A look ahead at the key events leading the news agenda next week, from the team at Foresight News.
Leading the week
The government’s attempt to block its own inquiry from accessing Boris Johnson’s unredacted WhatsApp messages is heard at the High Court on Friday (June 30). Covid-19 Inquiry chair Baroness Hallett served the government with numerous deadlines to hand over messages, diaries and notebooks in May, but the Cabinet Office has applied for a judicial review of Hallett’s order, arguing that the inquiry’s powers don’t extend to compelling ‘unambiguously irrelevant’ material. While Johnson has offered to provide the unredacted messages himself, the government is arguing the case on principle amid reports that the inquiry could request similar material from serving cabinet ministers, including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The expedited hearing is scheduled to run over two days, continuing on Monday (July 3).
Ahead of the court hearing, the inquiry enters its third week with another set of high-profile politicians and health officials giving evidence on the UK’s pandemic resilience and preparedness. UKHSA chief executive Dame Jenny Harries is up first on Monday (June 26) to explain the role she played in pandemic preparation in her time as Deputy Chief Medical Officer between 2019 and 2021. The week’s blockbuster session comes on Tuesday (June 27), when pandemic-era Health Secretary Matt Hancock will have a chance to clarify his assertion that there was a ‘lack of concrete preparedness plans’ in place when he entered office in 2018. On Wednesday (June 28) the inquiry’s focus turns to Scotland, as a number of Scottish health officials give evidence, before beleaguered former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and her former Deputy John Swinney appear on Thursday (June 29) to answer questions on the differences between the Scottish and UK governments’ pandemic preparations.
A media circus is expected to descend on Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday (June 28) as Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey appears in person to stand trial on a string of sexual assault charges. The American Beauty star has denied 12 counts of sexual assault, indecent assault, and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent against four different men between 2001 and 2013, and has vowed to clear his name and restore his career. Netflix dropped Spacey from House of Cards in the wake of the charges, and producers of All the Money in the World even scrapped scenes with him, reshooting them with actor Christopher Plummer. But the actor said in a recent interview that he hopes people are ready to work with him again ‘the moment after’ the trial, which is scheduled to last four weeks. He faces a prison sentence if found guilty.
Related
There’ll be plenty of MPs nervously awaiting the publication this week of the new constituency maps which are due to be in place for the next general election, with the four UK boundary commissions due to send final recommendations to Parliament by Saturday (July 1). Analysis of interim proposals for the redrawing of the political map released last autumn suggested the Conservatives would benefit from seat changes in England, though the party’s polling difficulties since then may temper expectations. England is set to gain 10 seats, while Wales and Scotland both lose seats and the number in Northern Ireland remains the same. Some big names face the prospect of competing for a merged seat or scrambling around for a new constituency before 2024, with Cabinet members Ben Wallace and Suella Braverman, Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Lib Dem leader Ed Davey among those set to be affected by the changes.
Looking Abroad
European leaders gather in Brussels on Thursday and Friday (June 29-30) for yet another summit dominated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, though leaders will also discuss economic issues, migration, China, and July’s summit with Latin American and Caribbean leaders. The meeting comes as the bloc finally agreed its latest sanctions package against Russia after weeks of negotiations that were threatening to overshadow the summit, and follows a breakthrough earlier this month in talks to overhaul EU asylum rules. But leaders are still working through disagreements over the Commission’s recent proposals for new checks on exports and investments to China, as Brussels pushes for tighter controls while member states look to protect their trade links with Beijing.
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Leaders are also likely to use the summit to hold informal discussions on who should succeed Jens Stoltenberg as the next NATO chief amid suggestions that Stoltenberg could be asked to extend his term for a fourth time as allies struggle to agree on a replacement. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who was thought to be a contender for the job, told The Economist this week that he was out of the running as rumours about extending Stoltenberg’s term ramped up. Stoltenberg, meanwhile, is in Lithuania on Monday and Tuesday (June 26-27) as part of preparations for the Vilnius summit next month, where his successor is due to be unveiled.
Also look out for
June 26
- Inquest into the death of Nicola Bulley in the River Wyre
- Council motion to condemn Suella Braverman over Scampton migrant camp plans
- Ben Wallace addresses RUSI Land Warfare conference
- Benjamin Mendy’s rape retrial begins
- Hajj pilgrimage begins
June 27
- Keir Starmer addresses New Statesman Politics Live
- Launch window opens for Virgin Galactic’s first commercial spaceflight
- BoE’s Ben Stimson delivers speech on the bank’s climate transition plan
- Retailers at committee session on food price inflation
- RCN strike ballot result expected
- Strike ballot closes for BMA consultants in England
- Dame Elan Closs Stephens begins work as BBC Acting Chair
- Hearing in Donald Trump hush money case
June 28
- PMQs
- Illegal Migration Bill is back in the Lords
- Committee on Climate Change publishes 2023 Progress Report
- Second Ashes test begins
- Former IOPC director general in court charged with rape
- Man in court over NYC subway chokehold death
- Andrew Bailey and Jerome Powell at ECB central banking forum
- Eid al-Adha
June 29
- Ben Wallace addresses Chatham House London Conference
- Gillian Keegan speaks at Northern Powerhouse conference
- Sadiq Khan participates in State of London debate
- UNESCO holds extraordinary conference on US return
June 30
- UK National Accounts
- Wimbledon draw
- US Supreme Court term ends
- SAG-AFTRA contract expires as strike looms
July 1
- Energy price cap changes take effect
- London and Madrid pride parades
- Donald Trump holds rally in South Carolina
- UK assumes presidency of the UN Security Council
- Tour de France begins
July 2
- Emmanuel Macron begins state visit to Germany
- Annual Drumcree Orange Order service and parade
- Austrian F1 Grand Prix
Statistics, reports and results
June 26
- UNODC World Drug Report 2023
- Trading update from Associated British Foods
June 27
- BRC-Nielsen Shop Price Index
- Capital issuance (Bank of England)
- Results from: Walgreens Boots Alliance
June 28
- Global Peace Index 2023
- NAO report on condition of school buildings – NAO report
June 29
- Money and Credit statistics (Bank of England)
- Annual student loan forecasts for England
- Graduate labour market statistics
- Annual estimates on local authority greenhouse gas emissions
- Monthly energy trends and prices
- US Q1 GDP figures (third estimate)
- Results from: H&M, Nike
June 30
- UK Economic Accounts
- Quarterly stats on household spending (consumer trends)
- NAO report on the government’s programme of waste reforms
- Monthly property transaction figures
- SMMT car production figures
- BRC economic briefing report
Anniversaries and awareness days
June 26
- International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
- International Day in Support of Victims of Torture
- Global Week of Action Against Gun Violence (to July 2)
- Rabbit Awareness Week (to June 30)
- Eight years ago: US Supreme Court legalised gay marriage
June 27
- National Sunglasses Day
- One year ago: Dozens of migrants found dead in Texas truck
June 28
- Five years ago: Capital Gazette shooting in Maryland
- Tau Day
June 29
- World Industrial Design Day
June 30
- Three years ago: Hong Kong National Security Law came into force
- Social Media Day
- Wallace & Gromit’s Wrong Trousers Day
- Asteroid Day
July 1
- Ethnic Minority Cancer Awareness Month
- Independent Retailer Month
- International Day of Co-operatives
- Plastic Free July
July 2
- Thank You Day
- World UFO Day
- International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
The news diary is provided in association with Foresight News.
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