationalized railways after a recruitment process that has now lasted more than eight months. POLITICO reported in June that Street was seen as a leading candidate for the first chair of Great British Railways, which will oversee rail infrastructure and services as part of Labour’s reversal of the Conservative rail privatization three decades ago.
Burnham tried to plot the next seven years of UK politics in one speech
LIVERPOOL, England — Just a few days ago Andy Burnham tried to kill off chatter in his party about a general election, insisting he would serve out the existing mandate until 2029. Yet the new British prime minister’s first speech to his party conference on Tuesday fired the starting gun on that same election, by raising four of the most seismic issues in British politics — then punting them until after it happens.
Britain to keep tariffs on Chinese EVs ‘under review,’ UK business chief says
LIVERPOOL, England — Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds is keeping tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles “under review” as the U.K. fights to be included in Brussels’ Buy European program. The European Union has requested that the U.K. raise tariffs on Chinese EVs in order to advance talks to join the industrial program, amid fears Britain could provide a back door for Chinese vehicles to enter the single market, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
UK business minister warns potential US diesel export ban ‘significant concern’
LIVERPOOL, England — A potential U.S. ban on diesel exports would be “a significant concern” for the U.K., Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said Sunday. Speaking at The POLITICO Pub at Labour's annual party conference in Liverpool, Reynolds said that the U.K. has a “diverse supply” of fuel — but acknowledged the impact a full ban could have.
EU rejoin push risks causing uncertainty, warns business secretary
LIVERPOOL, England — U.K. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds warned Sunday that "constitutional questions" around Britain's EU relationship are causing "uncertainty" for business. During an interview in The POLITICO Pub at Labour Party conference, the senior Cabinet minister said the U.K. should be focused on "how we can improve that trade relationship," rather than whether Labour should push for Britain to rejoin the bloc.
Burnham set to join King Charles at high-stakes Commonwealth summit
LONDON — Britain’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham is planning to attend a high-stakes Commonwealth summit presided over by King Charles III, three people with knowledge of the conversations told POLITICO. While Downing Street has not formally confirmed Burnham will go to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) on Nov. 1-4, planning for him to attend has ramped up in recent weeks, said one of the three people. All were granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations.
Burnham set to join King Charles at high-stakes Commonwealth summit
23 hours ago Three women accused of stealing three lambs from a farm on a royal estate told police they believed King Charles III "would have consented to their rescue", a court has heard. Sarah Foy, 26, Rose Patterson, 37, and Rosa Sharkey, 26, are on trial charged with theft, following an incident in May 2023 …
Burnham passes his first Trump test — but papers over the cracks
NEW YORK — Before Andy Burnham’s meeting with Donald Trump, a senior U.K. government figure noted wryly that they were looking out for one thing — whether the U.S. president would claim that Burnham was better than the last guy. After nearly an hour together in a cramped, low-ceilinged room in the United Nations basement, Trump did exactly that.
London Playbook PM: Amber alert
Presented by SSE By EMILIO CASALICCHIO with ISABEL LOUBSER PRESENTED BY Good afternoon. This is Emilio Casalicchio in Brighton, where the Lib Dem conference is wrapping up — and Dan Bloom in New York, where Andy Burnham is meeting Donald Trump. TUESDAY CHEAT SHEET — Andy Burnham is about to appear on camera alongside Donald Trump. — The PM is at risk of stumbling into a row with the U.S. president on AI.
UK will aim for ‘single set’ of global AI standards at G20
NEW YORK — British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Tuesday an international agreement on AI led by the U.K. will seek to establish “a single set of global principles and standards.” Burnham told a meeting with business leaders in New York that AI will be “the primary focus” of the U.K.’s upcoming G20 presidency.
UK seeks to broker global AI agreement at G20
NEW YORK — The U.K. will seek to use its upcoming G20 presidency to forge a global agreement on AI, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said ahead of a visit to the U.N. General Assembly in New York. This comes as discussions about global AI governance have shot up the diplomatic agenda in the wake of dire warnings about the potential threats from the technology, and marks the most significant intervention yet from the U.K.’s prime minister about how he will respond to perceived threats from AI.
Burnham leaves door open to ‘rejoin EU’ pledge
NEW YORK — Will Labour go into the next general election campaigning to reverse Brexit? Andy Burnham says that’s “a question for another day.” Quizzed by reporters ahead of a meeting with the president of the European Commission, the U.K. prime minister left the door open to making the manifesto commitment — which is backed by some in his party. Burnham said he had been “reflecting on that last decade” outside the EU and suggested the referendum campaign had been characterized by distorted facts.
Your little town blues, they are melting away
Presented by SSE By DAN BLOOM, SAM FRANCIS and ANDREW MCDONALD with MEGAN MCELROY PRESENTED BY Good Tuesday morning. This is Dan Bloom in New York and Sam Francis in Brighton, with Andrew McDonald pulling it all together in London. You can’t say we don’t get out of the capital. DRIVING THE DAY I WANT TO BE A PART OF IT: Andy Burnham will wake up in New York to his biggest diplomatic test in two months as prime minister.
