Israel’s efforts to influence the vote for the Eurovision Song Contest to improve its international reputation were far broader than previously known, a New York Times investigation found. Here is the inside story of the controversy that almost broke Eurovision. nyti.ms/3Rellcg

Repost if you’d like me to represent the UK at #Eurovision 2027.

As of today Ed Davey's European policy is *less pro European* than the two leading Labour contenders to be Prime Minister. This is an utterly mad bit of positioning. We Liberal Democrats are a pro-European party - so why on earth don't we say that we want to rejoin the EU?

Here’s the Bishop of Iceland dancing with a comedian who used to be Mayor of Reykjavík and is now a member of Parliament.

I want a Bond film where he's left MI6 and decides to go for a political career, then has a harrowing time as the party approvals panel start picking through his CV and he has to pretend to have actually done his cover jobs.

'Rule Britannia' 'Unite the Kingdom' 'Account based in Thailand'... 🤔

The BBC is using Tommy Robinson's own extremely charitable description of today's hate march – and whitewashing him as an "anti-Islam activist." But his politics are actually about race. And the media here is helping Robinson launder his extreme views. 🧵/14

Chinese newspaper cartoon (Today... 😂 )

A very good afternoon to the absolute hero who organised and parked this beauty in the middle of little Tommy’s far-right hate march. ❤️

One of those London buildings that can escape notice. John Oldrid Scott's S. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Bayswater. Opened June 1879.

Reform cock-up?

Today is Nakba Day. You cannot understand what lies at the heart of conflict in the Middle East unless you understand what happened to 85% of Palestinians in 1948. Here Eugene Rogan explains how hundred of thousands ended up as homeless refugees in Gaza

Councillors make a huge difference to the quality of life of local people and how local issues are dealt with. We need people from all backgrounds and experiences who reflect the communities they serve to put themselves forward for election. www.local.gov.uk/be-councillo...

Liberal England: Zack Polanski in a Yes to AV campaign video

It feels like AANHPI Month arrives this year under a shadow. My family was incarcerated during World War II — not because we had done anything wrong, but because of who we were. Fear was weaponized against us.

Most people go into politics for the right reasons, but poor choices from a few leave voters feeling fed up. Trust needs to be rebuilt from the ground-up. That's what @libdems.org.uk are seeking to do. www.midweekherald.co.uk/news/2609785...

A £90 billion Brexit black hole. An out-of-date manifesto. A government too timid to act. Chris Fox makes the case in the Lords for bolder leadership on Europe.

You may mock, but one day you’ll be laughing out of your other eyeball-antenna

Council elections 🤝 Danelaw

Two steps forward, one step back. Welcome to Ruritania.

How the local government numbers stand after the May 2026 elections: public.flourish.studio/visualisatio...

The final 2026 local election result are in and its our 8th year in a row of making gains. We are the voice for those who want real change, not dangerous populism. For those who want to build Britain up, not burn it all down.

Well that was quick...

“The documentary BBC News dropped, Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, won a BAFTA award. “Ramita Navai: 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘉𝘊 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥. “Silence and censorship is not journalism, the BBC is engaging in genocide denial.” — Dr Assal Rad

Teacher here, parents evening, single mum is deaf and son is signing for her. Lots of nods and smiles. Following year, independent sign language representative brought in as son was "falsifying" comments to his own benefit.

𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝖄𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖘 𝕬𝖌𝖔… The Eye delved into Christopher Harborne's background - his dual identity, his cryptocurrency connections, his enormous political donations - long before his undeclared £5 million personal gift to Nigel Farage. From the Private Eye archive. Issue 1511, December 2019.

Backlash growing over Richard Tice's response to Reform councillor who said Nigerians should be melted down to fill potholes. Glenn Gibbins has now been suspended by the party, but not before Tice dismissed the row as "smearing and sneering". www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/richar...

*Ages of Avebury* for #StandingStoneSunday ⏬️

It doesn’t.

🤡

Ed Davey calls on Labour leadership contenders to drop red lines on EU

1/ Tear gas was created to incapacitate grown men. So when I started seeing reports of kids hurt by tear gas deployed by federal immigration agents, I wondered how often it was happening. My colleagues and I started to count:

Invoice for buying up Britain. @theobserveruk.bsky.social

If Labour is going to spend the next few months arguing about who should be PM, they should at least agree on one thing: these damaging red lines on Europe have to go. A customs union is vital to grow our economy and to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.

We think GB News presenter Camilla Tominey needs a calculator, and a map… 🤦‍♀️

If you like data, here is something interesting for you: Bridget Phillipson interview on LK: 9m 40" LK number of interruptions/talking over: 31 Richard Tice interview on LK: 8m 23" LK number of interruptions/talking over: 9

Hungary’s parliament sings “Ode to Joy” — the anthem of Europe — after Péter Magyar is sworn in as prime minister. Hungary is once again a proud member of the European Union.

When in Tewkesbury I never fail to go to see the Tom Denny stained glass - today, with the sun shining through, they looked fabulous! #StainedGlass #TewkesburyAbbey

8 sets of gains in a row - it's our best ever winning streak at local elections. We are the party for those who want to build Britain up, not burn it all down.

All together now! ... "But Nige did take five million quid, and Nige would take five million more!" 💥💥💥 #RefUKkers

How about this as some headlines: *Reform went backwards on last year *Results in line with their falling poll score *They underperformed their polls in Scotland *If this had been a General, they wouldn't have won a majority even when the govt is phenomenally unpopular Bit of a different story?

Zelensky has issued a presidential decree “allowing” Russia to hold its annual Victory Day parade in Moscow. The decree provides exact coordinates of the Red Square that shall be excluded from the list of Ukrainian strike targets. Phenomenal power play.

East Surrey County Council Results (new council) 🔶 LDM: 40 (+34) 🌳 CON: 10 (-34) 🌍️ GRN: 8 (+4) ➡️ RFM: 5 (+5) 🏘️ LOC: 5 (-9) ⚪️ IND: 4 (=) Liberal Democrat GAIN Changes based on notional results from previous councils.

Liberal Democrats GAIN West Surrey 🔶 56 Councillors 💪 34 gains

As we see results of the local elections across England continue to come in, it’s clear that First Past the Post is failing voters – with some councils bearing little resemblance to how people actually voted. It doesn’t need to be this way. It’s time to scrap First Past the Post in England.

British politics is resembling the rest of Europe: • Multi-party competition has replaced two-party dominance • Challengers are on the rise, esp. the populist right • Political realignment centres on identity politics (incl Brexit) But FPTP is poorly suited to this fragmentation

Tories campaigned against the 4-day work week and record housebuilding in South Cambridgeshire The people YEARN for competent, efficient, YIMBY LibDems 🏡🚀

Spiralling global temperatures (1850-2026) It is exactly 10 years since I first put this animated graphic of changes in global temperature online. #ClimateSpiral It instantly went viral. People watched it over and over again. It still offers the power to shock a decade on.

Best candidate name so far: Oliver Cromwell Khan.

Liberal England: Is the UK becoming more corrupt? A conversation between Norman Baker and Duncan Hames