POLITICO London Playbook: Making the grades — VAR for exams — Rishi in a jam

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By ALEX WICKHAM

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Good Thursday morning.

BIG NEWS FROM POLITICO: Playbook is excited to announce that the Times’ Esther Webber will be joining POLITICO next month as our new U.K. senior correspondent. Esther has absolutely smashed it on the Times Lobby team over the past five years, co-writing the Red Box email and breaking a load of major stories in the paper — in particular leading the way on exposing parliamentary bullying and harassment with a string of extremely important scoops. She’s also one of the funniest Westminster journalists on Twitter so follow her here if you don’t already.

Congratulations also … to top POLITICO colleague Emilio Casalicchio — your Friday Playbook writer — who is promoted to political correspondent.

DRIVING THE DAY

MAKING THE GRADES: Teachers will decide A-Level and GCSE grades in England this year, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson announces today, as ministers seek to avoid a repeat of last year’s COVID-hit exams fiasco. The hated algorithm that downgraded some pupils’ results based on their school’s past performance is dead. Headteachers are welcoming the proposals this morning, but there are already concerns over extreme grade inflation and a deluge of appeals leading to qualifications that are ultimately devalued in the eyes of universities and employers.

Stay tuned: Education Minister Nick Gibb is touring the studios right now to outline the new exams policy. Williamson will be up in the Commons at around 11.20 a.m. to confirm the details.

THE SELL: “Young people have shown incredible resilience over the last year, continuing with their learning amidst unprecedented challenges while the country battles with this pandemic. Those efforts deserve to be fairly rewarded,” Williamson said in an overnight press release. “That’s why we are providing the fairest possible system for those pupils, asking those who know them best — their teachers — to determine their grades, with our sole aim to make sure all young people can progress to the next stage of their education or career.”

HOW IT WORKS: Pupils will only be assessed on what they’ve been taught, with teachers looking at their general work throughout the year, from mock exams and coursework to essays and tests. Questions set by exam boards will be offered to teachers but they will be optional. Teachers will then make an assessment of their pupils’ grades and send them to exam boards by June 18. Results day has been moved forward from August 23 to August 9, meaning students will have extra time to appeal their grades — for free.

Students on vocational or technical courses … will also receive grades decided by teachers, unless exams are required to demonstrate professional standards.

**A message from Liberty Global: Home-schooling needs to be accessible to all families. So Liberty Global are providing special broadband packages to families receiving Universal Credit, to help them access lessons online. It’s one of the ways we’re helping to power the UK’s vital connections during the pandemic.**

HAULED OVER THE COLES: Today’s papers go big on education experts’ concerns. The Telegraph’s Camilla Turner and Harry Yorke report Jon Coles, a former department for education director who sat on the Ofqual committee advising on exams, has resigned and laid into the policy, claiming it will “risk an outcome … much worse than last year.” Expect ministers to have to respond to Coles’ comments today.

He’s not alone: Natalie Perera, chief executive of the Education Policy Institute think tank, is on the Times front page warning: “While the government was right to opt for teacher-assessed grades following the massive disruption to learning, our concern is that significant risks remain with its approach. There is still a very high risk that we will see inconsistencies in the grades among different pupils and schools and a significant risk that schools will take very different approaches to grading. This could result in large numbers of pupils appealing their grades this year or extremely high grade inflation.”

There’s more: Former Schools Minister David Laws is in the Guardian arguing: “Without robust mechanisms in place which anchor the overall results at a level which is consistent with previous years, there is a danger that the value and credibility of this year’s grades are seriously undermined.”

For what it’s worth … The department for education promises that “to support teachers in making their judgements, exam boards will provide detailed guidance before the end of the spring term.”

VAR BUT FOR EXAMS: University College London education policy expert Dr Jake Anders tells the Times’ Nicola Woolcock: “It would be difficult to imagine appeals not soaring. Anyone who feels they’ve been under-predicted will appeal and those over-predicted won’t. Every step seems to have been designed to be not consistent across schools and that’s what I’m fundamentally most concerned about.”

Unions not happy: Patrick Roach from the NASUWT teaching union criticized the decision to make tests offered by exam boards optional. He complains: “A golden opportunity has been missed to secure a consistent, reliable and manageable approach to awarding.”

