Labours leadership wannabes should drop their red-lines over a closer relationship with Europe and back our plan, beginning with a UK-EU customs union to turbocharge our economy. Tonight's vote on our amendment is the perfect chance.

Britain faces growing threats from global instability -  yet our defence readiness has been weakened by years of cuts and delays. Our plan would see spending rise to 3% of GDP defence bonds launched to rebuild our armed forces. @eddavey.libdems.org.uk

We all know a closer relationship with Europe would turbocharge our economy. Yet the Prime Minister's 'fresh start' is far too weak and unambitious. It's time for a UK-EU customs union.

‘Blindfolded, I sat down slowly. Then the interrogation began’: Iranian Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi on the torture of solitary confinement

🔔RESULT DECLARED 📍 Merton - all seats up 🌹 LAB: 32 (+1) 🔶 LDM: 19 (+2) 🔵 CON: 4 (-3) ⚪️ OTH: 2 (0) LAB Hold On the way up in Merton 🙌

🔔 STOCKPORT - RESULT DECLARED (21/63 seats up) 🔶 LDM: 33 (+2) 🌹 LAB: 14 (-5) ⚪️ IND: 9 (0) 🟢 GRN: 4 (+1) ➡️ RFM: 2 (+2) 🔵 CON: 1 (0) LDM GAIN from NOC Two gains win us a slim majority. Amazing work from the Stockport team! 🤩

It’s high time we had proportional representation and a more consensus-based democracy. Whoever governs would then have to broker a common good across competing interests rather than letting elite capture decide which voices and issues get heard and which get sidelined.

At least someone still has a sense of morality

It looks like Farage has been bought out by foreign Bitcoin billionaires, but he’s deluded if he thinks the British people will stand for this. From lobbying for crypto tax cuts to online bitcoin stunts, it seems Farage is only interested in lining his own pockets

You don’t get to claim the rainbow flag and shill for Tehran. Pick a side.

The Israeli far right is awful. Settlement expansion, discriminatory laws, the conduct in Gaza: none of it is excusable and none of it should be justified. Full stop.

Iran legally permits gender reassignment surgery. Has done since 1987. The state permits transition and uses it to coerce gay men into surgery as an alternative to prosecution. That’s not rights. That’s conversion by scalpel.

The pharmacy chain’s first highly automated warehouse uses robots to handle millions of items a week with a fraction of the usual staff. on.wsj.com/4cL8YwR

Patriotism doesn’t belong to one ideology. The Union flag isn’t a symbol of exclusion, it’s a story of people from all over the world building a country together. Liberalism should reclaim that with confidence, not retreat from it.

British democracy is under greater threat than at any point in my lifetime. Trump, Musk and Putin are trying to destroy it from outside, while Farage and Reform are doing their best to import Trump’s divisive brand of MAGA politics here.

this is an absolutely extraordinary scoop by Guardian: Nigel Farage was given £5m by the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne shortly before announcing he would stand in the 2024 British general election, the Guardian can reveal www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Lib Dems push for ban on MPs taking money from X, citing Maga threat

Horrifying news from North London. My heart goes out to the victims, their loved ones and the whole Jewish community. Hatred like this has no place in Britain. The Government must do more to keep Jewish communities safe and confront antisemitism wherever it appears.

Almost one million young people are considered NEET in the UK. a new UCL study shows youth unemployment can affect lives 40 years later.

Ethiopia’s election next month will be a sham. Many of Abiy Ahmed’s rivals are either in exile or in jail. Opposition parties have been co-opted, cowed or banned

Developers say the aim of Woven City is to gather real-world data on how people and machines interact, helping improve safety and shape future regulations.

Paid off by foreign tycoons.

