NEW: NEW: Standards commissioner finds Nigel Farage committed seventeen breaches of MPs code of conduct. He failed to declare £333,000 in outside interests (more than 3x MPs annual salary)…

Dr. Gladys West, the pioneering mathematician whose work laid the foundation for modern GPS technology, has died. She was 95.

Amazingly, Zahawi only got round to deleting the below after the press conference announcing his defection to Reform.

@therestpolitics.bsky.social is Turner's appointment as ambassador to the USA a good move.

✅ Liberal Democrat HOLD Yesterday's Meadvale and St John's (Reigate and Banstead) council by-election result: LDEM: 48.3% (-8.1) GRN: 17.6% (+17.6) CON: 12.0% (-15.1) REF: 11.6% (+11.6) IND: 10.4% (+10.4) No Lab (-16.4) as prev. +/- 2022 andrewteale.me.uk/previews

Lib Dems are the winners of by-elections Super Thursday! 💪 Won 7 out of 10 local by-elections ↗️ GAINS from the Conservatives 🥶 Labour 🥀and Green 🤢 Party 🔶 6 from 6 seats in Surrey as what remains of the Blue Wall crumbles away Congratulations to our brilliant campaign teams and new councillors!

@therestpolitics.bsky.social is @rory-stewart.bsky.social going to stand as Mayor in Cumbria?

“I just exchanged contracts on a house that [sic] I’ll be living there.” Repeats, “I’ve bought a house in Clacton.” Farage clearly stated he has a beneficiary interest in the property. If he provided the purchase costs, then he is the deemed owner - _exactly_ as Rayner was - and owes stamp duty.

Oh.

Nearly a million people marched against Brexit. Not front page news. 50 people gather outside a hotel. National news for weeks. "Fears of mass unrest", media says.

Yesterday: Nigel Farage says Reform UK "will detain and deport absolutely anyone that comes via that route.. Yes, women and children" Today: Nigel Farage, "Deportation of illegal immigrants, we were not even discussing women and children at this stage. The news reports who said that were wrong"

Predictions of £40bn hit to public finances from Brexit ‘correct’ Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast of a 4 per cent productivity loss from leaving the EU has been largely borne out, says top economist www.thetimes.com/business-mon...

"Thames Water piled up nearly £20 billion in debt while pumping sewage into our rivers and lakes. The price of this failure must not be paid by the customers." @timfarron.bsky.social

politician hypocrisy latest - via Politico email

“When Labour negotiates, Britain loses” says Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch whose party’s “oven ready” Brexit cost the UK £100 billion a year in lost output

Former M&S Chairman Lord Rose, "Here we are, 10 years on now from Brexit" "The issues of immigration are caused by Brexit" "The issues of our poor economic performance ate down to Brexit"

In London on May 21st? Come to my VIANNE launch at Waterstones, Piccadilly at 6:30 - I'll be chatting with the wonderful Joanna Cannon about chocolate, CHOCOLAT, the Church and the healing power of scent. Join us there! Tickets at: www.waterstones.com/events/joann...

My grandmas were immigrants, my mum & sisters in law are immigrants; my sister & nephews are migrants. My kids study maths, Shakespeare, dance, act & score tries alongside the kids of immigrants. My dad’s life was saved by immigrants. Immigrants have made us richer, wiser, stronger Win the fight

As a German I will forever be grateful to all who fought for the liberation of Europe. But as a historian I am looking at front pages today and must wonder: What is the point of remembering #VEDay 80 years on, what is the point of our thanks, when we are failing to protect the sacrifices made? 🧵

One of the strangest ironies of the last ten years has been watching Britain immersing itself as deeply as ever in memories of WW2 while proudly turning its back on the project that emerged from it.

