New! On @willdunn.bsky.social and my Saturday politics round-up on the @newstatesman1913.bsky.social pod, we talk Farage's finances, some good news for the government (ish), and, with apologies, right-wing pornstar names:

What do we want? Change! When do we want it? Every 5-8 months! www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

I spent the morning in a hot car park with Andy Burnham www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

Just spotted some discourse about the lanyard class, so I'm using that as an excuse to plug my visit to LanyardFest '26 www.newstatesman.com/politics/eco...

In this week's Sketch: is Nigel Farage Britain's hardest-working MP? www.newstatesman.com/politics/the...

Genuinely a national newspaper telling its presumably adult readers to do a whole poo, not half a poo

Top tip: if you need a shit, go for a shit.

subs pls check - front page claim that every UK newspaper is owned by Murdoch - the phrase“a monopoly of a handful of companies” - the plan to "do what The Mirror and The Guardian, for example, should be doing, which is give positive front pages if Zack Polanski said something brilliant"

It was kind of Robert Jenrick to set me up for an obvious joke at his expense.

Top tips for an incoming PM www.newstatesman.com/politics/eco...

Take a moment to read this poem - you can hear the ice creak

Fellow philosophy graduates, we are officially very employable. Despite what our parents said at the time.

Few governments are more pro-AI than the one in the UK, and that’s causing them to ignore a load of risks that come with being dependent on the technology. It was great to chat with @willdunn.bsky.social to learn all about it!

"The bond markets": lots of different people (and algorithms) with lots of different views. They don't have much information on what Burnham or Streeting would actually do. But they DO have information on what the current PM has actually done: www.newstatesman.com/business/eco...

Superb piece from @meganekenyon.bsky.social at the Labour left's fury at the idea that they might accidentally have made Wes Streeting PM www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

The government has moved to its "don't coup us or the bond vigilantes will get you" defence. a) Are you really saying that's the reason you should run the country b) The bond markets don't like you as much as you think they do www.newstatesman.com/business/eco...

Steve Reed is, in my view, talking bollocks www.newstatesman.com/business/eco...

Fascinating series of interviews - what I found striking is the sheer ease with which these people became lawmakers

Sadiq Khan accuses Rachel Reeves of "talking down our country" - the same accusation Jacob Rees-Mogg made of Mark Carney in 2018. www.newstatesman.com/politics/lab...

A great sketch - both elegant and utterly brutal - by @willdunn.bsky.social of Keir Starmer's make-or-break speech:

Can't believe this didn't work! www.newstatesman.com/politics/the...

But he said he'd introduce legislation that could allow the nationalisation of an outdated steel plant, subject to a public interest test! What else do you people want?! www.newstatesman.com/politics/wes...

“We can’t pretend that Keir Starmer was popular or an asset on the doorstep. I mean, we can’t pretend, right? Because if we do so, we can’t address the issue, the importance of change, the importance of a North Star, the importance of sunny uplands, the importance of a vision.”

Follow my colleague @meganekenyon.bsky.social for live updates on this weekend's festival of recrimination and backstabbing www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

🗳️ ConstituencyClick 548/650 — Secretary of State 🟨🟩🟩🟩🟨🟨🟩🟨🟩🟩 play.jmoxley.co.uk

perhaps the most curious fact from our long read today on the Mandelson scandal www.ft.com/content/a829...

Charles, McSweeney versus Thornberry and Parliamentary booze - @willdunn.bsky.social and my weekly round-up on the latest @newstatesman1913.bsky.social podcast ep:

From my colleague @anooshc.bsky.social's clear-eyed report from Golders Green, a paragraph that deserves re-reading and reiterating: this is a primary school in London. www.newstatesman.com/politics/soc...

If only there was another way to make a boat move

Maybe the REAL scandal was the ambassadorial candidates we didn't hire along the way www.newstatesman.com/politics/the...

If you look closely, you might spot a Very Subtle Analogy for current events www.newstatesman.com/politics/the...

Morgan McSweeney can't believe the Prince of Darkness betrayed him @willdunn.bsky.social's sketch

If you search this site for Morgan McSweeney's name at the moment you'll notice a real waterfall of coincidences, as account after account independently decides to post the same article at the same time 🤔

Philip Barton says he has no memory of Morgan McSweeney saying "just fucking approve it", and that McSweeney never called him about the Mandelson appointment. However, he's also said of the appointment: “I was presented with a decision and told to get on with it. There was no space for dialogue.”

A slightly swearier than usual episode of @willdunn.bsky.social and my politics round-up on the @newstatesman1913.bsky.social this week:

You might think involving Silicon Valley in the education of millions of kids sounds risky, but Nick Clegg is on board. Has he considered the political implications? - Nope Does he regret allowing the UK to lose its AI sovereignty? - Uh uh www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

I did not Relish the opportunity to attend Rees-Mogg on tour www.newstatesman.com/politics/the...

It's a sunny Friday evening, time to kick back and -psssshhht- crack open a frosty can of Clegg www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

“We’re everyone’s second choice. Which might not sound very glamorous, but under first past the post (FPTP), that matters.” What I learned going out and about with the Lib Dems - in lefty north London and beyond www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

A very interesting story from the FT this morning. In my recent reporting I have found AI companies hold considerable influence in Westminster and that No10 (esp while McSweeney was there) was dedicated to a closer relationship with Silicon Valley www.newstatesman.com/technology/2...

Abandon all hope, ye who buyeth a ticket for... "Mogg Unbuttoned" 🤢🤢🤮 🤮 www.newstatesman.com/politics/the...

Don't get upset 🤬, it's not an authoritarian "smoking ban" It's a cut to a regressive tax 😀 www.newstatesman.com/politics/eco...

Lovely sketch that gets to the heart of the Mandelson vetting scandal by @willdunn.bsky.social: www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

First time I've seen Mandelson compared to a bucket of shit, but hopefully not the last. @willdunn.bsky.social clearly not enjoying himself at all here...

It's a disaster that could only have been foreseen by, what, 30 million people www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

I am determined to ask the difficult questions that everyone else is also asking www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

(Attenborough voice) It's at this time of year that a familiar species returns to London. BRRRAAARRRP And there he is: the Wanker on an Insanely Loud Quad Bike BBBURRAARRRAP This could be a territorial or mating display. Or perhaps he's just telling other Wankers he'd like to run someone over

Outrageous SMUT in this week's round-up as @anooshc.bsky.social and I trade double entendres over a Labour backbencher's plan to SEX UP parliament. Also messiah complexes, defence spending and some lobster news podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/p...

🤔 www.newstatesman.com/business/202...