London Playbook PM: Guns at (Early) Dawn

Good afternoon. Playbook PM is back but don’t let that stop the recess vibes.
— PM Keir Starmer defended his prison crisis move and blamed the Tories for the chaos.
— But his visit to Northern Ireland was overshadowed amid domestic political turmoil.
— A Conservative frontbencher quit to back Robert Jenrick to be leader of the opposition.
— Downing Street pushed back against Volodymyr Zelenskyy claiming the U.K. is stalling in its support for Ukraine.
— No. 10 also said there’s no problem with Labour donors getting senior civil servant roles.
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HITTING THE BARS: Prime Minister Keir Starmer defended triggering a crisis scheme to tackle prison overcrowding as the number of idiots put behind bars for rioting in recent weeks continues to grow.
Operation Pause the Courts: Speaking to reporters in Northern Ireland this afternoon, Starmer said he was forced to trigger “Operation Early Dawn” (not a joke title) due to the “terrible inheritance” the Tories bequeathed to Labour on prisons. The plan will see criminal cases paused unless cells are available. 
F grade all round: The PM said it was a “basic failure” of governance that the Conservatives let prisons get too full without long-term planning to build extra space. Although not building new prisons for future generations of thugs and crooks was a failure of the previous Labour government too.
But let’s not quibble: Under the crisis scheme, defendants will be summoned to magistrates courts once space is available in prisons. And in the meantime suspects could be bailed or remain in police cells — the government insists those who pose a risk to the public won’t be bailed.
Smashing the panic button: Officials are at pains to insist this is a short-term measure, noting how the last time Operation Early Dawn was triggered (just a few months ago) it lasted a week. Expectations are of a similar time frame now. But the scheme could be turned on and off numerous times if needed. It isn’t expected to impact wider plans to send thousands more crims out “on road” (prison lingo for going free) ahead of time from the fall — as Labour announced last month. 
Trouble is … boneheads who decided the killing of children last month was the right moment to start some kind of misinformed race war and attack the police are filling cells as fast as they are emptied right now. The BBC has a heart-warming liveblog listing all the muppets being sent down — including a mother of six who threw a brick at police. 
Speaking of the riots: Starmer was talking to reporters at the Police Service of Northern Ireland training office in Belfast when he appeared this afternoon, so he praised police for their efforts in tackling the violence in the wake of the Southport attack. “The disorder is intolerable, it is incapable of justification, it is clearly racist, and it does not represent the modern, forward-looking Northern Ireland that I know this place is,” he said. Clip here. 
Classic government comms: Reuters Northern Ireland and Ireland Editor Amanda Ferguson complained about the media management of the press conference, after Starmer took five questions — none from reporters from south of the border.
Cramping his Starm: Problem is there’s bigger news in Northern Ireland right now than the PM delivering predictable lines, after Doug Beattie resigned as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party — the moderate rival to the dominant Democratic Unionist Party.
Fed UUP: Beattie made clear in his resignation statement he was sick of UUP infighting over whether to ape the DUP or tack to the left. The outgoing leader was angling for the latter. He’s the fourth leader to go in seven years, my POLITICO colleague Shawn Pogatchnik notes from across the Irish Sea. A successor needs to be in place before the party’s September 28 annual conference.
Onto the next one: Starmer hopped on a flight to Wales after his Belfast visit and has this afternoon held his first meeting with First Minister Eluned Morgan since she took up the role this month. A pooled clip of the start of the meeting — which also included Wales Secretary Jo Stevens — should be appearing around now. Starmer is expected to visit a renewable fuels site in Wales tomorrow.
QUIT AND TWIST: Conservative Deputy Chair Matt Vickers quit his role this afternoon so he could back Robert Jenrick in the Tory leadership race — claiming to have been wowed by the ex-Cabinet minister during a hustings at the weekend.
Off the fence: Vickers, the sole Conservative MP in the North East, chaired the Northern hustings on Saturday and concluded this afternoon that “all the candidates were good, but Robert Jenrick was stand out.”
Missed opportunities? Kemi Badenoch wasn’t there because she’s on hol, innit. She did have time to have a little chat with ConHome though.
Bear in mind … this marks the first resignation from the Rishi Sunak frontbench in opposition, so is worth noting even if not a protest against the interim leadership. SW1 will be eager to see whether Vickers trades up to a front bench role if Jenrick wins the race. His campaign team insisted no jobs had been offered.
Back to back: In another Conservative leadership coup, new MP Harriet Cross backed Tom Tugendhat for the top job. There has been lots of interest in leadership chat about who the 26 brand new Tories will plump for — with candidates eager to paint themselves as pick of the new blood.
Also in wannabe LOTO news: Look out for an Express piece from Priti Patel dropping at around 6 p.m. supporting the paper’s campaign to reverse the limit on winter fuel benefits for pensioners. Also look out for a Jenrick video about Labour and the unions.
Also in wannabe LOTO news ii: James Cleverly shared the polling detailed in the Times this morning, which showed him ahead of rivals, and wrote for the Northern Echo after becoming the latest candidate to hang out with the most powerful Conservative in the nation, Ben Houchen, this weekend.
But but but: Other leadership camps were raising eyebrows at the Techne polling, noting how some of the numbers are super close and questioning the sample of Conservative members —in particular pointing to the share of Brexit supporters being lower than are thought to exist among the membership.
Which is all … a bit in the weeds. But it’s worth noting that the battle for the frontrunner narrative is red hot behind the scenes.
VOLOD OF RUBBISH: Downing Street pushed back against suggestions from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the U.K. is stalling in its support for the Ukrainians against Russia. A spokesperson for Starmer told reporters this morning the PM has “full admiration” for the Ukrainian soldiers who have fought a route into Russian territory, and insisted Britain will back Ukraine for as long as it takes. 
WHITEHALL THAN WHITE: The spokesperson also insisted there’s nothing to see here when it comes to Labour donors and former aides being handed senior civil service roles — as POLITICO revealed here and here. She said having worked in a political role or donated to a party doesn’t preclude people from posts in Whitehall. She said Starmer is committed to ensuring politics works in the service of the public and all appointments follow the relevant rules.
Thinking emoji: Communities Secretary Angela Rayner has appointed former Labour aides Haydon Etherington and Ben Wood as junior civil servants in her department. Ex-communities SpAd Henry Newman spotted the appointments, and tweeted a full analysis in the wake of the Whitehall appointments scandal.
Speaking of Labour aides: Starmer told a reporter in NI it was “complete nonsense” to suggest his Chief of Staff Sue Gray is causing division in Whitehall. Clip here. 
And for those without government roles: Former Deputy Labour Leader Tom Watson put a callout on LinkedIn offering to help Labour ex-aides who didn’t manage to bag jobs in Whitehall.
CLASSIC DOM: The “startup party” former Downing Street aide Dominic Cummings keeps threatening to launch sounds like it will be as transparent as the Boris Johnson era in government — i.e. not transparent at all. “We will be able to raise and spend money (for most of our goals) from around the world without disclosure of any kind,” Cummings noted in a new post on his Substack. He didn’t respond to a request for clarification.
Watch this space cadet: Cummings said he would be withdrawing from most of his other projects to focus on “TSP” from next month and will reveal more detail to subscribers on September 9. Can’t wait.
CLASSIC LINE: Downing Street insisted it does not expect British arms to be used abroad in violation of international law — but said a review of whether Israeli war crimes might have been committed in Gaza is still to conclude. A spokesperson for Keir Starmer was asked about the matter after a Foreign Office diplomat quit in protest at the British legal position.
Less classic line: Scottish government minister Angus Robertson was forced to apologize after meeting new Israeli Deputy Ambo to the U.K. Daniela Grudsky two weeks ago, after pro-Palestine SNP members went tonto about it.
Not normal, honest: “No one intended that this meeting be presented as legitimatizing the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza,” Robertson said in a statement. “The reality, however, is that this meeting has been taken by many to represent a normalisation of relations between the Israeli and Scottish governments.”
Ties cut: Robertson said he won’t be accepting invitations for further meetings with the Israelis. Which sounds like … grown up politics.
NO CHEAP TRIP: Speaking of Israel, Suella Braverman’s visit in April (which won the former home secretary a front page pic in the Telegraph) cost £27,000 for four nights via a donation from the National Jewish Assembly, reports political hack Lee Harpin on his Substack.
REFORM DRAGON IN WALES: Reform has made inroads into Wales after three councilors on Torfaen County Borough agreed to align with the Nigel Farage movement.
TONIGHT IN CHICAGO: Joe Biden will get his big moment to address the Democratic faithful at the national convention and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s nominee— and receive a hero’s ovation as he does so from party figures intensely relieved he declined to run again. That speech is expected in the early hours, about 3.50 a.m. U.K. time.
