Andy Burnham took a step closer to Downing Steet on Thursday by winning a byelection in the north of England, giving him the Westminster seat he needs to challenge Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership. The outgoing mayor of Manchester doubled Labour’s majority in the Makerfield constituency, leaving Nigel Farage’s Reform UK far behind. Burnham’s supporters hope his popularity – rare among senior Labourites these days – will propel him quickly to the prime minister’s office.
Our London Correspondent, Mark Paul,has been following Burnham’s rise closely, speaking to him as recently as last week and following his fortunes on the campaign trail. In his post-election survey of the altered political landscape, he asks how Britain might change if the standard-bearer of Labour’s “soft left” takes office. On the question that will most interest Irish and European readers, he reports that Burnham is not proposing to have Britain rejoin the EU even though he hopes to “see it in my lifetime”. Burnham is proud of his Irish heritage, which he traces to Drogheda in the late 19th century, and Mark Paul suggests that the Republic could expect “a continuation and perhaps even a deepening” of the closer relations built by Starmer after the Ango-Irish bitterness of the Brexit years under the Conservatives.
Ireland will next month take on the rotating residency of the European Council, a role that involves steering the union’s agenda, including its budget negotiations, for six months. Most people will not notice this, except perhaps for the traffic problems caused by visiting politicians’ motorcades, but it’s a big deal for the civil service and for Government ministers, who want to be seen to do a good job in the eyes of their peers on the mainland. So much work is going into the presidency that politicians and officials fret that the domestic agenda will grind to a halt, as Jack Power and Jack Horgan-Jones report in their piece on the preparations. They’re also worried about security threats. “The reputational risk of a logistics or security foul-up, or of political mismanagement, hangs over the whole enterprise,” our reporters write.
The business executive Jason Cardiff (50), labelled a “fugitive” by the United States government, is charged with four offences in California over the alleged fraudulent running of a homeopatheic medicine company. Mark Tighe tracked him down in Rathgar, south Dublin, where Cardiff told him he has been a victim of a “government pile-on” by officials and judges appointed by former US presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
‘Fugitive’ businessman Jason Cardiff – wanted in the US, living in €2.9m south Dublin home
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Swedish contract killer who died in Limerick car crash worked as barber in Stockholm
Dublin-based family murder trial hears daughter may have tried to escape noose
Separately, Tighe reports that the Irish Sun has removed its sponsored online casino review section after it was asked by The Irish Times why it promoted offshore black-market gambling sites. The News Corp-owned title has launched an internal investigation after we asked how a series of online casinos that claim to be regulated in Curaçao and Anjouan had received positive reviews, including one site that has been sanctioned in Spain and Australia for breaching their gambling laws.
The Sun has repeatedly highlighted the problems caused by black-market gambling sites in news stories. In the UK, it is running a “Save Our Bets” campaign which highlights the dangers of black-market gambling sites and attacks plans to increase regulation of UK-based bookies.
Online shopping is about to get a lot more expensive, as Fiona Reddan explains in her piece on new EU customs charges that come into effect from next month.
Crowds will be flocking to the museums of Europe this summer to view great art through their phone screens – a trend the art and heritage industry has seen rise exponentially over the last 15 years, as smartphones have become ubiquitous. Experts tell Naomi O’Leary that the behaviour can pose risks to the art. A succession of photo-related accidents in galleries and museums around the world has left a trail of smashed statues and ripped canvases in its wake. “The problem of visitors coming to museums to make memes or take selfies for social media is rampant,” Uffizi director Simone Verdi said after one incident.
Elsewhere in Culture, listen to our interview with Claire Keegan and read Tara Brady’s conversation with Jodie Foster.
Malachy Clerkin wrote this fine column on the football championship before yesterday’s games, but with more to come today – including the big game between Donegal and Dublin at Croke Park – it’s well worth a read. “High summer and a brilliant championship thrums away, with everyone flawed and everyone hopeful. The days get shorter from here. No better way to waste them.”
What-the-local-taxi-driver-told-me is a classic genre of overseas reporting, but Ken Early elevates the form with some interesting snapshots of the cities he has been passing through while covering the World Cup in North America. The latest episode of our World Cup podcast is worth a listen. And I recommend Keith Duggan’s beautiful reflection on a special summer of sport in New York.
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