Morning Report – May 24th

O-BAM-A! O-BAM-A! O-BAM-A! With the sound of Irish chanting ringing in his ears in a way he has barely experienced since 2008, Barack Obama heads to the UK today for a two day visit. The Queen will take on the role of official host to the US President, but Cameron will want to make as much political capital out of the visit as possible. He’s already started by issuing a joint foreign policy statement on the Arab spring(£). Nick Clegg will also get a meeting with the President, but we’ve not seen anything yet that suggests Ed Miliband will be getting a meeting. If so that would be unusual – opposition leaders are usually granted meetings with major dignitaries. Before Obama even arrived here though he had lavished praise on the NHS and Gordon Brown. Watch out Dave…

There was a section of Ed Miliband’s speech yesterday that went largely overlook, but the Mirror have picked up on it this morning. Ed Miliband promised to build 25,000 “homes for all” in his first year as Prime Minister, funded by a bankers’ bonus tax. Populism all round it may be, but it’s a concrete policy, so feel free to make the most of it.

Housing will be a bit issue in the London elections next year. Over at Political Betting they’re asking if Ed Miliband will suffer if Ken Livingstone loses. The answer is probably yes and no. The mayoral race is all about personality – and Boris could win even if the Tories are unpopular – but that won’t stop the knives coming out for Ed. That London race is crucial.

And keep June 30th in your diary – major strike action looks to be on the way as up to one million workers plan a day of action against government cuts(£). This could well be the beginning of a series of strikes aimed at hitting the government hard. How will Labour react?