A look ahead at the key events leading the news agenda next week, from the team at Foresight News. Delivered to your inbox on Fridays.
Leading the week
After a newsy summer that saw Keir Starmer cancel his holidays to deal with the rioting that followed the Southport knife attack, the House of Commons returns on Monday (September 2) and Labour can get down to the business of governing – at least for a couple of weeks. Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has vowed to table a prayer motion as soon as Parliament returns to voice opposition to the government’s plans to cut winter fuel payments, and Chancellor Rachel Reeves can expect further questions on those cuts and mooted tax rises as she faces Treasury Questions on Tuesday (September 3).
Starmer is then at the despatch box on Wednesday (September 4) for his second session of PMQs since becoming prime minister, and Rishi Sunak – remember him? – will struggle with just six questions to cover not only tax rises, but the whole recess’-worth of news, including public sector pay rises, the fallout from far-right riots, early release of prisoners, alleged cronyism in the civil service, and Starmer’s plans for the UK’s relationship with the EU. The Business Statement on Thursday (September 5) will give us an indication of what policies the government is keen to talk about before the conference recess – no word yet on whether that will include the Tobacco and Vapes Bill after news this week that ministers could ban smoking from pub gardens.
Starmer will have a chance to switch gears when he travels to Dublin on Saturday (September 7) for talks with Taoiseach Simon Harris on the UK-Irish partnership. The pair will also take in England’s first Nations League match against Ireland Saturday evening.
While you’d be forgiven for forgetting Sunak is still the Tory leader, the race to replace him heats up next week as James Cleverly, Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat officially launch their campaigns ahead of the first MPs’ ballot on Wednesday (September 4). Another three ballots are planned the following week to whittle the field down to two candidates who will address the party’s conference in Birmingham from September 29 to October 2.
The long-running independent inquiry into the Grenfell Tower disaster is set to conclude on Wednesday (September 4) with the publication of the final report from the inquiry’s second phase. The inquiry was set up in the wake of the fire on June 14, 2017, which claimed the lives of 72 people, and the first phase report published in October 2019 found that the tower’s aluminium composite cladding was the primary reason for the fire spreading, while the London Fire Brigade’s ‘stay put’ advice ultimately cost lives.
The second phase of the inquiry focuses on how the building came to be in the condition which allowed the fire to spread. Inquiry head Sir Martin Moore-Bick will also make recommendations for the government to implement to prevent a similar event from happening again. A chilling reminder of the widespread dangers the fire uncovered came just this week, when parts of a Dagenham tower block with ‘non-compliant cladding’ were engulfed in flames. With the inquiry coming to a close, many survivors had hoped criminal charges would follow. But while a criminal investigation, Operation Northleigh, has been running alongside the inquiry, the Met Police and CPS have said no charges will be announced until at least 2026 as they await next week’s findings.
Looking abroad
The ninth annual Eastern Economic Forum takes place in Vladivostok, Russia, from Tuesday to Friday (September 3-6), with President Vladimir Putin’s intervention during the event’s yet-to-be-announced plenary session and ‘international programme’ likely to be closely watched given deepening ties between Moscow and Beijing. The gathering may also provide insight into Russia’s growing links with North Korea; Putin used his visit to the country’s east for last year’s conference to host talks with Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, and earlier this year Putin visited Pyongyang for the first time in over two decades. Back in Europe, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin is due to hold an in-person meeting of the US-chaired Ukraine Defence Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base on Friday (September 6), when the recent escalation in Russian attacks on Ukraine and Ukraine’s bold incursion into Kursk are likely to be addressed.
Pope Francis departs Rome on Monday (September 2) headed to Indonesia, the first stop on a four-country tour that will also see him visit Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore. The trip had initially been planned for 2020 but, like so many other events, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After he lands in Jakarta on Tuesday (September 3), highlights of the 87-year-old Pontiff’s trip include a meeting with outgoing President Joko Widodo on Wednesday (September 4), an interfaith meeting at the iconic Istiqlal Mosque on Thursday (September 5), and a mass at the Gelora Bung Karno stadium that evening.
On Friday (September 6), the Pope lands in Papua New Guinea in what will be his first visit to the country, though Pope John Paul II visited in 1984 and 1995. He begins his trip in the capital, Port Moresby, where a morning mass is scheduled on Sunday (September 8) ahead of a visit to Vanimo in the country’s north-west to meet with missionaries before returning to the capital.
The following week will see the Pontiff visit Timor-Leste from September 9 and Singapore from September 11. Pope Francis typically holds a press conference with travelling journalists on the flight home from his trips, so keep an eye out for lines on the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East on September 13.