He’s dropped the ‘security’ claim already. Tricky to sustain when you’ve been buying houses for cash…

It’s time for MPs to be accountable, rather than leaving it up to convention: Codify rules for MPs' attendance in Parliament & their constituency in statute petition.parliament.uk/petitions/76...

I was v disappointed by Starmer’s speech- imo, too parochial, carefully-parsed, short term political speech hoping to save his own skin; when what we need (have always needed) is a bolder strategy to save the whole country. I’d probably make a lousy politician, but here’s what I wish he’d said:

His closest aide sentenced to 10.5 years for spying for the Russians. Failing to disclose £5m donation and how he bought a house in Clacton. A decade of school antisemitism and racism. Cavorting with Neo Nazis and planning mass deportations. What is the media love about Farage?

The only way Reform can be stopped in the local elections if people vote tactically. So whatever you do, don’t go to StopReformUK.vote to check who to vote for in your area and DO NOT share this.

Given the lack of BBC coverage of all the really dire Refuk candidates that actually passed their vetting, I'm surprised Farage hasn't tweeted a 'thank you for your inattention to this matter' message.

Reform are calling for Starmer to resign because "he should have known" that Mandelson had not passed the vetting procedure. Presumably Reform will be announcing Tice's resignation because he should have known he was falsely claiming £98,000 in tax exemptions.

NEW: Richard Tice failed to pay almost £100,000 in corporation tax, benefiting his investment company which made large donations to Reform UK. First time Reform's deputy leader's tax affairs can be directly linked to finances of Nigel Farage's party.

It is absolutely correct for Democrats to demand that Swalwell resign from Congress and drop out of the race for governor of California. Same for Republicans forcing Gonzales to resign. It's the right thing. So, when are Republicans going to hold Trump, a much worse offender, to the same standard?

Donald Trump bragged about grabbing women by the pussy. He was credibly accused of sexual assault by 20+ women. He is alleged to have raped at least one child. He was found liable of sexual abuse. And Republicans made him president. Twice. They don’t get to pearl clutch now.

CHRISTIAN NATIONALISTS: "We need more religion in politics." [Pope uses religion to criticize Trump.] CHRISTIAN NATIONALISTS: "Keep your religion out of our politics!!!"

Vice President of the US: “The US is done paying for and sending Ukraine weapons. We’re out of this business.” Fine. And Europe is done pretending. So here is the truth: The Trump administration is a disgrace to the ENTIRE world.

BBC News leading all its bulletins on demands by former Government advisor Lord Robertson for more defence spending, without at any point mentioning his current paid senior role for US defence lobbyists

Their buyer’s remorse is pathetic & meaningless. The continuing promotion & prominence of inexplicably self-confident idiots, aka ‘Brexiters’, will undermine our national interest for generations.

Never in the history of our species has such enormous physical power been so recklessly, casually and clumsily wielded & threatened in the world. It is blindingly contrary to humanity’s welfare that this orange menace is still permitted to occupy the presidency. Shame on the GOP for enabling this.

To be clear, we totally can pretend it's not our war on the simple basis that it isn't.

If media outlets want to give Farage hours of airtime to talk shit, maybe they could also spend the same amount of time properly scrutinising him for all the ways in which he cheats, lies, grifts and generally does nothing but harm to our country and our democracy. For balance.

Half a million strong. Together. The biggest march against the far-right in British history.

The UK’s government has announced its first ever citizens' assembly. The People's Panel for Digital ID will take place in May and June and be made up of 100 to 120 people from across the UK. Read more in Monitor 92 👉 www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo....

VICTORY AT ST. JAMES' PARK 😍

So it turns out Reform are laundering their donations through crypto, before converting them into cash, hiding the original source of the money. So who is really funding Nigel Farage and Reform UK? observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Mueller was a decorated combat Marine who leaves behind a wife and two children. There is no defending this. Trump is scum.

Mueller served as a Marine Corps officer during the Vietnam War, receiving a Bronze Star for heroism and a Purple Heart, General Fucking Bonespurs.

Of all the complaints against Starmer, the most absurd is that it's "weak" to have a Cabinet that doesn't just rubber-stamp what The Leader wants on questions of war & peace. I'd take Cabinet govt - in which ministers kick the tyres of big decisions - over the kneel-and-obey model of Farage any day

FT comments section this morning - saying what everyone else is thinking, right?

⚠️ Natasha Tsangarides, an associate director at Freedom from Torture, said: “Yusuf’s speech was a grotesque display of ethnonationalist, authoritarian cruelty. His divisive and dangerous proposals threaten to divide families and wreak terror and chaos in our communities.”

