Question: “Now that you’ve met with him -Trump-, you’ve spoken with him multiple times, do you still think he’s a fascist?” Zohran Mamdani: “Yes” Question: “And do you tell him that?” Zohran Mamdani: “Yes”

And for anyone who doesn't subscribe to The Atlantic yet, a gift link for you: www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

This is a big one. Stellar reporting from Sarah Fitzpatrick. To call it a must-read is an understatement: www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

BREAKING: IRS confirms it's negotiating with Trump family to pay a "settlement" in the wildly defective lawsuit over the leak of his tax returns. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Pure speculation on my part, but if I were Olly Robbins looking to override the vetting process, I’d be WhatsApping Morgan McSweeney. Not for a green light, but an imperceptible nod. ENDS

Little 🧵 on vetting: There’s been a certain amount of chest-puffing from former holders of DV clearance about how rigorous and exacting the vetting process is and how rare for it to be overruled. The latter is definitely true. Never heard of it happening, ever. 1

Rejoin is coming: Talk of the customs union and single market is a distraction. Only full membership offers a compelling vision of Britain's future iandunt.substack.com/p/rejoin-is-...

Brutal assessment. Hard to argue with.

How many more people are going to have to resign for Keir Starmer's decision to ignore the advice of every single person who told him not to appoint Peter Mandelson?

A colleague didn’t recognise me in my glasses so I tried to joke “I’m Clark Kent” but accidentally declared “I’m Ken Clarke”

lol

This the key point. If FCDO did overturn the vetting without telling anyone it was because it had already been announced. Which was a ridiculous thing to do.

Senior Tory MP claims knife crime went up by 72% in London. In fact offences fell by 11% in the year to September 2025.

Did she make up the false figures or were they misreported somewhere - GBNews perhaps?

Trump rants his ballroom will feature "Bomb Shelters, a State of the Art Hospital & Medical Facilities,Top Secret Military Installations, Protective Missile Resistant Steel, Drone Proof Ceilings, Military Grade Venting, & Bullet, Ballistic, & Blast Proof Glass" Dafuq kind of ballroom is this?

What does Lisa Nandy believe her job is, and why is she actually in politics?

"pope should stay out of politics." brother you need to stay out of a size medium

Hegseth: "A note to the media. I just can't help but notice the endless stream of garbage, the relentlessly negative coverage you cannot resist peddling despite historic & important success of this effort. Sometimes it's hard to figure out what side some of you are on. It's incredibly unpatriotic"

Not filled with good feelings by the reactions to this. I am not shocked there are scams in the asylum system. Does anybody think the system is working well? Is well resourced? Is producing satisfactory decisions? Or is not defraudable?

It's perfectly reasonable to challenge ministers on N Sea oil & gas as a response to the energy shock. But this is the exclusive framing for EVERY interview on this topic. No minister or opposition leader is ever asked if they'll "max out" wind/solar. It's always framed as fossil fuels v inaction

It’s official: the UK is rejoining Erasmus! 👏🇪🇺

Fucking hell, though.

BBC News is going very hard on its investigation into advisers who help people ‘fake’ asylum claims, focusing especially on people who falsely claim to be gay. But it doesn’t say what percentage of claims are made on the basis of sexuality. As of 2023 — the last available figures — it was 3%.

The bell of Liverpool Town Hall chimes 97 times for each of the Liverpool fans unlawfully killed in the Hillsborough Disaster, 37-years-ago today

News I'm hearing from across universities is disastrous. The sector has been falling apart for months, but the process is now continuously speeding up. Outside a small handful of institutions, HE as we've known it has basically zero future. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

JD Vance just said: “Stopping funding for Ukraine is one of the things I’m proudest we’ve done in this administration.” What a disgusting statement. I was just in Kharkiv and saw the damage that Russian missiles and drones inflict. If Ukraine received more US interceptors, it could save more lives.

@mrjamesob.bsky.social This post deserves a wide audience. Thanks Seth.

Many people are saying that JD is quite ignorant about the history of religion in Europe and the Middle East but that overlooks his expertise on the ottomans.

The *top two* stories on the BBC site, plus a 3rd further down, are now about the claims of scammers which the BBC presents as evidence of the asylum process being “systematically exploited” - whilst also admitting they don’t know how widespread the issue is. Practically a Reform mouthpiece now.

And Obama was president for twice as long.

Putin's Puppets.

It take weapons grade arrogance to invent popesplaining.

Through languages, we can build connections, discover new cultures, and develop life-long friendships. United in diversity, our differences are our strength 💛

EXPOSED: How Viktor Orbán Bankrolled the Network Around Reform UK As Hungary’s Prime Minister suffers a historic electoral defeat, Byline Times maps out how his government’s funding arm channelled hundreds of thousands of pounds into organisations at the heart of Britain’s hard right.

Its important to understand that the radical right is a coalition of overlapping networks Those who investigate these networks keep finding the same faces My latest⬇️

I know this is me still mourning a long dead world but it does feel remarkable that, not that long ago, British papers on the right would have run editorials and columns arguing that Hungary showed that only a solid, reliable centre-right party could defeat dangerous populists, but now? [crickets]

@iandunt.bsky.social @dorianlynskey.bsky.social

Really important story from @wired.com: The Christian Nationalists who want to destroy the American secular state are now making their presence felt www.wired.com/story/govern...

Remember when Trump threatened to wipe out a whole civilization? And then backed out of that and talked about forming a deal with Iran? And then dropped that and went to a UFC fight as negotiations fell apart? And then unveiled a triumphal arch and a photo of himself as Jesus? That was this week.

If only Trump hadn’t had bone spurs…..

Not the onion.

If evangelicals think Pope Leo is too”woke” just wait until they hear about this fellow called Jesus.

Even if Magyar is no liberal, this is why it is still a huge defeat for illiberalism. For it shows that a powerful illiberal political machine and methodology can be defeated.

Populism is a fundamentally dishonest form of politics, that attracts fundamentally dishonest people. It is a tissue of lies that validates the darkest prejudices, and covers up the most blatant greed and corruption. It generates wealth for the few, and suffering for the many.

Happy birthday to the Peak District National Park, designated #otd 13 April 1951. Originally 555 square miles of moor and valley, the 'great north roof of England.' It would never have happened but for one woman... 1/4

A great moment to remember why Scruton's FT column came to an abrupt end.

Trump is going to break with Rome and become formally head of his own church.

The victory of the opposition in Hungary yesterday, like the Polish election in 2023, is a victory for democracy, not just in Europe but around the world.