LABOUR NOT OPPOSING: Shadow Education Secretary Kate Green is not suggesting the government has gone for the wrong policy, only that it should have been revealed sooner. “The government’s delayed announcement of the replacement for exams has created needless stress for pupils, parents and teachers,” she says.

ANY OTHER IDEAS? Government sources admit to the Times that the system for this year will be “generous.” But officials who spoke to Playbook last night insisted it was the only way to secure a fair outcome for children who’ve had two years of education battered by the pandemic. One official noted that, for all the criticism laid out above, they hadn’t seen anyone actually making the case for something different.

More pressing … for Williamson at the moment are the rising worries that the return to school on March 8 is in trouble amid concerns over whether it is realistic that pupils can successfully take coronavirus tests three times on site. The Mirror’s Pippa Crerar splashes the story.

WHAT GRADE WOULD GAV GET? This is all taking place in the context of a looming Cabinet reshuffle, ahead of which there is barely a person in government who believes Williamson will keep his job.

BUDGET BUILD-UP

RISHI IN A JAM: Treasury insiders last night steered Playbook toward today’s story by the Sun’s Harry Cole as an accurate reflection of where Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s budget preparations are heading. Cole says next week’s budget will be “an expensive and painful sandwich of giveaways and tax hikes” — accompanied by a graphic of a jam sandwich “with two big slices of bread with very thin jam.” A data journalism award-winning effort if ever Playbook saw one.

Slice one: £30 billion of COVID support cash that will see furlough, business relief, the Universal Credit uplift and the stamp duty holiday all extended to June. (The Telegraph’s Lucy Fisher also says there will be a six-month extension to the Universal Credit uplift.)

Slice two: Tax rises including hiking corporation tax to around 25 percent, and increasing capital gains tax.

The thin spread of jam: Very limited spending on everything else.

UH OH: A government source rolls the pitch for tough news to come next week: “Action needs to be taken now, not in November and not next year, but now. The budget will make a start on that stabilization. It can’t go the whole way in one fiscal event but it will make a start.”

YELLEN FROM THE ROOFTOPS: The FT’s George Parker and Daniel Thomas say Sunak will use U.S. President Joe Biden as cover when he increases corporation tax. They say Sunak will argue Biden and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen want to hike corporate tax rates from 21 percent to 28 percent, and that a rise to 25 percent in Britain would still be competitive.

BUDGET BUNFIGHT: Labour leader Keir Starmer signaled he would oppose any rise to corporation tax at yesterday’s prime minister’s questions, setting up the unlikely scene next week where Corbynistas are agreeing with Sunak that taxes on business should increase, but right-wing Tory backbenchers are siding with the Labour leadership in opposing the hike. The Times’ Steve Swinford says Tory rebels could vote with Labour to block a proposed increase, with Chief Whip Mark Spencer warning a revolt would effectively be seen as a confidence vote in the PM with rebels stripped of the Tory whip. This is fast becoming the story of the pre-budget.

Alternatively … The Mail’s Jason Groves has a more upbeat story on what to expect next week, claiming Sunak is planning a “giveaway” budget with “help for motorists, hospitality firms and the housing market expected to be among a string of eye-catching policies.” Groves reckons a major economic stimulus is coming and “the Chancellor is set to shelve plans for tax rises, including a threatened 5p increase in fuel duty that would have hit millions of drivers.” And there could be “vouchers for high street shoppers and lower alcohol duty for restaurants and pubs.”

Don’t get your hopes up: A Treasury insider cautions that just because the Resolution Foundation think tank is calling for something, it doesn’t mean the chancellor agrees with it.

Northern Treasury latest: The FT’s Seb Payne and Jim Pickard reveal the shortlist for the location of the Treasury’s new Northern campus is down to Darlington, Newcastle, Leeds or Bradford. “Red wall” MPs are apparently warning they’ll kick off big time if it doesn’t go to Darlo.

What Labour’s saying: Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds is giving a speech today unveiling a plan to “secure the future of Britain’s high streets.” The top lines: Reversing new planning rules that would enable Britain’s high streets to be sold off to the highest bidder for poor-quality housing … Giving councils new powers to repurpose commercial properties that have been vacant for at least 12 months … Calling on the government to ensure its much-delayed review of business rates leads to wholesale reform. Starmer is on a visit to Crawley today to discuss the proposals.