These people are poison. They will unleash racist thugs on the streets of this country and call it security. They will subjugate us to the US and call it patriotism. They must be stopped. There is no more important task in politics.

So faced with a winnable election in a previously safe Labour seat Nigel Farage picked: - A Tommy Robinson-backed oddball, with a history of racism and alleged sexual harassment - A holocaust-denying campaign manager who said he would "never touch a Jewish woman" Reform is not a serious operation

I've been seeing a lot of people disparaging democracy as a failure. It has not failed us. We however as a nation have been failing it. For it to succeed, it needs an engaged and informed populace. Which is why those who want power but not responsibility, attack Free speech and public education

The contrast between Britain and the US in their response to the Epstein files is striking. Britain: lock up the brother of the King and cast out the prince of darkness, Lord Mandelson. US: circle the wagons round the president and his cabinet.

It doesn’t really matter *why* Trump’s desire to destabilise & divide Europe precisely mirrors Vladimir Putin’s - whether kompromat, self-interest, naked bigotry or something else l. What matters is that Europe treats both regimes like the enemies of progress & democracy they so clearly are.

This is the speech many have been waiting for Starmer to make. With Trump in the White House it will be a comfort to Brits and Europeans to hear a UK Prime Minister advocate for less reliance on the United States.

It beggars belief that people don’t see this man for what he is — a traitorous Putin puppet!

Rep. Angie Craig: "The attacks on Black and brown people in Minnesota have been egregious. At the end of the day, what they wanted out of Minnesota was for us to riot. I think this will go down in American history as one of the greatest examples of peaceful resistance from an entire community."

On the rare occasions that Farage is challenged in an interview he displays his fragility.

I like the government pivot to reminding voters that Farage is an avowed enemy of NATO & Europe & an ardent admirer of Vladimir Putin, who routinely orders the murders of critics & opponents. It is politically effective & morally essential.

The main argument against rejoining the EU is that it would "embolden Farage". Bullshit. It would expose Farage. It would force him to oppose the majority of voters, remind them that his last "Great Crusader" left us poor and powerless, and force him to admit he wants us to remain that way.

Peter Mandelson's official role in Gordon Brown's government was actually not that far away from his unauthorised dealings with Jeffrey Epstein. This week's column digs up some inconvenient truths and suggests the problem is much deeper than we're told. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Around the world, powerful men who have shown up in the Epstein Files are resigning or being forced out. Here in the USA, the MAGA cult and the GOP are protecting the pedophile-in-chief as well as his multitude of co-conspirators.

LISTEN: There are a lot of folks out here working tirelessly to get the truth out there. Replying to us that nothing matters because there'll be no consequences is not only incorrect, but it belittles the work we do. It's insulting and shortsighted. Stop following us if you don't want the info.

Why isn't this a major news story?

I don't give a fuck about politics. If Bill Clinton is involved, arrest him. If Alan Dershowitz is involved, arrest him. If my best friend was involved, arrest him. And if Donald Trump is involved, arrest him. And let's put it to a jury. #Epstein.

ANOTHER ANGLE. This man was NOT brandishing a firearm. He was holding his phone. He then put his body between ICE thugs and woman. He was then sprayed with a chemical agent, tackled, disarmed, and executed. Plain as day. DO NOT let them tell you otherwise.

Where are the poppy patriots? Why are they completely silent on this grotesque insult to our armed forces and specifically the 2,000 UK service and civilian personnel who were injured and the 457 who died in Afghanistan?

Farage has the unbelievable nerve to talk at Davos about Britain’s “moral decline”. This repulsive piece of shit IS Britain’s moral decline. He’s betrayed our country for self-interest, prejudice and greed. Shame on everyone who’s allowed that. #NeverPM www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Highly significant that the Green Party can beat Reform in a former Tory heartland. Pointing to the fact that Reform's vote is not some permanent far-right historic groundswell with a deeply rooted party machinery - it's still largely a protest vote, and can be displaced by hopeful alternatives.

I'm also old enough to remember all those who told us Trump would make the world more stable. One year in, he's threatening to destroy an eight decade security alliance, the pillar of Western stability, over not getting an award.

Taking over Greenland is not a joke. Trump is sending messages to foreign leaders and making threats that will destroy the most important alliance we have. Are Republicans in Congress and Marco Rubio really ready to throw NATO away because they’re too afraid to stand up to Trump?

I spoke to the Secretary-General of NATO, Emmanuel Macron, Keir Starmer, Friedrich Merz and Giorgia Meloni. Together we stand firm in our commitment to uphold the sovereignty of Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark.