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Sat, 19 July 2025
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Rob Merrick

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Will Keir Starmer's 'Iron Fist' Party Management Backfire?
Political parties
By Rob Merrick
Will Keir Starmer's "Iron Fist" Party Management Backfire?
One clear-cut trend of modern politics is that back bench MPs are becoming increasingly rebellious. How will Keir Starmer’s administration keep control of its huge majority? Rob Merrick investigates
Building Blocks: How will Labour get housebuilding on track?
Communities
By Rob Merrick
Building Blocks: How will Labour get housebuilding on track?
Keir Starmer has promised to ‘bulldoze’ the planning system to spur a boom in housebuilding. But with little detail, are cracks beginning to show in Labour’s proposals for housing reform. Rob Merrick reports
Sentencing: Is Labour's prisons policy just a 'blank page'?
Home affairs
By Rob Merrick
Sentencing: Is Labour's prisons policy just a 'blank page'?
We are on course to imprison more than 100,000 people within the next three years but don’t have the space. Rob Merrick finds a troubling lack of answers about what comes next. Illustrations by Tracy Worrall
Claiming the centre ground - the Damian Green interview
Political parties
By Rob Merrick
Claiming the centre ground - the Damian Green interview
Are the One Nation Conservatives quietly shifting the Tory Party’s politics back to the centre ground? Rob Merrick meets Damian Green to hear how they are influencing the party behind the scenes.
A bad track record: How the promise of light rail transport systems has been forgotten
Transport
By Rob Merrick
A bad track record: How the promise of light rail transport systems has been forgotten
The government has promised to look at how light rail can give commuters around the country reliable and clean transport options. But a new scheme hasn’t opened since 2004. Rob Merrick explains why we can’t get them up and running
A trade secret: What are the UK’s aims as it pursues new deals?
Economy
By Rob Merrick
A trade secret: What are the UK’s aims as it pursues new deals?
What are the UK’s aims in the pursuit of new trade deals? It seems such a simple question, yet ministers are unwilling, or unable, to answer it, according to a growing band of critics. Rob Merrick digs into the issue.
Common People? When Britpop and politics met
Culture
By Rob Merrick
Common People? When Britpop and politics met
Thirty years ago, in 1993, a new musical movement emerged that led to a flirtation between New Labour and Britpop. Rob Merrick takes a look at what this unlikely interaction between politics and popular music tell us about their relationship