Britain-focused Andy Burnham starts racking up the air miles
NEW YORK — Even senior Whitehall officials believed Andy Burnham would not attend the U.N. General Assembly until the announcement came from the British prime minister’s own mouth. Unlike his predecessor Keir Starmer, whose globetrotting earned him the nickname “never here Keir,” Britain’s new leader cast himself as a folksy man of the people, focused on domestic issues such as the cost of living and moving centers of state power outside London.
What Andy Burnham needs from Donald Trump at their New York meet
LONDON — When Keir Starmer had his first dinner with Donald Trump, he strained so hard to impress the U.S. president that his host offered the British team a second helping of chicken. Andy Burnham’s face-to-face introduction next Tuesday will look very different.
What Andy Burnham needs from Donald Trump at their New York meet
13 hours ago Trump tells protester ‘she’s going home to mama’ as heckler removed from rally The Independent - Holly Patrick • 13h Donald Trump was interrupted by a heckler during a campaign rally in North Carolina whilst supporting Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley on Wednesday (16 September). The president mocked the protester as she was escorted out of the event, saying she was “going home to mama” and claiming the woman’s mother would be “furious” with her.
Farage readies for anti-establishment court battle over £72 million crypto haul
LONDON — Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is spoiling for a legal fight against Labour’s attempt to prevent record-shattering donations from reshaping British politics. The insurgent right-wing party plans to carry on spending the £72 million donated over the weekend by two crypto-billionaires — even as an incoming law threatens to make them impermissible.
Top union leader demands Burnham commits to 2030 defense spending target
BRIGHTON, England — The U.K. government must commit to spending 3 percent of GDP on defense by 2030, one of Britain’s most powerful union leaders told POLITICO.
Unions move to back political cash reforms after Farage’s £72M haul
BRIGHTON, England — Britain’s trade unions are preparing to back a suite of changes to political finance rules after two cryptocurrency tycoons donated a record £72 million to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. Unions had been lobbying the governing Labour Party — to which they gave around £5 million in 2025 — against introducing an annual cap on U.K.-based individual donors, on the basis that it could curb their donations too.
Farage donor scandal turns spotlight on UK polling industry
LONDON — Questions are swirling around the British polling industry — and piling up for the company implicated in a Reform UK party scandal that prompted the resignation of two senior party aides. The scandal hinged on donations from undercover reporters posing as a wealthy American benefactor and his son that were used to pay for a real set of high-impact polls that were released without disclosing the funding source.
Give workers a say over how bosses use AI, union chief tells ministers
LONDON — The U.K. government needs to give workers the right to negotiate with employers on how they use AI, top officials at the Trades Union Congress told AI Minister Kanishka Narayan and Future of Work Minister Kate Dearden in a letter seen by POLITICO.
‘Step backwards’: Union leader warns Burnham against political donations cap
LONDON — Britain’s most powerful union leader has warned Prime Minister Andy Burnham against capping individual donations to political parties in the U.K. Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, told POLITICO he believes a cap could be a “step backwards” as any new law would likely capture donations from trade unions, not just those from individual tycoons and firms based in Britain.
France and Canada join UK in issuing trade sanctions on Israeli settlements
LONDON — France and Canada will join the U.K. in imposing new trade sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements Tuesday in a major diplomatic coup for Britain as it resets its relationship with Israel. In the House of Commons, British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband confirmed Britain, France and Canada will impose a ban on the trade of goods and some services from Israeli settlements, having last month condemned Israel’s plans for 1,200 new homes in the E1 area east of Jerusalem.
By-election in Keir Starmer’s old seat expected Oct. 8
LONDON — The by-election to replace Keir Starmer as a member of parliament is expected to take place on Oct. 8, two Labour Party officials told POLITICO. Voters in the central London constituency of Holborn and St Pancras will go to the polls next month to elect the ex-PM’s successor in what is likely to be a tense fight between the ruling Labour Party and insurgent Greens.
Farage would use military to ‘crush’ Argentina in any Falklands dispute, senior ally says
BIRMINGHAM, England — Nigel Farage would use Britain’s armed forces to “crush” Argentina in defense of the Falkland Islands, a senior figure in his right-wing Reform UK party said Saturday. Robert Jenrick, Farage’s finance spokesperson, said the party leader would use “every lever of the British state” against Buenos Aires if he were prime minister, including economic sanctions or military force, if a conflict erupted over the British overseas territory in the South Atlantic.
Farage plans fall visit with Le Pen in France
BIRMINGHAM, England — Britain’s Nigel Farage plans to visit France by the end of October to meet Marine Le Pen, the president of the far-right National Rally (RN), according to an official with the Reform UK party. Farage intends to make the reciprocal visit after he invited Jordan Bardella, Le Pen’s successor as RN leader, to his party conference in Birmingham on Friday.
