An important constitutional reform: *if* we are to have referenda (referendums?) in the future, they should by convention always implement a specific piece of legislation that parliament has already passed.

Did anyone else imagine this as hardcore slamdancing / pit action? I wanna see Keir Starmer crowdkilling people in the front row at a Bane show

Reform UK: an echo of Brexit and a sidestep of its failures Labour: a party in an economic and cultural prison of Brexit's failures Conservatives: Brexit's failures

Aye.

This is the written equivalent of needing to be sick. futureoftheleft.substack.com/p/dispatches...

As an example of everything deficient with the “focussed on winning” Starmer project, there are so many to choose from. But today’s is that they went into their first set of local elections with first past the post still in place for mayorals and went into the second with voterID still in place.

Great to see Renewal pieces setting the agenda. If you don't subscribe, you need to.

I've learned my lesson, and won't be supporting any programme that includes WASPI.

If our recent Blue Labour-ish strategy had worked, we'd add socially conservative working class voters to diverse & highly educated progressive ones. Instead, we went with tough on immigration and trans people, only to see a massive swing to Reform... and then lose progressives.

The “Blue Labour” strategy still being promoted by some on Labour right is premised on being able to win social conservatives while holding on to social liberals. Failure state for this strategy is failing to win social cons while alienating social liberals. Here is a map of that failure state:

Haigh’s essay here is well worth reading. This is not some MMT-adjacent treatise - it genuinely engages with the constraint.

Have said this repeatedly but it is *incredible* how not a single part of the conversation about the policy direction and culture of the Labour Party has considered trying to learn *anything* from Sadiq Khan

Real change is possible - if we seize every opportunity to set our party on a better path. This year’s elections to Labour's NEC and NPF are an opportunity we can’t afford to miss. Nominate the Mainstream team in your CLPs now! www.mainstreamlabour.org/2026-nec-and...

We got into government on the back of something serious that united people, then immediately defaulted to being a bunch of NPCs governing through empty platitudes and thought-terminating cliches.

We are appalled by yesterday's terrorist incident in Golders Green and thinking of all those affected. There is no place for antisemitism in our society. The rise of hatred and violence in all our communities must be rooted out by all of us.

Thought this was an interesting little chunk. The people running this government have forgotten how to make a sincere argument for what they are doing.

We're organising to elect a progressive team of Mainstream candidates to Labour's NEC. They'll fight to bring a popular, principled and practical left politics to life within Labour. Meet Cat, candidate for the CLP section 👇 www.mainstreamlabour.org/2026-nec-and...

Keep sharing lads. bylinetimes.com/2026/04/14/e...

Advance UK Gorton + Denton by-election candidate Nick Buckley says his posts about many women being whores, ruined by feminism, are 'taken out of context'. Searcnlight Magazine report on the response to their posts searchlightmagazine.com/2026/02/adva...

Community sport doesn’t just happen in stadiums. I’ve backed an amendment to protect all community sports spaces – including indoor venues like pools and boxing gyms. Add your name 👇 party.coop/campaign/com...

🌹Ballots are open for Mainstream members on our endorsements for this year's elections to Labour's National Policy Forum (NPF). If you're a member, search your inbox for a ballot from Mainstream.

I Photoshop Paddington into a movie, TV show, or pop culture until I forget: Day 1765

So to get this straight, masked men, paid by the government, can simply kidnap minors without cause or evidence, dump them bleeding on the street, and that person then has no legal recourse. Some freedom, that is.

The authoritarian destruction of democracy in action. This is one of many reasons why removing Trump is only part 1 of dismantling American authoritarianism.

Why has the Arsene Wenger coat become such a big thing this year? I get that they're warm, but so are joggers and uggs.

"Your base supporters are crucial because they're the ones sharing, discussing, and framing these moments in everyday conversations. When they're demoralised, they either stay silent or actively undermine your messaging, allowing opponents to dominate the narrative space." [email protected]

A good example of why law, PR and accounts are separate professional disciplines...

If a new app was produced which had, as its core features, the generation of sexual deep fake images of children and calls for a violent global far-right revolution, then not only would it be swiftly banned, but you wouldn't have a single mainstream politician willing to associate themselves with it

A calm and philosophical reflection on the ICE killing in Minneapolis Epistemic disorientation: It was Hannah Arendt’s view, drawing on Heidegger’s critique of technological modernity, that totalitarianism mobilises drama and terror to de-centre a citizen’s sense of reality. 1/7

Good.

NEW: Labour's CAC has reversed its decision to block motions on ending the two-child benefit limit. Without an end to the two-child benefit limit, the Government's Child Poverty Strategy is doomed to fail. A statement from Mainstream's Interim Council below👇

There's overwhelming support amongst Labour's membership for a more radical offer on democracy, the economy, child poverty & more. We believe the voices of radical realists, the vast majority of the Labour Party, must be heard and heeded. Join us: mainstreamlabour.org/get-involved

Mainstream is serious about winning a democratic socialist future. We stand for: ⚡ Redistributing power and wealth ⚡ Defending rights and dignity at home & abroad ⚡ Creating a new political economy ..and much more. Our platform and our plan: www.mainstreamlabour.org/about

All governments are imperfect but they are NOT "all the same". The lazy trope that "it doesn't matter who you vote for" isn't just false; it feeds the nihilism on which the radical right prey. It's like a burning tyre, coating everything in acrid smoke, choking off any meaningful democratic choice

🚨NEW PUBLICATION 🚨 Though people have moved on from Brexit, they still vote in line with their Brexit preferences - with age/education still separating voters. Voters now back party blocs, which matters greatly for Labour's current appeals to Reform voters. 🧵 academic.oup.com/pa/advance-a...

"Our £5bn disability benefits cut will stop welfare state collapsing, says Kendall" Social security has been collapsing for years. This accelerates the trend and supports the politics.

A lot of things in politics make me think of this song m.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxd2...

So the strategy of trying to out-Farage Farage on immigration is going about as well as expected

It's a disaster that they haven't fallen to zero, or close to that.

We need serious changes on this, and we need them yesterday. Quick win for the government, if they want it. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Huge amount of this immigration stuff is hyperbole. I think the concentration should be on how we integrate people and get public services to work. In the meantime though, this is instructive and shows how the political context is set.

If it's hurting (them), it's working.

Indeed.

Reform UK’s new councillor for Redditch South, Worcestershire. Sue Eacock What’s her first priority going to be? Maybe reducing the number of Black people on TV. Or cancel the ‘gay parades’. Or ban the Muslim ‘ideology’ from your Christian country. That’s what you’ve voted for #Worcestershire.

British people made huge sacrifices and many paid the ultimate price for freedom in this country, and freedom in Europe. It showed the best of us and the lessons learned should never be forgotten. Here's to freedom and democracy. Happy #VEDay80 #VEDay ! 🇬🇧

New post from me about the elections of the last week, where the 'peak populism' hypothesis stands, and what lessons the Labour Party should be drawing. 1/n benansell.substack.com/p/labour-is-...

This is a sign of government not being able to deliver what people support and want. When we published the 'fiscal rules', those on the right of the party told me, to paraphrase, that members should blind faith it. Power first, policy later. Well, this is what happens without brave electioneering.

Good thread, and the quoted thread is really good too. Some useful bits on Farage and his base in there.

What an amazingly divided ward. Don't see his much!