And … Labour is also accusing Sunak of being “dragged kicking and screaming” into extending economic support, partially pointing the finger at the chancellor as new figures revealed a spike in the number of redundancies reported by firms. The party’s own analysis shows the numbers jumped higher each time Sunak made an ill-fated announcement that furlough was to be wound down. The i’s Hugo Gye has a write-up.

COVID UPDATE

J&J JOY: It’s a strangely quiet day on the coronavirus front, but there are two pieces of extremely good news. First, U.S. regulators have found the potentially game-changing single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine is safe and effective. There were no deaths among study participants who had the J&J jab, and no hospital admissions after 28 days post-vaccine. The BBC has the details.

And promising news last night from Israel … where a real-world test of half a million people who’ve had the Pfizer vaccine found it was highly effective at preventing death even after just one dose. Pfizer was 92 percent effective at preventing severe disease after two shots and 62 percent after one. It was 72 percent effective at preventing death two to three weeks after the first shot, and it was as effective in people over 70 as in younger people. AP has the story.

BACK HOME: The government is launching a new advertising campaign tonight urging people to “keep going and stay at home,” amid concerns optimism over the vaccine rollout and roadmap to freedom has led to decreased compliance with the rules. The Sun’s Natasha Clark has the stills here — the full ad will run for the first time on ITV at 7.15 p.m.

DAVE BACKS VACCINE PASSPORTS: David Cameron tells CNN’s Christiane Amanpour: “I’m not against [COVID passports]. If we want to open up our economy as rapidly as possible, I think there’ll be a number of different ways and places where people will want to know, ‘have you been vaccinated’ before you join this event, this party, this whatever. So, I think it’s coming, and I’m very glad that the government is having a serious think about all the moral and ethical and legal dilemmas. They should not close their mind to this.”

92 PERCENT WANT THE JAB: The latest REACT study is out, showing 13.9 percent of people in Britain appear to have COVID antibodies. The report finds overall vaccine confidence is high, with 92 percent either wanting it or having had it already. Vaccine confidence varied by age and ethnicity and was lowest among Black people, at 72.5 percent.

SORRY KEIR: The Times’ Chris Smyth reveals the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has recommended teachers and other public sector workers should not get priority for the vaccine in the next round, and that under-50s should continue to be offered the jab by age. Smyth says the JCVI have also said that prisoners can be prioritized if local areas wish. A government spokesperson is keen to stress: “Prisoners will not be prioritized for vaccination. They are being vaccinated in line with the priority groups set out by the independent JCVI — no faster and no further than the general public.”

Hotel quarantine shocker … from Home Affairs Committee Chair Yvette Cooper, who says: 99 percent of people arriving in the country are not going into hotel quarantine … 15,000 people are arriving a day, and of them just 150 go to hotels — 1 percent … Majority can still go straight onto public transport home without being tested on arrival. The government “has no estimate on the number of people who comply fully with self isolation at home and no figures on whether police are actually taking any enforcement action if people aren’t home when they check,” she warns.

SHAPPS THE WAY: Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is the first Cabinet minister to have the vaccine — he says he double-checked he was in line for it and the NHS confirmed he was because of cancer treatment he received more than two decades ago. “Key message from NHS is — get yourself vaccinated the moment you’re offered it,” Shapps tweeted last night.

MEANWHILE IN EUROPE: Berlin is considering offering surplus AstraZeneca shots to homeless people because public skepticism over the jab has led to poor uptake, the Times’ Oliver Moody reports. The Telegraph’s James Crisp says EU leaders have challenged French President Emmanuel Macron over his inaccurate claims about the efficacy of the AZ vaccine. Meanwhile German tabloid Bild has a slightly different view, praising the U.K.’s vaccine rollout and splashing: “Dear Brits, we envy you!”

YESTERDAY’S UK STATS: 9,938 new cases, ⬆️ 1,449 on Tuesday. In the past seven days, the U.K. has recorded a total 73,392 new cases, ⬇️ 12,634 on the previous week … 442 new reported deaths within 28 days of a positive test, ⬇️ 106 on Tuesday. In the past seven days, the U.K. has recorded a total 2,815 deaths within 28 days of a positive test, ⬇️ 1,267 on the previous week.

VAX STATS: A total 18,242,873 people have received the first dose, ⬆️ 326,692. A total 669,105 people have received the second dose, ⬆️ 26,317.

