London Playbook PM: Starmer’s carbon capture third way

Good afternoon. This is Andrew McDonald. And no, I haven’t recovered from conference season yet.
— Keir Starmer’s government is betting big on carbon capture technology.
— The PM talked up the power of the tech and took questions about the other issues gripping his government in Cheshire earlier.
— Boris Johnson will double down on his partygate apology regret in tonight’s ITV interview
— Scoop: Britain is delaying the new Brexit border regime again.
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CAPTURING THE FINAL DAY OF RECESS: Keir Starmer spent the last day of recess hyping new government funding for carbon capture projects — and facing questions from the press on the myriad of crises, problems and challenges heading our way when parliament returns next week.
Trio from the quad: The prime minister made his remarks and then took questions at a glassmaking factory in Cheshire this morning, appearing after quick speeches from two of the most important figures in the Labour government — Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and Chancellor Rachel Reeves. Miliband bigged up the government’s commitment to a “proper industrial policy,” while the newly ginger Reeves raved about carbon capture projects as a “massive opportunity to attract investment.”
What he was there to announce: Starmer then emerged, armed with an (almost) £22 billion pledge to fund carbon capture projects in Merseyside and Teeside — which Labour wants to go big on as a way of hitting its net zero targets while also creating jobs. The tech, involving the expensive process of capturing emissions and storing them underground, also puts some distance between the government and environmentalists not pleased about continued reliance on and potential for an extended shelf life for fossil fuels. Greenpeace is among the groups arguing the money should have been spent on renewables instead.
Hence … the very Bill Clinton-way Starmer pitched the plans in the Sun this morning. “Neat encapsulation of the political calculation Labour has made on this. Not a moral crusade. Not populist net zero-skepticism. But can the center hold?” was the measured verdict of Playbook PM’s much more knowledgable energy correspondent colleague Charlie Cooper.
In his speech: Starmer said the investment would lead to more “skilled jobs that give you security” — there’s that Starmerism buzzword again — as he hailed the “reigniting” of “our industrial heartlands.” He did a bit of Margaret Thatcher bashing, hitting out at her for closing most of Britain’s coal mines, and promised that the net zero push — and the final end of coal-fired production in the U.K. Monday — wouldn’t lead to industrial devastation.
He framed it as … a divide between “investment” with Labour or “decline” with the Tories, complete with a little dig at events at Conservative conference. Discussing the new, greener “era of change” he anticipates, Starmer said: “You don’t do that with a shrug of the shoulder or by telling an onrushing tide to stop. We saw plenty of that in Birmingham this week.”
But but but: Ultimately carbon capture and storage tech have been around for decades without the industry really taking off or making a big dent in global CO2 emissions. The previous Tory government also wanted the U.K. to be a leader in the field, pledging £20 billion in funding back in March last year — funding that Starmer and Labour officials argue was never costed or actually put aside.
And the argument now … goes that since the U.K. intends to continue to rely on polluting industries for its energy to prevent spiraling costs, investment in carbon capture now is necessary to encourage companies to capture the emissions rather than the cheaper option of releasing it into the atmosphere.
ONTO THE OTHER ISSUES: If energy security and the fate of the planet weren’t important enough, Starmer also faced questions from journos this morning on four other issues gripping his government at the minute.
ON FREEBIES: Starmer confirmed that his fellow Cabinet ministers would not need to follow his example and pay back any gifts. “That is my personal decision, I am not saying others should do the same,” he said.
Earlier in the day: Miliband told the BBC that he and other ministers weren’t under pressure to return any goodies, following the Times reporting overnight of confused ministers unsure if they should be paying for those Taylor Swift tickets after all. Hope that clears up the confusion.
ON THE MIDDLE EAST: Asked about the deteriorating situation in the Middle East, Starmer repeated his usual refrain — that the “most important thing is de-escalation.” He admitted he was concerned the region was “on the brink.” Israeli bombing caused large explosions in Beirut overnight, during another set of strikes targeting Hezbollah leaders.
ON THE BRITISH EMPIRE: The most important thing about the much-discussed deal to give away the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands was “ensuring that we had a secure base” on the islands, Starmer said — after he was rounded on by all the Tory leadership contenders, right-leaning Twitter and the Labour MP representing more Chagossians than anyone else. “We’ve now secured that and that is why you saw such warm words from the U.S. yesterday,” the PM added.
Not so warm: POLITICO’s Emilio Casalicchio — where have I heard that name before? — has been hearing plenty of criticism from senior Republicans in Washington, however, with the chairs of both the Senate and House foreign affairs committees warning the deal could put U.S. and U.K. security at risk. The White House continues to publicly stand behind the deal, despite the Times’ overnight report suggesting Joe Biden’s administration privately raised concerns. Emilio’s got more in his report from D.C. here.
AND ON ASSISTED DYING: Starmer didn’t elaborate on his own views after it was confirmed a debate and vote on assisted dying was coming — we already know them anyway — but did say he was “very pleased” to have kept his promise made to campaigner Esther Rantzen. The private member’s bill from Labour MP Kim Leadbeater is expected to be introduced on Oct. 16.
STILL TO COME: Boris Johnson faces his hastily-arranged interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby (after Laura Kuenssberg’s email mishap meant the BBC had to pull out). That airs from 7 p.m. on ITV — and this morning’s Playbook had a helpful guide to the latest revelations from his memoir.
First line of the evening: According to the first pre-released extracts from the interview, Johnson told Bradby his apologies over partygate “sort of inadvertently validated the entire corpus” — whatever that means. His argument is effectively that his apologies gave credence to the accusations that “rained down on officials who’d been working very hard,” in his view. He didn’t say if he regretted apologizing to the late Queen Elizabeth. The full thing is at 7 p.m.
Incoming: After Liz Truss last night, David Davis is the latest Tory veteran piling in on the former PM — with an X thread of examples aimed at rebutting Johnson’s claim the ECHR does not provide people with protections they wouldn’t otherwise have. Could be one for ITV’s briefing notes.
On to the next one: Johnson has also been interviewed by GB News’ Camilla Tominey — for an hour-and-a-bit sit down airing Sunday morning. The news channel is teasing a clip from the interview this evening, with more lines dropping tomorrow morning.
EUSTON, YOU HAVE A PROBLEM: Euston’s mega advertising boards are being turned off, DfT and Network Rail announced today, after every poor soul who traveled for conference season complained about the state of the train station. The humungous electronic hoarding was switched off after a direct intervention from Transport Secretary Louise Haigh. More from the Telegraph here.
SCOOP — BREXIT BORDER BOOTED: Britain’s Brexit border regime is delayed (again) until early next year, Playbook’s trade reporter colleagues Graham Lanktree and Sophie Inge report. The government confirmed it’s holding back the introduction of product safety declarations and its Single Trade Window — a platform that allows importers and exporters to file all their paperwork digitally in a single place — until the end of January, 2025. ​​The technology “is not where it needs to be,” one senior business representative told Graham and Sophie. Here’s their write-up.
TORY LEADERSHIP WASH-UP: A JL Partners focus group of lost Tory voters had some nice news for Tom Tugendhat as he tries to survive the MP stage of the race. After being shown clips of the contenders’ leadership speeches, the group of former voters tended to be pretty scathing — but were far less so of Tugendhat compared to the others. James Johnson has a summary of quotes here and the whole thing played out on BBC 5 Live at 2 p.m.
Less positive reviews included: “It was a bit Liz Truss-y” (of Kemi Badenoch) … “Limp. Boring” (Tugendhat) … “That’s not someone I would even want leading the school PTA” (Robert Jenrick) … “Arrogant” … “Arrogant” … “Arrogant” … “Arrogant” … “The worst” (all James Cleverly.)
While Cleverly’s team … are touting the endorsement of 20 former MPs who lost their seats in July, including Giles Watling of losing to Nigel Farage fame. Read the full list and letter here.
INVESTIGATE NOW: The Tories are calling on the Treasury’s top civil servant to investigate POLITICO’s report this morning that former Labour Cabinet minister-turned-lobbyist Jim Murphy offered private access for his clients and other business executives to an event inside the Treasury’s HQ in London. “This latest installment of ‘cash for access’ shows Labour are so far over the line they can no longer see it in the rear view mirror,” said Shadow Tech Secretary Andrew Griffith. He called for more details to be released about what was discussed and whether officials were present. The Treasury declined to comment on the record.
Piling on: Playbook PM hears the SNP is also writing to the (outgoing) Cabinet Secretary Simon Case and Ministers’ Interests Adviser Laurie Magnus, in response to the Sun’s story on access offered to Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds for £30,000 (a Labour spokesperson insisted Reynolds wasn’t aware of or planning to attend the croissant business tete-a-tetes). The SNP is calling for — you guessed it — a full inquiry.
NAT BASH: SNP boss John Swinney is just about to appear in Dundee for a big celebratory photo call and some rousing words — after the SNP (sort-of) defied the sense of gloom around the party to win a double set of council seats in the city overnight. Scottish Labour had piled resources into the by-election contests and made it pretty clear they wanted to win ’em both.
It might look a bit tinpot … for a party of government to be so buzzing after winning two local council by-elections that its leader is calling the nation’s media to Dundee and tweeting about it in block capitals. The SNP vote share fell by significant figures in both seats (h/t Ballot Box Scotland). But the party was delighted to see the momentum toward Scottish Labour stalling — and to see Scottish Labour figures talking to the Daily Record’s Paul Hutcheon blaming the result entirely on No. 10’s winter fuel payment cut.
ANOTHER WEEK, … and another front-page from the new-look “London Standard” is receiving mixed reviews on the internet. Particularly thanks to its promotion of a bizarre “my message to the Jews” essay from commentator and all-round strange dude Jordan Peterson. Exhibit one … two … three.
IN IRAN: Missile attacks on Israel from Iran were “legal and legitimate,” Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has insisted. Appearing in public for the first time since the attacks — flanked by a rifle he occasionally grasped — Khamenei used a morning service to urge Israel’s adversaries in the region to “double” their efforts. Reuters has a write-up.
OVER IN THE U.S: Barack Obama is set to hit the campaign trail for Kamala Harris from next week, Playbook PM’s D.C. colleagues report. He’ll show up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Thursday.
WHILE A LITTLE BIT FURTHER SOUTH: Argentinian populist Javier Milei was accused by a left-leaning newspaper of copying “word for word” a monologue from the “West Wing”’s  liberal heart throb President Jed Bartlet. Awks. The Guardian’s Tom Phillips picked it up.
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LEADING THE NEWS BULLETINS: Channel 5 News (5 p.m.) leads on assisted dying. 
Tom Swarbrick at Drive (LBC, until 7 p.m.): Tory MP Mark Francois … Carbon Capture and Storage Association CEO Olivia Powis.
Drive with Cathy Newman (Times Radio, until 7 p.m.): Ecotricity owner Dale Vince … Crossbench peer Tanni Grey-Thompson … Tory peer Robert Hayward … Royal Navy admiral and former Security Minister Alan West … and former Lord Advocate for Scotland Elish Angiolini.
News Hour (Sky News, 5 p.m.): former Ambassador to Iran Simon Gass … Former U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon David M. Satterfield … UNICEF deputy representative for Lebanon Ettie Higgins.
Any Questions (Radio 4, 8 p.m.): Building Safety Minister Rushanara Ali … former Tory MP Tobias Ellwood … Greens Co-Leader Adrian Ramsay … Telegraph columnist Annabel Denham.
Newsnight (BBC 2, 10.30 p.m.): Former Reform spinner Gawain Towler.
REVIEWING THE PAPERS TONIGHT: Sky News (10.30 p.m. and 11.30 p.m.): The Spectator’s James Heale and Mirror columnist Susie Boniface.
MORE BORIS: Camilla Tominey sits down with former PM Boris Johnson for an hour-long GB News interview Sunday.
Also on the Sunday shows: Science Secretary Peter Kyle and Shadow Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell are doing the rounds.
TRUMP RALLY: Donald Trump returns to Butler, Pennsylvania, for a rally after the assassination attempt there.
Trevor Phillips on Sunday (Sky News, 8.30 a.m. on Sunday): Science Secretary Peter Kyle … Shadow Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell … Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely … Lebanese Ambassador Rami Mortada … Former FT editor Lionel Barber … The FT’s Lucy Fisher … Sunday Times writer Mark Urban.
The Camilla Tominey Show (GB News, 9.30 a.m. on Sunday): Former PM Boris Johnson. 
Sunday Morning with Kate McCann and Adam Boulton (Times Radio, 10 a.m. on Sunday): Peter Kyle … Andrew Mitchell … Rami Mortada … Former head of MI6 Richard Dearlove … “Oslo” writer J.T. Rogers.
Westminster Hour (Radio 4, 10 p.m. on Sunday): Labour peer Harriet Harman … Shadow Tech Secretary Andrew Griffith … Former Tory SpAd Salma Shah … HuffPost’s Kevin Schofield.
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: Anand Menon‘s personal piece in Tortoise about his experiences of racism over the years and this summer’s riots is as good as everyone on social media is saying it is.
ON THIS DAY IN POLITICS: It ain’t exactly party politics but it’s still cool … the Soviet Sputnik satellite became the first man-made object to ever leave the Earth’s atmosphere on this day in 1957.
WRITING SUNDAY CRUNCH: Mason Boycott-Owen.
WRITING PLAYBOOK MONDAY MORNING: Dan Bloom.
THANKS TO: My editor Rosa Prince and the POLITICO production team for making it look nice.
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