The big domestic story this morning is Andy Burnham. He’s now secured 322 Labour MP nominations in the first tally, running unopposed to replace Starmer. That’s not just a comfortable majority — it’s a near-coronation. Markets will be watching for any early signals on fiscal positioning, given Burnham’s record in Greater Manchester and his instinct for public investment. A leadership contest without a credible challenger removes uncertainty, but it also means less pressure on him to define an economic programme before taking office.

The Apollo acquisition of easyJet for £5.7bn is the deal to watch in UK markets today. Castlelake was the previous frontrunner and Apollo has trumped them. EasyJet’s board says it delivers a superior outcome for shareholders, which is the standard language for a recommended offer. This is a significant private equity move into European aviation and will sharpen focus on what Apollo sees in the low-cost carrier model at current valuations.

Police are investigating £500,000 in donations to Reform UK from Fiona Cottrell, mother of convicted fraudster George Cottrell. The donations — two tranches of £250,000 in May 2024 — are under scrutiny for potentially concealing a donation from an impermissible donor. This is live legal exposure for Reform at a moment when the party is trying to consolidate its position as the main opposition.

On the AI front, the FT is reporting that OpenAI and Google have been supplying AI services to Singapore-based subsidiaries of Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent — entities that are on US blacklists. This is a serious compliance story. If the reporting holds, both companies face regulatory and reputational exposure, and it will intensify Congressional scrutiny of how AI model access is being gated internationally.

Also at OpenAI: Fidji Simo, the company’s number two, is stepping down after an extended medical leave. The timing is awkward — OpenAI is eyeing an IPO and is in an intensifying enterprise battle with Anthropic. A leadership vacuum at that level, right now, is not nothing.

Separately, Tencent is set to become the largest shareholder in Manus, the AI agent start-up Meta acquired for $2bn, after Beijing ordered the reversal of that takeover. The deal being unwound under Chinese government direction is a clean illustration of how cross-border AI ownership is becoming a geopolitical instrument in both directions.

On Ukraine, the US has granted Kyiv licences to produce Patriot systems domestically. This is a structural shift rather than a one-off transfer — it changes Ukraine’s long-term air defence capacity and reduces dependence on US supply decisions.

US Q2 GDP second estimate is due today at 13:30 BST.

Sources

BBC News, Al Jazeera, Politico, Guardian, FT, TechCrunch, Ars Technica, The Economist — 2026-07-10