TODAY IN WESTMINSTER

HOUSE OF COMMONS: Sits from 9.30 a.m. with international trade questions, followed by weekly business questions to Jacob Rees-Mogg (10.30 a.m.) … There will then be ministerial statements from Gavin Williamson on exams (11.20 a.m.) and Robert Jenrick on rough sleeping (12.10 p.m.) … Followed by two backbench debates, first on the proposal for a national education route map for schools (1.20 p.m.) and then on Welsh affairs to mark St David’s Day — which is next Monday (3.15 p.m.) … and then Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross will lead an adjournment debate on the U.K.’s alcohol duty system (5 p.m.).

PROTOCOL NEWS: Yesterday’s meeting between Michael Gove and European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič failed to break the Northern Ireland impasse, but both sides committed to the “proper implementation of the Protocol” and “joint action” to make it work. (My POLITICO colleague Cristina Gallardo has a write-up.) That line isn’t impressing the European Research Group of Brexiteer Tory MPs, who the Telegraph’s Lucy Fisher says are publishing a report calling for the abolition of the protocol. Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster called the Commission “tone deaf.”

However … Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis is warning the DUP it could suffer at elections this year if it continues to focus on Brexit issues. Lewis said unionist parties must be “strategically wary” that voters will have bigger priorities than the Northern Ireland protocol, in an interview with POLITICO’s Emilio Casalicchio. POLITICO Brexit Transition and Trade Pros can read it here.

NANNY STATE ROW: The government is currently consulting on the law around advertising of high salt/fat/sugar foods, but small businesses are worried that the department of health is pushing for harsh restrictions, and could win out over the business department, which wants a more lenient approach. Proposals being looked at would mean that a local ice cream shop in a coastal town would not be able to advertise its products, or have a Facebook page to show what it sells. The Federation of Small Businesses’ Craig Beaumont tells Playbook: “Health department officials shouldn’t over-reach, stopping a small ice cream shop from updating its Facebook page or emailing its customers. After 12 months of disruption and lack of trade, small businesses need support to survive and drive the recovery; they don’t need Captain Clipboard stopping them. We really hope Matthew Hancock will step in to help small businesses, as he has done before.”

FACEBOOK WARS: In a letter to the Financial Times, Daily Mail and General Trust Chairman Lord Rothermere has called on governments to “hold Google and Facebook to account for trying to blackmail democracies,” questioning what he calls an “unholy alliance” between Google and News Corp. Punchy stuff — read it here.

CLASSIC … Former Tory MP Richard Benyon — one of the 21 rebels to have the whip removed in the 2019 Brexit wars — had an interesting tidbit on a conversation with Dominic Cummings on this What Were You Thinking podcast, saying the PM’s then chief adviser told a fellow rebel that “you people have had your day … We’re going to deliver a hard Brexit and you people will be gone.” Benyon claims Dom’s wheeze was the final straw that pushed him into joining the rebels.

WONK WATCH: The £250,000 Wolfson Economics Prize launches today in partnership with Policy Exchange. It’s the first prize since 2017 and the very topical question is: “How would you design and plan new hospitals to radically improve patient experiences, clinical outcomes, staff wellbeing and integration with wider health and social care?” Details here.

SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS: Google has published an economic impact report laying out six recommendations for the government that it says would make the U.K. the best place in the world to run digital businesses. Those recommendations: Introduce Innovation Impact Assessments to better measure the full impact of new and existing regulation … Create a new tech inward investment unit to boost competitiveness … Create a British Research Cloud to democratize access to data and support innovation … Ensure the new R&D roadmap is focussed on long-term innovation … Help workers retrain by partnering with businesses on new Digital Professional Certificates … Support U.K. small businesses to help them learn new digital skills and invest in technologies such as cloud.

COPPING IT: A global climate summit is coming to Britain, but no one organizing it — including Boris Johnson — knows precisely what it is supposed to achieve, reports POLITICO’s Senior Climate Correspondent Karl Mathiesen.

NOT WESTMINSTER BUT: Amazon is amassing an empire of data, but the company’s efforts to protect the information it collects are inadequate, according to former high-level security employees in Europe and the U.S. who spoke to POLITICO’s Vincent Manancourt. Must-read investigation here.