As for what Biden will say: Playbook PM’s D.C. Playbook colleagues report that this is not going to be a farewell speech — expect Biden to give his valedictory address in January as his presidency actually ends. Instead, aides say he will remind Americans of the pandemic-ravaged country he inherited from Donald Trump and the progress Biden reckons has been made under his and Harris’ administration. 
What Biden won’t be trying to show … Is his — and his team’s — true feelings on those who maneuvered to get him out the race. More from POLITICO’s Adam Cancryn and Jonathan Lemire in their curtain-raiser here. 
IN ISRAEL: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu publicly endorsed the latest U.S. cease-fire proposal following a three-hour meeting with Washington’s top diplomat Antony Blinken in Jerusalem. The BBC has more on the issues not yet ironed out here. 
IN RUSSIA: The Ukrainian army hit a third bridge in the Kursk region, according to Moscow, as Kyiv continues its incursion into Russian territory. Ukraine is yet to confirm the bridge’s destruction. POLITICO’s Veronika Melkozerova has the latest from the front. 
Now read: Jamie Dettmer’s analysis for POLITICO on what Vladimir Putin does next in response to Ukraine’s push into his territory.
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Ben Kentish at Drive (LBC, until 7 p.m.): Middle East analyst at the Philip Merrill Center Laura Blumenfeld … The TUC’s Nicola Smith and the Institute of Directors’ Roger Barker.
Drive with John Pienaar (Times Radio, until 7 p.m.): Former Chancellor Ken Clarke … Labour MP Chris Curtis.
News Hour (Sky News, 5 p.m.): Former Joe Biden adviser Meghan Hays … The Quincy Institute’s Trita Parsi … Democrat Congress member for Michigan Haley Stevens.
Dewbs and Co (GB News, 6 p.m.): Former Tory candidate Alex Deane and political economy professor Lee Jones.
GB News Tonight (GB News 7 p.m.): Former Labour Minister Sion Simon … Former Tory Minister Conor Burns … Former Democrat presidential candidate Jason Palmer.
REVIEWING THE PAPERS TONIGHT: Times Radio (10.30 p.m.): Former Labour aide Matthew Laza and journalist Zoe Grunewald … Sky News (10.30 p.m. and 11.30 p.m.): Mirror columnist Susie Boniface and former Tory Spad Anita Boateng.
A TOTAL RIOT: Court hearings and sentencing continues for idiots who took part in riots in the wake of the Southport attack.
STARMER SUMMER: PM Keir Starmer continues his working visit to Wales.
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO TALK ABOUT: Encouraging pensioners to sign up for pension credit.
WHAT THE OPPOSITION WANTS TO TALK ABOUT: The next Conservative leadership hustings takes place in Somerset at 5 p.m. Before that Tom Tugendhat will be in Scotland, Priti Patel in Weston-super-Mare.
PACKED LUNCH OR PALACE LUNCH: It’s recess! Make the most of a quieter Westminster with a stroll around to check out the menus.
SPOTTED: At the airport luggage carousel in Chicago, Jon Ashworth, now boss of Labour Together, arriving for the Democratic convention.
NEW GIG: ConHome announced former James Cleverly SpAd Giles Dilnot as its new editor, following the departure of Paul Goodman to the Other Place. Dilnot used to be a BBC man, and spent some time spinning for the Legatum Institute and the Children’s Commissioner. More deets here.
HASHTAG CHANGE: Nameplates for new Labour secretaries of state now adorn the doors along the ministerial corridor in parliament. The top team can expect to see Playbook PM popping down to use the ministerial toilet from time to time, as it’s so close to the POLITICO desks. Apologies in advance for any lingering odors.
SIMPLE QUESTIONS PLAYBOOK PM CAN’T GET ANSWERS TO: When will Boris Johnson start producing his paid-per-show GB News content? The Observer was asking similar over the weekend.
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: The great Tanya Gold on her travels around the Holocaust tourist trail.
ON THIS DAY IN POLITICS: On Aug. 19, 2005 former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam, who was integral to the peace process, died aged 55. More from the Tides of History account on Instagram here.
WRITING PLAYBOOK TOMORROW MORNING: Sam Blewett.
THANKS TO: My editor Rosa Prince, reporter Andrew McDonald and the POLITICO production team for making it look nice.
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