Should UK households prepare an emergency plan amid the Middle East crisis?

Former Deputy Cabinet Secretary Helen MacNamara and Cleo Watson, former No.10 special adviser, react to the news that Morgan McSweeney’s phone was snatched in London.

As the war in the Middle East escalates, energy prices are soaring and the government is scrambling to provide emergency support.

“Do you want Nigel Farage to come to your house?” This is the question posed by Reform’s shadow (shadow… shadow) secretary Robert Jenrick in a video announcing a website called ‘Nigel cut my bills’, which offers to pay off the energy costs of an entire street for a year.

Keir Starmer’s challenges are not just limited to Kemi Badenoch grilling him at PMQs. As the Iran conflict continues, Trump is back to banging the “he’s no Churchill” drum. But what is it actually like to manage the ‘special relationship?’

In this clip from the latest episode of In The Room, Helen and Cleo report back after combing through the first Mandelson file drop, page by page – and find it coming up rather short.

After five long weeks of waiting, the first collection of Mandelson files has been released. 147 pages, riddled with spelling errors, and made up of 10 pages of contents and introduction, 30 pages of standard HR guidance, and 28 entirely blank pages. Not quite the bombshell people were perhaps expecting.

As the US-Iran war rumbles on, Keir Starmer will be spending his days dashing in and out of lots of important meetings, including Cobra (which actually stands for ‘cabinet office briefing rooms’ – the origins of the ‘A’ remains a bit of a mystery).

“Someone will literally be in charge of the planning brief, and suddenly, their latent interest in the Risk board game will come out, and they’ll start loitering around the PM’s office…”

In this clip from The Independent’s In The Room podcast, hosts Helen and Cleo reflect on their memories of how ominous No 10 can feel when the government is in crisis.