COMMITTEE CORRIDOR: The Commons Welsh affairs committee will question Network Rail official Peter Hendy and Welsh government Transport Minister Ken Skates in a session on Welsh trains (9.30 a.m.) … Top officials from the MoD will face questions on the standard of accommodation provided for armed forces personnel at the Commons public accounts committee (10 a.m.) … and the Commons Scottish affairs committee will quiz Scotland Office Minister Iain Stewart in a universities-focused session — expect tough questions on Erasmus (11.30 a.m.).

HOUSE OF LORDS: Sits from noon with questions on the upcoming elections, the fishing sector and the Build Back Better Business Council … Peers will later on move through the final stages of the Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances Bill — aka the Braverman bill (2.30 p.m.).

STATE OF THE UNION

UNION SUPER-COMMITTEE: Guido got the scoop last night on No. 10’s SpAd-based union unit being shuttered and replaced with a minister-led “Union Cabinet Committee” consisting of the PM, Sunak, Cabinet Office Ministers Michael Gove and David Frost, Welsh Secretary Simon Hart, Scotland Secretary Alister Jack and Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis. Playbook is told the committee represents ministers taking back control from advisers following the ill-fated tenure of Vote Leave’s Oliver Lewis.

SALMOND LATEST: Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond is now expected to appear before Holyrood tomorrow — a day it isn’t even supposed to be open — to make his case against the Scottish government in person. Having been here multiple times before it’s probably best to not believe it is happening until you see the iconic image of Salmond taking the oath, but if it is going ahead it will likely be confirmed today. Sky’s James Matthews was one of those to get the scoop.

PRESSURE, PUSHING DOWN ON NIC: In something of a sign the SNP top brass is increasingly concerned about the whole affair and its impact, Nicola Sturgeon took the rare step of using questions from journalists at her daily COVID-19 briefing yesterday to talk at some length about the inquiries. The first minister accused her predecessor of peddling a “dangerous conspiracy theory” and creating an “alternative reality” instead of accepting what she called the “issues” in his own behavior. The Scotsman’s Gina Davidson has the story.

FOR THOSE AT THE BACK: Here’s a reminder of what this is all about.

ROUND THE CORNER: Elections to the Scottish parliament — alongside Welsh parliament, English council and mayoral elections — take place 10 weeks from today.

Going postal: Ahead of that quickly approaching date, the Scottish government and electoral authorities are being urged to step up a postal voting public information campaign to head off a mixture of ignorance, skepticism and conspiracy theories from Scots who have never voted by post before. The Scottish government expects the number of postal votes to at least double due to COVID, and though Scotland is unlikely to go full Trump, unfounded conspiracies from some nationalist fringes could make the issue an unexpected variable as polling day approaches. My POLITICO colleague Andrew McDonald has more.

**A message from Liberty Global: From home-schooling and home-working to video calls with our loved-ones, this pandemic has shown us how crucial fast internet connections are to the nation’s social, mental and economic well-being. At Liberty Global we’re investing in our UK network to bring gigabit broadband to all our customers – over half the country – by the end of this year. This will be vital for families, businesses, schools, hospitals and other organisations across the country – and will help the Government meet its manifesto commitment. In these uncertain times, we’re proud to be powering the UK’s vital connections.**

MEDIA ROUND

Schools Minister Nick Gibb broadcast round: talkRADIO (6.45 a.m.) … Sky News (7.05 a.m.) … Today program (7.20 a.m.) … BBC Breakfast (7.30 a.m.) … LBC (7.50 a.m.) … Times Radio Breakfast (8 a.m.) … ITV Good Morning Britain (8.30 a.m.).

Also on the Today program: German virologist Thomas Mertens (7.30 a.m.) … MSP for Airdrie and Shotts Alex Neil (7.50 a.m.) … Headteacher of the Wellington School Stuart Beeley and Mike Nicholson, director of admissions at Bath (8.10 a.m.) … Shadow Health Minister Justin Madders (8.30 a.m.).

Also on Sky News at Breakfast: Former exam board Chief Examiner John Nield (7.30 a.m.) … Shadow Communities Secretary Steve Reed (7.45 a.m.) … Are They Safe Director Laura Lyons (8.20 a.m.).

Also on Times Radio Breakfast: Helen Ward, professor of public health at Imperial College London (7.20 a.m.) … Tory peer Sayeeda Warsi (9.40 a.m.).

Also on Nick Ferrari at Breakfast (LBC): Former GCSE’s Chief Examiner Tony Breslin (7.25 a.m.) … Tory peer Simon Wolfson (8.20 a.m.) … Met Police Superintendents Association Chair Simon Ovens (8.50 a.m.).

Also on talkRADIO breakfast show: Former WHO cancer program head Karol Sikora (7.20 a.m.) … 1922 committee Chairman Graham Brady (8.05 a.m.) … Commons education committee Chairman Robert Halfon (8.20 a.m.) … Former DHSC Director of Immunisation David Salisbury (9.06 a.m.).

Politics Live (BBC Two 12.15 p.m.): Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy … Tory MP Tom Hunt … Editor of the (Sheffield) Star Nancy Fielder … Former Treasury SpAd Poppy Trowbridge.

Question Time (BBC One 10.45 p.m.): Transport Secretary Grant Shapps … Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds … CBI Director General Tony Danker … UCL General Secretary Jo Grady … Corbin and King restaurants co-founder Jeremy King.

Reviewing the papers tonight: BBC News (10.40 p.m. and 11.30 p.m.): Business commentator for the Independent James Moore and the Daily Express’ Sam Lister … Sky News (10.30 p.m. and 11.30 p.m.): Columnist Carole Malone and Editor of the Courier David Clegg … Times Radio (10.30 p.m.): Former Labour MP Paula Sherriff and former Tory SpAd Salma Shah.

TODAY’S FRONT PAGES

(Click on the publication’s name to see its front page.)

Daily Express: Tory grandees tell Rishi ‘don’t raise taxes.’

Daily Mail: Rishi’s spring booster for U.K.

Daily Mirror: Britain’s back to school shambles.

Daily Star: Ooh Betty — We did a whoopsie.

Financial Times: McKinsey to ditch Sneader as head after string of crises.

HuffPost UK: Why teachers will miss vaccine fast-track.

i: ‘Stay home’ order after rise in rule breaking.

Metro: Festivals are back.

POLITICO UK: Scotland urged to get ahead of postal vote conspiracies.

The Daily Telegraph: Summer exams to be voluntary.

The Guardian: Teachers get sweeping powers to decide exam results in England.

The Independent: Ministers’ bid to avoid fresh exams fiasco.

The Times: Schools told to work out their own exam grades.

TODAY’S NEWS MAGS

New Statesman: Britain unlocks — Boris Johnson’s greatest gamble yet.

POLITICO Europe: ‘Imagine if a company the size of Amazon had a breach.’

The New European: Could there ever be a green Brexit?

The Spectator: The break-up — Is Boris about to lose Scotland, asks Katy Balls.

LONDON CALLING

Westminster weather: ☁️☁️☁️ Cloudy and breezy. Highs of 11C.

OOPS: Great case of mistaken identity on Twitter late last night, as WWE legend Mick Foley tweeted to his 1.9 million followers congratulating a fellow wrestler on signing for a new promotion — only problem being that he had tagged SNP MSP Annabelle Ewing instead of All Elite Wrestling. Playbook recommends both the replies and the brief follow-up conversation between the two very different worlds.

Did somebody say Just Eat? Collette Bird, Labour staffer extraordinaire and political adviser to Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth, is off to Just Eat as its head of external affairs. Bird was Labour Party parliamentary staffer of the year 2020, a survivor of the 2019 general election and managed one whole year of leading the Labour Party’s response to the pandemic.

New gig(s): The i has made a raft of new hires as part of a growing newsroom expansion, including the former Times Political Editor Francis Elliott, who will write fortnightly political interviews for the paper. Also joining are News UK alum Mark Davies as head of news, the Spectator’s Isabel Hardman as a monthly columnist and former Daily Mail News Editor Amy Iggulden as editorial director. Full list here from Editor-in-Chief Oly Duff.

Plus: The i is hiring for another 15 staff journalism roles.

Birthdays: Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab … Rochdale MP Tony Lloyd … TV star and former Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls … Newcastle-under-Lyme MP Aaron Bell … Tory peer and former party Chairman Andrew Feldman … Labour peer David Puttnam … Independent peer Lewis Moonie … Welsh government Housing Minister Julie James … DfE Director General Paul Kett … Former BBC Chairman David Clementi … Water U.K. Chairman Brian Bender … London-based CNN journo Hadas Gold … Columnist Stephen Lynch … BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty … Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland.

PLAYBOOK COULDN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT: My editor Zoya Sheftalovich, reporter Andrew McDonald and producer Miriam Webber.

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