Keir Starmer has described his shake-up in Downing Street as the "second phase" of his government rather than a "reshuffle".

In a radio interview with the BBC's Matt Chorley, the prime minister said his focus was on "delivery, delivery, delivery", admitting that he was "frustrated" by the pace of his government's progress so far. "I do want to go further and faster," he said.

What did the commentators say?
The PM will be hoping that his "new recruits and sideways moves" will give Downing Street "a clear chain of command and sense of direction", said Patrick Maguire in The Times. An insider told him that "this is about bringing the grown-ups in". But changes to the machinery of government "quicken no pulses outside of the Westminster village", said Maguire, and are unlikely to lead to "any imminent change in this administration's political fortunes". 

The shake-up is "significant because of what it says about how Starmer sees his premiership so far", said the BBC's Henry Zeffman. "It is, implicitly, an admission that the first year and a bit of his tenure has not exactly gone to plan. And this is his attempt to ensure the next year and a bit goes a lot better."

Yet the "churn" of personnel has "fuelled questions among Starmer's MPs about his overall vision – or lack of it," said Dan Bloom on Politico. "We are like a piece of driftwood floating on the ocean, looking at the view," an unnamed Labour MP said. "It's a nice view but where are we going?"

What next?
Party conferences season is about to kick off, with the Budget to follow later this autumn. Until then, "feverish speculation will continue about the size of the fiscal black hole created by policy U-turns and the likely downgrade to the economic and fiscal forecast, and how Rachel Reeves will choose to fill it," said Hannah White at the Institute for Government.

Polling shows that phase one of Keir Starmer's premiership has "not impressed the public". And "if phase two – the delivery phase – is to be any different, then the prime minister needs the latest No. 10 reorganisation to deliver for him".

Schools and companies are teaching Gen Z how to talk on the phone in a bid to help young people who lack the confidence to make professional calls. Telephobia, an anxiety around making and receiving phone calls, appears to be a growing problem, with research by comparison site Uswitch suggesting that a quarter of people aged 18 to 34 never pick up.

'Alarming etiquette'
Some schools offered phone coaching ahead of A-level results day last month, in case students were "forced" to speak to university admissions officers after failing to get their predicted grades, said The Independent. And the Daily Mail reported in March that Gen Z staff at a leading UK finance firm were being "trained to speak over the phone" because "young workers are too scared to talk on their devices".

The problem stems from a fear of the unknown, said Liz Baxter, a careers advisor at Nottingham College, on CNBC. When their phone rings, young people think: "I don't know who's on the end of it. I don't know how to deal with it." 

In a viral tweet last month, a recruiter said that when she calls young applicants at an agreed time, they often wait for her to speak first, instead of saying "hello". Replies to her tweet suggested that many others had experienced this "alarming etiquette", said Business Insider.

'Personal space'
It's not just the younger generation dodging calls who have "killed the phone call", said The Independent. "I would never call a person randomly out of the blue, just like I wouldn't knock on their front door unannounced," a 47-year-old woman told the paper. "It's just not respectful of their personal space or time."

Up to 63% of UK adults have experienced phone fear, according to a 2020 study by cloud-based contact agency Natterbox, and 26% said they would only make a call in an emergency. Another survey, last May by the Buffalo Trace Distillery, found that a third of British adults "panic" when their phone rings unexpectedly.

Phone training could be a "sensible way" to deal with this "growing trend", said HuffPost. And "honestly", most of us could do with a "refresher on how to talk to one another a little better".

Peta activists dressed as monkey prisoners stage a protest outside the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Hong Kong. The rights group has accused Thailand's government of turning a blind eye to the use and abuse of the animals as "picking machines" in the country's coconut industry.

Peter Parks / AFP / Getty Images

"Nothing worth having comes easy: the phrase rings especially true when it comes to overnighting in a bothy," said Grace Cook in the Financial Times. The (usually free-to-use) shelters have "no running water, no bathroom, no heating and no electricity". But they're increasingly used by hikers looking for a place to camp overnight deep in the countryside and "disconnect" from their hectic lives.

There are more than 100 bothies in the UK, mostly in Scotland but also in rural England and Wales. Most of these tiny huts are maintained by the Mountain Bothies Association and are free to use but can't be booked in advance – so it's a case of turning up and seeing who is already there (always bring a tent in case you need to set up camp outside). The National Trust also operates 11 bothies, which can be reserved online, with prices starting at £15 a night.

Anyone camping in a bothy must adhere to the Mountain Bothies Association's Bothy Code, leaving the shelter clean and tidy, and respecting other visitors. "That is, if you can find it," said Hugh Tucker on BBC Travel.

A phone signal isn't guaranteed in many of the remote locations and, "even with a well-marked map", your chosen bothy "can prove elusive".
The people you may encounter is also "unpredictable". When I arrived at the Nant Syddion bothy in Wales' Cambrian Mountains, I found "two cyclists in the main room", so rolled out my mat upstairs before joining them. We made a meal together and then stories began to "flow" around the fire as we sipped whisky; socialising is "one of the best parts of bothying" (although you can keep to yourself if you prefer).

Short attention spans are ruining politics
James Kanagasooriam in The Times
"In the economy of clicks" and "eyeballs on screens", writes polling expert James Kanagasooriam, "attention is the new gold". But our attention is so "limited" that we don't see the "lack of honest trade-offs". Politicians make "big promises today" for which we then "get hit downstream". Our "buy now, pay later politics" is creating "huge liabilities", and trust in democracy "is fraying" because politicians don't "focus" on doing things "for the long term".

Why are the tabloids so enraged about every aspect of Angela Rayner's life?
Zoe Williams in The Guardian
It's "hard to keep up with the tabloids' rage at Angela Rayner", writes Zoe Williams. The deputy PM has been criticised for "being in Hove too much and too little", for going to Glyndebourne, "going in the sea", and for allegedly using her legs to distract Boris Johnson. "It has never been clearer: this is a class war, mediated through one person." But all the "coverage telling Rayner not to exist" simply "makes me glad that she does".

The Question of Israel's Right to Exist is a Red Herring
Ian S. Lustick in Foreign Policy
People ask "whether Israel any longer has a right to exist" because of the "genocidal levels of violence and destruction" in Gaza, writes US political scientist Ian S. Lustick. I'd say Israel does have such a right, but its "regime of Jewish-Zionist privilege may not". That regime has "failed to produce governments capable of making peace" with its neighbours and may have "lost its ability to demand that others respect" the "decisions its governments make".