Very unusual intervention by Jeremy Hunt reflecting frustration in govt over the City watchdog as ministers try to boost growth in the financial services sector

Not bad for a club that has never won the county championship Somerset Cricket 🏆 🍺 🍎- maybe this year

Since Kate Forbes MSP is in the news again, do reread my interview with her from June last year for Seen and Unseen: seenandunseen.com/nobody-neutral…

- Labour party to kill the phrase 'levelling up' if it wins the general election

- but internal debate still taking place over what phrase to use instead

- 'Levelling-Up Department' likely to revert to its old name of 'Communities, Local Government and Housing' aka the Ronseal

NEW: Treasury committee chair warns western sanctions against Russia are failing to hamper its economy, as campaigners urge enforcement officials to take a tougher stance on blacklisted entities

Harriett Baldwin talks to Financial Times about improving sanctions 👇

ft.com/content/a9a583…

A magical place - Culbone on the Exmoor coast

Genuine question: in the olden days, there was a 'purdah period' before elections about govt announcements (eg welfare crackdowns)? Does that no longer apply - or is Mel Stride on party business?

Tory rebels threaten leadership coup if party suffers heavy losses in local elections

Plotters boast of a grid of interventions to destabilise Sunak and a whipping operation to drum up 'no confidence' letters from MPs

My story with @georgewparker

ft.com/content/38a91c…

Brass bands and wisteria - could only be an end of season game at ⁦Fulham Football Club⁩. Come on ⁦Crystal Palace F.C.⁩ - mid-table beckons

Really enjoyed our conversation - thank u - and if anyone feels like supporting me - I need it - I’ll be up scafell pike in a week! Pls donate here givewheel.com/fundraising/21…

FT political editor George Parker presents today’s episode of The Week in Westminster on BBC Radio 4 - tune in or catch up on demand bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00…

Coming up in a few mins on BBC Radio 4 #weekinwestminster looking at Rishi Sunak and defence, Rwanda, Frank Field’s life and an interview with martha lane fox in her remarkable mountain mission

Great tribute to Frank Field by his friend ⁦Liam Halligan⁩ ft.com/content/164818…

Fancy a wild weekend? Travel piece on Skagen - one of Europe’s most intriguing and least known (except to Danes) corners. Astonishing sunsets, shifting sands, two seas meeting across a spit tapering into the sea. Herrings. Glorious ⁦FT Weekend⁩ on.ft.com/4b8ApNa

Paging Financial Times and Inside Politics subscribers

Join Stephen Bush George Parker camilla cavendish & me for a lunchtime webinar on May 8 to discuss what the local election results tell us about who'll win the general election

Register & share your questions now at ft.com/ukwebinar

Are Kula Shaker the most underrated 90s band? Another triumph tonight in Camden. Derided as a “gap yah in India” pastiche they are always magnificent live. Pretty sure Hayley Mills there too

New - Glastonbury-style rush as Business Day tickets for Lab conference sell out in hours, execs paying £3,000 a pop. One lobbyist jokes he was told he would lose his job if he failed to get tickets. With ⁦Michael O'Dwyer⁩ on.ft.com/3UkvwtI

Really great commentary from Miranda Green on the drama unfolding at Holyrood

Chris Lowe from the Pet Shop Boys pitches for a peerage in a top Lunch with the FT with Janine Gibson. 'Go in there, have a nice lunch and go to sleep....It’s the ideal job for me.”
ft.com/content/b4e744…

Serious election coverage here from the excellent Jennifer Williams Anna Gross and Amy Borrett on Levelling Up. A big idea with seriously flawed execution