Local leaders will be soon able to prohibit pavement parking in England. This is a real win for all pavement users, from parents with pushchairs, to those in wheelchairs, to the partially-sighted. I'm very pleased to have been a part of this successful campaign. #PavementParking

#WildflowerHour Not quite a wildflower... Sea-kale (Crambe maritima) seen in the Kew Seed Bank raised bed at Wakehurst; but notably some 30km from its usual seaside shingle habitat...! @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Chelsea will face Man City in the FA Cup final... Calum McFarlane's first match in charge of the Blues ended in dramatic fashion against Pep Guardiola's men

Reminds me of watching David Bowie at Glastonbury.

Check out the species to watch out for in our BirdTrack Migration Blog ➡️ www.bto.org/our-work... Bird migration continues to progress with many summer migrants now widespread, later arriving species starting to appear & the earliest arriving species already starting to nest. 🪺

Nine of the best bike helmets — from £45

What a gorgeous day it’s been. Went into town for coffee and breakfast with a mate and now in the gym trying to build up my strength for working at heights. Looking forward to going back to work tomorrow as I will be working on this machine again. So cool. I love my job.

Couldn’t agree more observer.co.uk/news/opinion...

Don’t fancy airport chaos? Try these no-fly cruises from UK ports

Looking back at the most iconic liveries! 🎨 These are just some of the many incredible livery designs we've been treated to throughout F1's history, but which is your favourite? 🤩👇 #F1

Palantir employees are talking about the company’s “descent into fascism.” Slack messages, and interviews with current and former workers, paint a picture of a company in turmoil.

You haven’t lived until you’ve seen this video youtu.be/QdwePHJR4S4?...

A week or so ago, I met with Nick, my constituent, and Grab-A-Cab cabbies in Somerset, to talk about out of area networking. Licensed Hackney carriages are being driven out of business by non-Somerset licensed cars. Not only is the practice illegal - it's also unsafe! (Cont..)

Usage of AI is booming among state lawmakers and their staff. But there is growing unease that being too reliant on it may make it harder to think critically on important issues

Editorial: It would be horrifying – and self-defeating – if the Americans were to help the Argentinians plot another attempt at forcibly acquiring the islands. trib.al/kNBov2t

Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor are currently under investigation in the UK regarding allegations that they engaged in “misconduct in public office.” But what qualifies as misconduct, exactly? Jeremy Horder @lselaw.bsky.social looks shares analysis on @lsepoliticsblog.bsky.social

On Monday we launched @arguablymag.bsky.social, here’s what we’ve run this week. Reclaiming the Future, our founding essay on how progressives can defy populism and fatalism by putting ideas and argument back at the centre of politics. 1/5 www.arguably.uk/p/reclaiming...

The government wants the power to dictate where your retirement savings get invested to fund its pet projects. Lib Dems have defeated the government twice in the Lords and will keep pushing back until this power grab is dropped. www.cityam.com/the-governme...

EU opens Mandelson fraud investigation ft.trib.al/e55sKjS

Just cooked something similar with two friends — and we added tofu!

Sovereignty of Falklands rests with the UK, Britain tells the US reut.rs/4vOoOOr

Pink Ladies protests are calling for an end for violence against women, but they are also promoting dangerous misinformation around migrants. Here's why that could be dangerous

“Since 2020, my father, Jimmy Lai, has been held in solitary confinement for the crime of defending democracy,” Claire Lai writes. She shares his letters and sketches from prison:

It is good to see Keir Starmer finally recognising the threat the IRGC poses to the Jewish community and the Iranian diaspora, but this should have come a long time ago. Lib Dems will back any emergency legislation required to proscribe the IRGC. www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

Opinion: The consequences of losing the AI arms race are no longer theoretical. AI models are now the decisive offensive and defensive tools in cyber space, and American and allied cyber security depends on maximising the US lead over China in AI. ft.trib.al/O0E8AEx

Soundtrack of the sea: divers use underwater speakers to help dying coral reefs

Anyone who cosies up to the likes of Steve Bannon forfeits the right to complain about the opprobrium that follows.

Britain should seek to rejoin EU, says civil servant who led Brexit department