The Conservative MP for Dover, Natalie Elphicke, has defected to Labour, saying that her former party has become “a byword for incompetence and division”. The move, which occurred just before Prime Minister’s Questions this afternoon, is the second such defection in two weeks. America has paused a weapons shipment to Israel over concerns about its offensive in Rafah. The consignment, which includes 1,800 2,000lb bombs, was put on hold last week as a “shot across the bow”, says The Washington Post, underscoring the seriousness of US objections. French air traffic controllers have won the right to turn up to work three hours late, after they threatened to go on strike during the Paris Olympics. The government agreement solidifies an existing unofficial policy: one controller tells Le Parisien that on quiet days he would typically arrive for a 9am shift shortly after 11.

Be bold Keir, the country needs it

With Labour heading for a landslide, there’s a risk Keir Starmer will adopt “steady-as-she-goes incrementalism”, Matthew Syed in The Sunday Times. That would be disastrous. Britain is in a deep hole, with productivity stagnant and debt rising. “The average Pole will be richer than the average Brit within a few years.” What we need is not caution but boldness. For starters: “imagine a world without income tax.” It’s doable if we shift our tax system to one based on land values. Almost all economists think it’s a good idea, from Adam Smith to Joseph Stiglitz. A recent paper proposed that taxing the rental value of land would boost growth by 15% by “turbocharging” the incentive to work or start a business.

A land tax would also finally end the “Ponzi scheme at the heart of the British economy”, whereby low productivity is mitigated by mass immigration and money-printing. This inflates the value of land, driving more aggressive rent-seeking and conferring ever-larger gains on the 25,000 people who own half the land in England “and have done nothing to merit this bonanza”. Radical reform of the failing NHS is also needed – “and good on Wes Streeting for saying so” – with more private sector input and a wider shift from cure to prevention. And as a human rights lawyer, Starmer is well-placed to lead a replacement to the UN’s discredited human rights body, “which is often chaired by human rights abusers” and free like-minded nations to tackle illegal migration more robustly. “Labour will fail if it is incrementalist. Only courage can save us now.”

Yesterday, the Garrick Club voted to allow women to join for the first time, after certain A-list members including Stephen Fry, Sting and Dire Straits’s Mark Knopfler declared they’d have to resign if women weren’t let in. That’s “supremely noble of them”, says Michael Deacon in The Daily Telegraph. But I can’t help wondering how they failed to notice the lack of female members before now? Possibly they assumed some existing members were women and, not wishing to be ungallant, silently wondered why so many had moustaches. Or perhaps, in the words of their statement, it was the “very public controversy” that put them in this “untenable position”. In other words, it’s not that “the men-only rule offends their proud feminist principles”, they’re just “panicking about what The Guardian will think”.

Taylor Swift kicks off the European leg of her blockbuster Eras Tour in Paris this week, says Bloomberg – and the four shows at the La Défense Arena are proving a far bigger draw than the 2024 Olympics, which the city is hosting from July. According to one luxury travel agency, five times more Americans are visiting Paris to watch Swift this year than they are for the Olympics.

Calling the shots in Europe

It’s not often an Italian PM calls the shots in Europe, says Simon Tisdall in The Observer. But with Germany’s Olaf Scholz and France’s Emmanuel Macron facing unrest at home, Spain’s Pedro Sánchez distracted by a family scandal and Rishi Sunak only partially involved, Giorgia Meloni has become, in the words of one conservative commentator, “Europe’s essential leader”. And her influence is only going to grow: next month, 450 million Europeans will pick a new EU parliament, and with far-right nationalist-populist parties “poised for sweeping gains” at the expense of the left and the greens, this “post-fascist poster girl” turned “star of the new right” is likely to be their figurehead. Rather than “disrupt or desert the EU”, as many expected, “she seems keen to run it”.

One clear sign of Meloni’s influence is the fact that the European Commission’s “less than stellar” president, Ursula von der Leyen, has taken to following her around, often visiting Italy to curry favour. It makes sense: Meloni’s opinion could be decisive when national leaders decide whether to offer her a second five-year presidential term. And the Italian PM has become “pivotal” in shaping Europe’s agenda. On migration, her idea to “keep migrants far away from Europe’s borders” has replaced previous EU asylum polies, a “radical break” for which she enlisted von der Leyen’s help to strike landmark deals with dodgy dictators in Tunisia and Egypt. Her lobbying has also successfully watered down the bloc’s green plans, and she has shown a knack for managing awkward sorts like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán. As Europe’s political establishment prepares to “take a right kicking” next month, one thing’s clear: Meloni’s growing influence is helping to “move the EU’s centre of gravity ever rightwards.”

Traditionally, a wedding proposal involves “an element of surprise”, says The New York Times. But an increasing number of couples are choosing to propose to each other at the same time. They’re even roping in “proposal planners” like Amber Walker, who says around 10% of her clients are now couples wanting to stage their “proposal moment” together. But, she says, there’s still an awful lot of crying.

It’s an original watercolour illustration for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, says Penta. The picture, which depicts Harry boarding the train to Hogwarts on platform 9 ¾, was created by a 23-year-old children’s bookshop employee in 1997 for the first book in JK Rowling’s hit series. It is expected to fetch $600,000 when it goes up for auction at Sotheby’s this summer, which would make it the priciest Harry Potter-related item ever sold.