A look ahead at the key events leading the news agenda next week, from the team at Foresight News.
Leading the week
The shocking downfall of former BBC newsreader Huw Edwards comes to a close on Monday (September 16), when he is sentenced at Westminster Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to making indecent images of children.
Edwards was the highest-paid journalist and presenter at the BBC when he was alleged to have paid money to a teenage boy for explicit images in July 2023, though the Metropolitan Police said at the time that Edwards was not under criminal investigation. The presenter went off-air when the scandal hit as he sought treatment for depression, but didn’t officially resign until April this year.
On July 29, the Met confirmed Edwards had been charged over child abuse images shared with him on WhatsApp between December 2020 and April 2022, including seven category A images, the most serious classification. Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring previously said the starting point for sentencing would be a year-long jail term, although there are mitigating factors. Edwards’ sentencing comes at a time when the BBC is plagued by allegations of bullying and misconduct, including flagship programme Strictly Come Dancing, which returned to screens over the weekend.
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After an action-packed couple of weeks, Westminster has temporarily been abandoned and seaside towns up and down the country are bracing for the arrival of political activists, businesses, lobbyists and assorted hangers-on for what’s set to be a very watchable conference season.
Keir Starmer’s speech to the TUC conference this week, the first by a sitting prime minister for 15 years, is a sign that we’re in a very different political landscape to this time last year, but the focus next week will be on two of the smaller success stories of 2024. Labour’s conference gets underway on Sunday (September 22), but first up are the Liberal Democrats, still riding the wave of one of the most meme-friendly election campaigns in recent memory but now facing the challenge of turning a record number of MPs into an effective Parliamentary force and alternative opposition.
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The party may not go as far as the Greens in accusing the Israeli government of genocide, but a motion on the Gaza conflict on Monday (September 16) will give an idea of the Lib Dems’ future direction of travel on that issue. Ed Davey may be forgiven some grandstanding in his leader’s speech on Tuesday (September 17) after guiding his party to a record-breaking electoral performance, but his focus is likely to be on how the Lib Dems can continue to chip away at Conservative in-fighting and growing dissatisfaction with the new Labour government to capitalise at next year’s local elections.
On the other end of the political spectrum, the Reform UK gathering is sure to be a triumphant affair after the party’s own history-making election. Party leader Nigel Farage is enjoying his role as thorn in the side of both Starmer and temporary Tory leader Rishi Sunak, and his speech on Friday (September 20) will be the main draw. But the most important part of this year’s conference may be the organisational day on Saturday (September 21), as Farage and his fellow MPs look to translate their own momentum – and ongoing strong polling – into a viable seat-winning strategy for the next election and beyond.
It’s been another mixed week of economic news for the government, with the nominal gains from Tuesday’s vote on cutting winter fuel allowance payments offset by Wednesday’s stagnant GDP figures. With the Budget looming, every new piece of information is being considered in the context of its potential impact on Rachel Reeves’ decision-making. Next week’s statistical releases will shed light in some key areas for the chancellor, with inflation on Wednesday (September 18) and public sector finances on Friday (September 20) set to reveal the shape of price growth and public borrowing for the penultimate time before October 30. More notably, policymakers at the Bank of England will announce the final pre-Budget interest rate decision on Thursday (September 19), a day after the US Federal Reserve is predicted to unveil a first rate cut since 2022, though the most impactful announcement to come out of the meeting could be on the Bank’s bond sales process – a decision to speed up the quantitative tightening programme could, according to The Times, free up as much as much £10 billion in fiscal headroom.
Looking abroad
US President Joe Biden hosts Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for a Quad Summit in Delaware on Saturday (September 21). The personal touch of hosting the leaders in his hometown – the first time Biden has met foreign leaders there – may be an effort to make up for the last-minute cancellation of last year’s summit in Australia, when Biden had to stay home to oversee debt ceiling negotiations.
Moving the summit from India, which was due to host this year, will also help cement the elevation of the Quad and its counterbalancing of China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific as part of Biden’s foreign policy legacy as he moves into the final months of his presidency. Leaders will use the gathering, which comes just ahead of the UN General Assembly in New York, to discuss maritime and cyber security, climate change, natural disaster response and infrastructure.
The German government is gearing up for a tense week as new border controls come into effect on Monday (September 16) aimed at tackling illegal migration and bolstering internal security following a series of knife attacks attributed to asylum seekers. The policy has raised serious questions over the future of Europe’s free-movement Schengen Area, which has come under pressure as irregular migration flows have increased and ratcheted up tensions between member states.
The announcement came in the wake of shock victories for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in state elections in Thuringia and Saxony (where it came second) on September 1. All three parties in Germany’s ruling coalition suffered heavy losses, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD, with immigration and fury over the attacks seen as the catalyst for the AfD’s gains. On Sunday (September 22), a third state election is held in Brandenburg, where the AfD now tops the polls and 40% of voters say asylum and immigration are the most important political problem facing the country.