Another classic from the Queen of gaffes…

Reform UK have u-turned on this policy saying county flags are OK. So we have pointed out this…

Reform are going to reduce waste by spending money on consultants to seek out & cut jobs that don’t actually exist #bbclaurak

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch suggesting 9 months isn’t long enough to turn the Tory Party around but the exact same duration *is* more than enough for Labour to turn around a country crippled by 14 years of a government she played a major role in #bbclaurak

This one’s doing the rounds…

The Greens now have nearly 200 more councillors than Reform. This is not something you'd be likely to guess from all the copiously salivating media coverage of Farage & his crew of billionaire-backed far-right chancers.

Liberal Democrats GAIN majority control of Shropshire Council! With 10 more seats still to declare the Liberal Democrats are up 25 to 38. 😮

Another absolutely stonking result!! Liberal Democrats gain 16 seats in Wiltshire. Now a group of 43 😀

King’s Third Law: for every political issue there’s an idiot and and an equal and opposite idiot

C4News "He was asked what concessions Russia was prepared to make to bring about the ceasefire" President Trump, "Stopping taking the whole country, that's a pretty big concession"

"Farmers want him to be careful in any trade deal with Donald Trump. They were let down by the Conservatives' appalling trade deals & worried that a bad US deal could see American agribusiness undercut them" Ed Davey raises his concerns over a potential US trade deal at #PMQs.

Due to the success of our Thursday Afternoon Tea and Tours, we're extending availability to Wednesdays. We'll be offering 60-minute tours at 2pm, with Afternoon Tea at 3pm. The first Wednesday Tea and Tour will be on May 14. Click the link to book: visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/tours/librar...

@hbriggsjourno.bsky.social just read your article re garden starlings, come to my garden, they are about the only bird I have. I think they are building a nest in my gutter, not a good place, the local gulls will eat the eggs.

She'll shit bricks if she discovers that the wealthiest businesses & individuals engage in tax avoidance to the tune of £140bn.

Prediction: Today (4/9/25) registered the greatest ill gotten gains from insider trading in history.

“He made 2.5 million today and he made $900 million. That’s not bad.” Sounds like market manipulation to me. That’s bad.

@rory-stewart.bsky.social if Cumbria gets a mayor, would you consider standing for the position?

For more details on this topic, and all the links backing up my claims, please check out my Substack! https://open.substack.com/pub/monkdebunks/p/the-truth-behind-foreigners-claiming Thank you to everyone who has subscribed so far! It’s much appreciated! 🙏🏼 13/13

Amol Rajan, "What do you think it would take to get this country growing again?" Alan Sugar, "Go back into the European Union" "That's what I would do. If I was in charge, I'd beg to get back in again"

@brianwernham.bsky.social what are your thoughts on an mayoral authority for Cumbria? Who will pay for it?

I've been updating my website to add details of my book tour for VIANNE - not all the events are confirmed yet (and there are some more pending), but if you're interested, do check to see if there's one happening near you... www.joanne-harris.co.uk/events/

I see Chris Philp is now repeating Matt Goodwin's deliberate lie. The correct figure is 17%, and most of those are long-standing residents (and in many cases will have British spouses/children).

French satellite company Eutelsat is replacing Starlink and plans to send approximately 40,000 communication terminals to Ukraine. Their stock has rocketed 390% in the last 3 days as Tesla Starlink SpaceX and X continue their freefall.

There is nothing Great about a country that turns its back on its allies. The USA is sending a message to Russia and China that it is weak. Did it learn nothing from Pearl Harbour?

Just listened to an excellent interview with John Major on Radio4 lunchtime news, he expressed his opinion on the current situation with the US and where it may lead, he has been reading my mind.

Canadian MP Charlie Angus: So here’s how it’s going to go down—this is going to be very rough. But the big wake-up call is for our American friends. For example, Kentucky—the number one purchaser of Kentucky spirits in the world is Canada, and all our provinces have just pulled it off the shelves.

Ooh. There's a debate on proportional representation in the Commons this Thursday. MPs Alex Sobel, Lisa Smart, & Ellie Chowns said: “The governing party has formally recognised that First Past the Post is a flawed voting system for general elections which is damaging to trust in politics." (1/2)