Keir Starmer has eased sanctions on Russian oil in a bid to soften the impact of the Iran war on jet fuel supplies and living costs. Imports of diesel and jet fuel derived from Russian crude and processed in a third country will no longer be restricted, and some sanctions on the transport of Russian liquefied natural gas have been temporarily lifted. The government is also pressing supermarkets to freeze the prices of essential goods such as eggs, bread and milk in exchange for lifting regulations on packaging and healthy food. Reform UK has chosen local “plucky plumber” Robert Kenyon as its candidate to stand against Andy Burnham in the Makerfield by-election. The 41-year-old former army reservist ran for the seat in 2024, finishing second behind Labour’s Josh Simons. Comedian Josh Widdicombe, TV presenter Emma Willis and professional dancer Johannes Radebe have been confirmed as the new hosts of Strictly Come Dancing. The show’s executive producer, Sarah James, said the new combination was “unexpected” but that “their magic was undeniable the moment they came together”.

Having enraged most of their natural voters, Labour MPs are now clambering on to a lifeboat named Andy Burnham, says Owen Jones in The Guardian. “Do the rest of us blindly hop on board?” The Greater Manchester mayor is, indisputably, Labour’s best bet. He’s the party’s most popular politician, has an “easy northern charm” and genuine progressive achievements to his name. But failure to scrutinise Burnham would “smack of fatal naivety”. If he wants support from the left, which he will need to win power at a general election, “he will have to earn it”.

First he must demonstrate that his previous contempt for the left – voting for the Iraq war, attacking the mansion tax as “spiteful”, abstaining from the 2015 Conservative vote on benefit cuts – is firmly a thing of the past. He says Britain has been “on the wrong path for 40 years” and is loudly championing “stronger public control” but is yet to offer clear explanations of either. Of particular concern is his record on housing. The developments built from his Greater Manchester Housing Investment Loans Fund mostly consist of luxury flats the average Mancunian can’t afford, and when he promised in 2024 to build at least 10,000 council homes, the first year of the scheme produced a mere 10. Why should we expect better outcomes in higher office? Then there’s his naivety. Last year, he said government had to “get beyond this thing of being in hock to the bond markets”, causing confusion that only added to the market pressures he now faces. Burnham may well become a “sincerely committed progressive politician”, but he’ll first need to dispel concerns about the “firmness” of his ideological commitments.