Morning Report – June 23rd

As the Refounding Labour consultation comes to a close – and ahead of a big meeting of the National Policy Forum on Saturday – Liam Byrne is interviewed by the Independent, and admits that Labour made mistakes in power, and must own up to them if we are to regain the public’s trust. The issues he highlights – government spending, welfare, immigration and financial regulation (especially high pay), are now new. But to see them all together, and espoused by the person who is leading Labour’s policy review, suggests that these are now seen as the key areas for Labour’s revival.

The policy review itself is covered in great detail by the Guardian today. There is too much of it to cover here, but this article by Patrick Wintour is a useful precis – both in terms of the flaws of the policy review process (too many reviews, overlapping remits etc) and what comes next.

After a much improved performance from Ed Miliband at PMQs yesterday – his secon victory in a row – has Ed Miliband escaped from the rut that threatened to consume his leadership. Mehdi Hasan – not exactly the Labour leader’s favourite journalist at the moment – has written for the Guardian on “steely Eddie Miliband”. But will it catch on?

Is Lord Hutton changing tack? Last week he was beating the drum for the government’s pension reforms, now he’s urging negotiation with the unions and warning that there could be an exodus from public sector pension schemes if contributions are raised too much. A u-turn? It’s too soon to say…