Tuesday briefing: What challenges would Ed Miliband face as chancellor?

Ed Miliband speaking at the National Growth Debate in April. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA View image in fullscreen Ed Miliband speaking at the National Growth Debate in April. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA Tuesday briefing: What challenges would Ed Miliband face as chancellor? In today’s newsletter: Former Reasons to Be Cheerful guests on the challenges facing the presumptive next occupant of No 11 Downing Street Good morning. Does anybody else remember Reasons to Be Cheerful ? The podcast was hosted by radio presenter Geoff Lloyd and Ed Miliband, during what has been unkindly described as his wilderness years, after he stepped down as Labour leader in 2015. I flipping loved that podcast. It started in 2017, soon after my son was born, and I have fond memories of driving across the country with a pooping infant, listening to Ed and Geoff discuss ideas to fix the world. It gave me hope my kid might grow up into a half-decent future. Barely a decade later, Miliband is back on political centre stage. Everywhere you look there’s a briefing from this former chief adviser , or that union leader , or an ally of Larry the Cat saying that Andy Burnham must make him chancellor, or that, if he does, it will bring unmitigated disaster to the country. But here on First Edition we thumb our noses at conventional Westminster reporting. Instead, I’ve gone back through the Reasons to Be Cheerful archive, and asked a few regular podcast guests about the challenges facing the next occupant of No 11 Downing Street. First, this morning’s headlines. Five big stories UK politics | Nigel Farage has been accompanied by his friend George Cottrell, a convicted fraudster, to numerous Reform events and fundraisers and on a trip to Abu Dhabi, raising questions about the claim that he has no official role in the party. World Cup | Donald Trump said he personally asked Fifa president Gianni Infantino to review the red card shown to USA striker Folarin Balogun, saying he believed the dismissal was unfair but insisting he did not pressure football’s governing body to overturn the suspension. UK news | One of the UK’s most horrific and shocking child custody scandals was collectively ignored for decades because the victims were working-class boys from the north of England, a government minister has said. Immigration | A Jamaican man who has lived more than half his life in the UK is facing deportation to his home country in one of the first cases since new anti-immigration measures were announced in last week’s immigration bill. Israel | A British charity is funding a religious school at the heart of expansion plans for the illegal Israeli settlement in the Palestinian city of Hebron. In depth: ‘The idea he’s going to be fiscally irresponsible is just stupid’ View image in fullscreen Andy Burnham and Ed Miliband outside No 10 in 2024. Photograph: Chris J Ratcliffe/Reuters No wonder Andy Burnham prefers a Reddit AMA when every Westminster political reporter is gripped by feveris