SCOOP A lobbyist who worked as Rachel Reeves’ election campaign adviser has facilitated high-level UK government access for Shein, the controversial Chinese fast-fashion firm which is seeking a major listing on the London stock exchange.

bloomberg.com/news/articles/… Kamella Hudson accompanied Donald Tang, the head of Shein, to two meetings with Treasury ministers last week to discuss its hopes of a London listing that could value the fast fashion giant at about £50 billion.

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

NEW Our profile of Waheed Alli and the sway he holds in the Labour party

bloomberg.com/news/articles/… When Keir Starmer entered Number 10 on July 5, the customary line-up of officials and aides was there to clap him in. Also there, visible only for a split second before the camera panned away was a rarely seen peer with outsize influence: Waheed Alli. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

NEW I'm hearing Labour officials are worried about a smattering of unexpected losses on polling day, even if they win big overall.

Key vulnerabilities include Thangam Debbonaire, Shabana Mahmood, ex-Reeves aide Heather Iqbal, ex-Starmer aide Chris Ward.
bloomberg.com/news/newslette… While Thangam Debonnaire says publicly she is confident about her chances against the Greens in Bristol Central, I’m told that privately she has viewed her preparation for government work as a “handover note.” bloomberg.com/news/newslette…

On an almost daily basis I see journalism about (never by) trans people repeating and spreading inaccurate information or responding to a partially imagined reality. It goes without saying that any discussion about trans rights needs to begin with facts! People talk about trans people accessing spaces based on their gender identity as a big scary dangerous change coming down the tracks. Trans people *already* live their lives and access spaces on the basis of self-ID. No one produces a birth certificate to go to the loo!