Elections also get underway in Sri Lanka on Saturday (September 21), where President Ranil Wickremesinghe is pushing for re-election against former ally and opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and outsider candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake. The vote is the first since an economic crisis in 2022 saw the country default on its foreign debt amid food and fuel shortages and sky-high inflation, which ultimately led to the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and it’s seen as a referendum on the economic policies Wickremesinghe has implemented to rescue the economy.
Premadasa has pledged to renegotiate the country’s IMF debt restructuring program to ease the burden on the poor, who he says have borne the brunt of austerity measures while the wealthy avoid taxation. Dissanayake, meanwhile, appeals to Sri Lankans eager for a fresh start, with no links to the Rajapakasa family or the United National Party that has dominated Sri Lankan politics since independence.
Also look out for…
September 16
- Manchester City’s FFP hearing expected to get underway
- UN Security Council discusses the humanitarian situation in Gaza
- Misconduct hearing for Met officer who put taser to Black boy’s neck
- New Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian delivers first major press conference
- Oral arguments begin in TikTok challenge to US ban or divestment
- US Marine Board of Investigation begins hearings into Titan submersible
September 17
- New Labour General Secretary announced
- Ofgem CEO at Energy UK Annual Conference
- Former Chief Nursing Officers at Covid-19 inquiry
- Donald Trump holds town hall in Michigan
- Ursula von der Leyen announces new European Commissioner portfolios
- European Parliament discusses support for Ukraine
- UEFA Champions League group phase begins
- Super eclipse moon
September 18
- CAT hearing in £7bn class action suit against Google on behalf of UK consumers
- Donald Trump holds rally in New York
- Harvey Weinstein arraigned on fresh charges in New York
- Viktor Orban addresses European Parliament
- ECJ judgment in Google challenge to €1.5bn antitrust fine
- Legislative assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir
- 10 years ago: Scottish independence referendum
September 19
- BMA strike mandate expires for junior doctors
- UN Security Council discusses Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- EU and Chinese officials meet on EV tariffs
- A Very Royal Scandal: Prince Andrew drama airs
- CMA call for evidence into Oasis ticket sale closes
September 20
- DUP Annual Conference
- First early in-person voting begins in US election
- Katy Perry releases new album
September 21
- Stop the War protest ahead of Labour conference
- NEU snap ballot opens on government pay offer for teachers
- Anthony Joshua v Danel Dubois at Wembley Stadium
- Leeds v Cardiff: Sol Bamba tribute
- Munich Oktoberfest opens
September 22
- UN Summit of the Future
- Prince Harry visits New York for UNGA week
- Formula One: Singapore Grand Prix
- Autumn begins
- 30 years ago: first episode of Friends aired
Statistics, reports and results
September 16
- Lords committee report on statutory inquiries
- Charities Aid Foundation corporate giving report
- Rightmove house price index
- EU foreign trade statistics
September 17
- OEUK Emissions 2024 report
- Childhood vaccination coverage for England, 2023/24
- Light rail and tram statistics, 2023/24
- Monthly figures on household benefit cap
- Register of political donations
- Results from: Kingfisher
September 18
- Oxfam report on UK’s biggest polluters
- Producer price inflation
- Private rents and house prices
- EU inflation
- Argentina Q2 GDP
- Indonesia and Brazil interest rate decisions
September 19
- Rail passenger numbers and crowding figures for 2023
- Sexual and reproductive health services in England, 2023/24
- Bank of England agents’ summary of business conditions
- First OBR forecast round for Budget
- Turkey and South Africa interest rate decisions
- Results from: Ocado, NEXT, FedEx
September 20
- UK retail sales
- OBR public finance release
- Fitch Ratings sovereign review of the UK
- GfK consumer confidence barometer
- Japan interest rate decision
- World Alzheimer’s Report
Anniversaries and awareness days:
September 16
- Two years ago: Mahsa Amini died in Iran
- Owain Glyndwr Day
- Mexican Independence Day
- National Guacamole Day
- International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer
- Keiro No Hi (Respect For The Aged Day), Japan
- World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel (to September 22)
- European Mobility Week (to September 22)
- National Coding Week (to September 22)
- Jeans for Genes week (to September 22)
September 17
- 80 years ago: Operation Market Garden began
- World Patient Safety Day
September 18
- National Fitness Day
September 19
- International Talk Like a Pirate Day
- Cask Ale Week (to September 29)
September 20
- The Great British Beach Clean (to September 29)
- British Food Fortnight (to Oct 6)
September 21
- World Alzheimer’s Day
- Zero Emissions Day
- International Day of Peace
- Iran Holy Defence Week begins
- Armenian Independence Day
September 22
- 10 years ago: Hong Kong student class boycott began
- September Equinox
- World Car Free Day
- World Rivers Day
- International Coastal Cleanup
- World Rhino Day
- National Proposal Day
The news diary is provided in association with Foresight News.
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