The US vice president, a God-fearing Catholic, could not bring himself to criticise his boss portraying himself as Jesus Christ ✏️ Rats in a Sack 🐀

The super rich are becoming increasingly influential in British politics. The PM has already set a limit on foreign donations, but it doesn’t go far enough. It’s time to take the final step ✏️ @petergeoghegan.bsky.social

Reform’s deputy leader is under pressure over the same kind of allegations he once used to bash Angela Rayner ✏️ Jonn Elledge

Corbyn's start-up party - failing to stand any candidate in May's elections - has been hit by yet another blow ✏️ Rats in a Sack 🐀 buff.ly/11mgrr7

Orbán spent well over a decade pulling tricks from his sleeve, and he may yet prove to be a nuisance, haunting Parliament like a poltergeist ✏️ @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com

Britain's right wing media are working themselves into a lather over the fate of an obscure fish spread ✏️ Rats in a Sack 🐀

He spent over a decade tearing up the rules of Hungarian politics and society, and became a model for the new authoritarian global right. And now he’s out, the country is overwhelmed with joy ✏️ @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com

LIVE NOW 📽️ @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com and Lucy Reade unpack the Hungarian elections open.substack.com/live-stream/...?

Religious leaders are appalled by violent rhetoric over Iran and shocked by a gangsterish threat to the Pope’s authority ✏️ Maria Antonietta Calabrò & Paola Totaro

Progressives are lining up to praise the podcaster who criticised the Iran war. But that ignores his appalling views and his own desire to run MAGA ✏️ @eksymons.bsky.social

Paid surrogacy is banned in Australia. But the consequences for women in other, poorer nations are terrible ✏️ Tilly Lawless

Hugh Bonneville’s World Cup W1A spin-off founders on flabby dialogue and grating new characters ✏️ Lucy Reade

The autocrat’s defeat is a blow to Trump, Putin - and populists like Nigel Farage ✏️ @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social

The former academic turned Reform rabble-rouser will today speak at an event for an Orbán-aligned pressure group in Budapest ✏️ Rats in a Sack 🐀

Ben Delo, who is returning to the UK to give millions to Reform, once paid a $10 million penalty after pleading guilty to a financial crime in the US ✏️ Rats in a Sack 🐀

With Epic Fury’s epic fail, the president has given encouragement to aggressors everywhere ✏️ @paulmason.bsky.social

Hugh Bonneville’s World Cup W1A spin-off founders on flabby dialogue and grating new characters ✏️ Lucy Reade

EXCLUSIVE 🚨 Sir Ian Cheshire will also take on ultimate responsibility for Ofcom’s response to GB News, which employs multiple current Reform politicians as hosts ✏️ @jamesrball.com

The US president is hailing ‘total victory’, but this war has embarrassed and fractured his alliance ✏️ @sanglesey.bsky.social

Vice president JD Vance and war intern Pete Hegseth, on the other hand, genuinely seem to believe that they are doing God’s work in waging a war which has wrecked historic alliances ✏️ @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social

Nigel Farage's party launched a competition to have your energy bills paid for the year - and the winner was a familiar face ✏️ Rats in a Sack 🐀

After years of misinterpretation, François Ozon’s blank and beautiful movie truly understands the Camus classic ✏️ Matthew d’Ancona 🔗 buff.ly/xW6ikX8

Feeling you are right and assuming the public agree is not enough. If you feel strongly, shout very loudly ✏️ Patience Wheatcroft

Even if he loses the general election, Orbán will retain his grip on the country’s institutions, which he has stacked with his placemen. That could spell disaster for whoever wins – and for Hungary ✏️ @johnkampfner.bsky.social

If Polanski can reach beyond the obvious base – not just the students and the activists, but also the centrist dads and white-collar pragmatists – the Green wave might not stop in London ✏️ Lucy Reade

Not everyone at the channel was delighted to see the late-night presenter and Trump cheerleader in their London studios this week ✏️ Rats in a Sack 🐀

The far right CNews channel was following a familiar template to boost extremists. Then came the race row that may see it closed down ✏️ @eksymons.bsky.social

In his only UK interview for Father Mother Sister Brother, the director opens up about his films, his inspirations and why he hates rehearsals ✏️ John Bleasdale

Progressives are lining up to praise the podcaster who criticised the Iran war. But that ignores his appalling views and his own desire to run MAGA ✏️ @eksymons.bsky.social

Writing in @thenewworldmag.bsky.social Joseph Maina noted the complete ignorance displayed by #Trump about, say, #Somalia. Very different from the #British who at least "studied the places they intended to dominate”. www.rashmee.com/trump-africa...

The message from the British public is now clear and consistent: they are in favour of having a closer relationship with the EU ✏️ Matt Withers

Ross Kempsell, appointed lawmaker-for-life by Boris Johnson, has been cavorting topless with a man famous for saying the word "bosh" ✏️ Rats in a Sack 🐀

After the madness of MAGA in Iran, meeting Ukraine’s president is a lesson in empathy and emotion ✏️ @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social

With MAGA fractured, the Iranian regime still in charge and the country’s ability to enrich uranium and work towards a nuclear weapon still intact, this does not feel like a victory at all ✏️ @sanglesey.bsky.social

The enormous span of the right wing pundit’s ambition is becoming increasingly clear ✏️ Matthew d’Ancona

Am just about to go live with @thenewworldmag.bsky.social to talk about the meteoric rise and slow decline of BuzzFeed, and what my time there was like – do come join us substack.com/live-stream/...

LIVE NOW 📽️ 'I worked at BuzzFeed. Here’s the truth about why it’s on its last legs' with @jamesrball.com open.substack.com/live-stream/...

The vice-president is railing at foreign government interfering in Hungary's election while telling the country to vote for Viktor Orbán ✏️ Rats in a Sack 🐀

The Your Party leader is said to be considering legal action over a post on social media by the TV show mocking him ✏️ Rats in a Sack 🐀

The notion that innovation is value-free conceals the political and ideological agendas behind it ✏️ Philip Ball

Zack Polanski is reaching out beyond the climate-and-Gaza coalition - while Keir Starmer’s party keeps upsetting its target middle-income urban professional voters ✏️ Lucy Reade

The populist PM looks increasingly desperate, yet even a narrow loss in Sunday’s election would see his grip on the country’s institutions continue ✏️ @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com

The right wing podcaster worries the president, once a staunch ally, is seeking "elevation to some higher office" ✏️ Rats in a Sack 🐀

Believe it or not, they are still out there and still arguing that it was a tremendous success. What is wrong with them? ✏️ Matt Withers

📊 Iran is the first war in recent times that most American voters have opposed from the outset ✏️ Read Peter Kellner's full analysis of the polls

The Reform leader and his GB News colleague Bev Turner have railed against the decision not to allow the controversial rapper into Britain ✏️ Rats in a Sack 🐀

LIVE SOON 🎥 The truth about Trump's 'total victory' in Iran with @paulmason.bsky.social and @jamesrball.com open.substack.com/live-stream/...

💡 Braver New World is an urgent, optimistic reminder that real, transferable answers exist if societies have the courage to learn from them. ✏️ Sign up today and we’ll send you a signed copy of @johnkampfner.bsky.social’s Braver New World (worth £22) absolutely free. buff.ly/FH9Ptjf

Voters have fallen out of love with the social security net – which is odd seeing as so many are likely to use it at some point. What went wrong? ✏️ Hannah Fearn

The US president is hailing ‘total victory’, but this war has embarrassed and fractured his alliance ✏️ @sanglesey.bsky.social