Wednesday briefing: Reform did for the Tories. Could Labour face the same threat from the left?

In today's newsletter: Jeremy Corbyn's upstart faction aims to provide hope in a parliament of despair". Now there are questions over whether it could be the first step to a more formal challenge

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Good morning. If you worried that there weren't enough rival factions in Westminster at the moment, you can relax: Jeremy Corbyn has formed a new one. Pulling together under the banner of the Independent Alliance, five leftwing MPs who stood as independents in July's election say they aim to provide hope in a parliament of despair" - by fighting to keep the winter fuel allowance, scrap the two-child benefit cap and provide a voice for Palestinians.

At a stroke, the new grouping has as many MPs as Reform UK, and more than the Greens - and even though they haven't said so, many will be wondering whether this could be the first step towards something larger: a new party of the left, forming from the ashes of Corbynism and presenting a serious danger to Labour's chances at the next election.

Immigration and asylum | Six children and a pregnant woman are among at least 12 people who died after a boat carrying dozens of asylum seekers to the UK was ripped open" in one of the worst Channel tragedies since the small boats crisis began.

Grenfell Tower inquiry | Companies and public authorities involved in the Grenfell Tower refurbishment are braced for wide-ranging criticisms when the final public inquiry report on the 2017 disaster is released at 11am today. Read a primer on what to expect below.

Ukraine war | A Russian attack on a military educational institute in the central Ukrainian city of Poltava on Tuesday killed at least 47 people and injured more than 206, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

Lucy Letby | Scribbled notes by the neonatal nurse Lucy Letby, including the phrase I am evil I did this", were written on the advice of counsellors to deal with extreme stress, the Guardian has learned. Amid questions over the safety of Letby's conviction for murdering seven babies, a public inquiry is set to begin receiving evidence next week.

Libraries | More than 180 UK council-run libraries have closed or been handed over to volunteer groups since 2016, new data shows. The most deprived communities were around four times more likely to lose a library than the richest.