A week for re-thinks?

On Thursday, Summerset looked primed to go nuclear with Hinkley Point C. Involved parties were to sign on the dotted line on Friday, but the British government announced it needed more time to review the project. Former Business Secretary Sir Vince Cable has said what might explain Prime Minister Theresa May’s “objections” are her apparent concerns over Chinese ownership of British power stations and former Chancellor George Osborne’s “gung-ho” approach to Chinese investment. Downing Street sources accepted there may be “all sorts of theories”, but having a new PM is kind of a “big deal” and justified a review.

Elsewhere, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn called on his MPs to “think again” over a reported attempt to split the party. The Daily Telegraph claimed leading Labour “moderates” are planning to elect their own leader and shadow cabinet in the House of Commons if Corbyn retains the party leadership, and even trigger a legal challenge for ownership of the party name. A defiant Corbyn said there is “no alternative… we are Labour”.

Brexit may have thrown a spanner in the works for policy-makers, but one thing the British and Irish Prime Ministers seem agreed on is the will to preserve the free movement of people between the UK and Irish Republic. Theresa May and Enda Kenny met in Downing Street this week to discuss the implications Brexit might have on Northern Ireland. She has already said there is no going back on June’s referendum – Brexit means Brexit – but claims no-one wants to see a return to the “borders of the past” between the two jurisdictions.

Some schools across Northern Ireland have called for the extension of a cancelled government education scheme which sought to help pupils in primary and post-primary struggling to reach basic standards in English and maths. The programme, cut due to lack of funding, was reported by the Department of Education this week to have helped around 19,000 pupils and provided 310 teaching jobs.

Last but not least, the BBC reported Downing Street has a third cat. Gladstone joins Larry, who first appeared in 2011, and Palmerston who was brought in earlier this year. On Saturday, Gladstone the cat lands Treasury job ranked third in BBC Politics headlines, just behind the Labour Party rift and above Liberal Democrats calls for Turkey to be suspended from Nato.