How a ‘dodgy money’ scandal hijacked Nigel Farage’s reset conference
|
BIRMINGHAM, England — Nigel Farage dined with business executives Thursday night — and seemed determined not to allow Reform UK’s party conference to be commandeered by a swirling new scandal. But by Friday morning, two of his closest advisers were gone. The loss of Dan Jukes and James Orr to an undercover sting over — yet again — questionable Reform UK donation practices cannot be underestimated.
By Sam Blewett Verified, Dan Bloom Verified, Megan McElroy, Emilio Casalicchio Verified, Andrew McDonald Verified
|
POLITICO Europe
Verified
Britain’s new finance minister sets date for first big speech on growth
LONDON — Britain’s new top finance minister plans to give his first major speech in the role next week, which is expected to focus on boosting Britain’s ailing economic growth. Chancellor John Healey intends to give the address on Sept. 7, said four people with knowledge of the date who were granted anonymity to discuss internal planning, following weeks of preparation since Prime Minister Andy Burnham gave him the role in July.
Burnham promised hope. Reality is already getting in the way
LONDON — Britain’s new prime minister spent his first statement to parliament promising to “bring back hope.” Over 204 minutes he demonstrated just how many of those hopes could ultimately be dashed. Taking 125 questions in the Commons Tuesday, Andy Burnham made, hardened or reiterated a dizzying flurry of commitments that would radically alter the British state — if he manages to see them all through.
The Trump-shaped problems awaiting Andy Burnham, ranked
LONDON — Andy Burnham spent most of his first 42 days as prime minister in his comfort zone, talking about jobs, living costs, homelessness and shifting power out of London. Now he’s got to look beyond his own borders. As parliament returns from its six-week summer break on Tuesday, Britain’s new leader faces a towering in-tray of decisions that will affect his relations overseas, especially with Donald Trump.
Private investors could keep stake in England’s water under Burnham plan
LONDON — Private investors could continue to hold a long-term stake in England’s water industry under plans to overhaul the sector being weighed up by Andy Burnham’s new government. The puzzle spotlights one of the main challenges facing Burnham’s 38-day-old administration — how to reconcile his bold rhetoric with the economic and legal realities of being in power.
Burnham will divert ‘significant’ resources out of civil service, says No. 10 North chief
LONDON — Andy Burnham will divert “significant” resources out of Britain’s civil service in order to funnel officials into councils and mayoral bodies in England, the official leading the U.K. prime minister’s devolution unit has indicated to POLITICO.
Fulsome prison blues
What’s driving the day in Westminster. Politics and policymaking in the UK capital. By DAN BLOOM with MEGAN MCELROY Good Monday morning. This is Dan Bloom filling in for my fab Playbook colleagues. Don’t panic! Normal service resumes tomorrow. DRIVING THE DAY HOLIDAY’S OVER: Andy Burnham is back, and will spend this week trying to regain the mic from Reform UK and the Tories by talking about living costs, high streets and his imminent tour.
How just 639 people could have stopped a Tory election majority - and 207,000 could win one for Labour
With politicians in full foghorn mode and a yawning gap in the polls, it's easy to think your vote is worthless. But don't lose hope in the general election - because in theory, just 639 people could stop a Tory majority. The incredible figure is the minimum number of voters who could have created a hung Parliament in 2015 by switching their votes from the Conservatives to Labour. It sounds like it should be impossible. After all, the Tories won 11.3million votes, nearly 2million more than Labour.
London Playbook PM: Sh*t gets real
Presented by Rolls-Royce By DAN BLOOM with ISABEL LOUBSER PRESENTED BY Good afternoon. This is Dan Bloom, aided by the Playbook team including Sam Francis in Downing Street. MONDAY CHEAT SHEET — Andy Burnham is appointing his Cabinet. Ed Miliband, Shabana Mahmood and John Healey are inside No. 10. — The new PM ditched a wave of Starmer loyalists in a far-reaching reshuffle. — SCOOP: Burnham invited Donald Trump to Manchester.
Andy Burnham’s long general election campaign starts now
LONDON — Britain’s Labour Party has a new leader. Now for the hard part: the general election battle of his lifetime is less than three years away. The entire premiership of Andy Burnham, the center-left former mayor of Greater Manchester, will be dominated by the looming election, which is due in summer 2029 at the latest. Five parties hover between 12 and 24 percent in POLITICO’s Poll of Polls.
How Shabana Mahmood’s ‘post-globalization’ economic views could straddle Labour’s right and left
LONDON — The swirling speculation about Keir Starmer’s future landed on Shabana Mahmood, his home secretary, at a Westminster Christmas drinks party last December. “She won’t be leader,” whispered one admirer. “But she will be chancellor.” Eight months after that risky prediction, Mahmood appears to be a frontrunner to run Britain’s finance ministry under Andy Burnham when he takes Starmer’s job on Monday.
Show More
loading
Actions
Get in touch with Dan
Contact Dan, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack