Pleased to have been able to add some northern perspectives to The Lead's comprehensive coverage of child poverty. Ultimately, children are poor because adults are poor, and lifting the two-child cap is necessary but not sufficient to end it.

The announcement of the much-delayed child poverty strategy is welcome but four million children will still remain in poverty when it ends in 2029 A special edition of The Lead this afternoon from @nmozz.bsky.social

Great analysis from @zoegrunewald.bsky.social for @theleaduk.bsky.social on today’s budget. Echoes my own thoughts about an overall sense of unambitious tinkering, despite some clear positives (2 child cap finally lifted) national.thelead.uk/p/the-leads-...

How does it not have a proper garden?

As political scandals go, a grubby backroom deal to, errrr, lift 450,000 children out of poverty is at least a novel one.

X's new transparency feature has exposed many of the platform's influential MAGA personalities as being located outside the US. This is similar to the trend exposed by @kdenkwrites.com in the UK, where foreign 'UK patriot' accounts are even fooling councillors. national.thelead.uk/p/reform-cou...

Sir Geoffrey was one of the truly great human rights champions of his generation, a tireless champion of civil liberties, and an inspirational humanist. We will remember him not only for his profound professional achievements but for his moral clarity and steadfast and generous support of our cause.

This month, in the vacuum that should be being used to platform Black stories, that space is instead being filled with swelling hostility. Black History Month matters. In fact, it may be more important now than it’s ever been. @nmozz.bsky.social national.thelead.uk/p/black-hist...

i desperately want everyone involved in the destruction of USAID to have to, st the very least, answer to the american people for the suffering and misery they have caused apnews.com/article/myan...

EXCLUSIVE: Former Reform leader convicted of taking Russian bribes. This should be *huge national news* - a direct link between Reform and Russia. #Russiagate national.thelead.uk/p/the-lead-u...

Kemi Badenoch refusing to acknowledge that Tommy Robinson is "far-right", now on LBC, and refusing to condemn Elon Musk's words. In fact she says what Musk said *isn't* incitement. So what would be incitement then? How violent would his words have to be before he was deemed a threat to this country?

Coming up to 4,000 emails to MPs - you know what to do folks

Elon Musk seems to have hit a nerve with readers of The Lead. We're calling on the Home Secretary to place him on the banned list after his vile speech at the 'Unite the Kingdom' rally.

If you do anything today click here to petition your MP to ban Elon Musk from the UK startafire.co/scramnews/ba...

We call on the Home Secretary to act following Elon Musk's vile words and hatred stirring at the 'Unite The Kingdom' rally. Sign our petition now and get Musk banned.

Not sure what else there is to say at this point Me for @theleaduk.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/theleadu...

Three Lions playing in the pub. "Thirty years of hurt...." Overheard: "Sorry - this is the *men's song*" 🔥🔥🔥🔥

This is actual good news and it wouldn’t have happened under the Tories and we who voted Labour should note it.

My view is it is far too early to have any view on whether Labour is succeeding or not. But this report card is a very good start at explaining what Labour has done with its first year in office national.thelead.uk/p/labour-gov...

Whenever I look into small consumer-facing businesses in London it’s often a shock when they’ve even filed a first year’s accounts on time, let alone actually paid any tax due. Honestly seems you’re a bit of a mug if you bother doing so.

Another day with an almost completely decarbonised grid.

The truly impressive thing is that the tories who are doing it have looked at a government whose ratings are in the toilet and are - charitably - struggling to connect and instead of thinking “bite our tongue, eat shit and apologise and we could be back in in 5 years”, they’ve chosen…this?

So a teacher earning 34k, renting, with 3 kids doesn't get a payment to heat their home But a pensioner who owns their home on the same money does? Cool story bro.

It’s sort of reassuring to know the richest man on earth spends his time tweeting and doing ket.

Very good idea that solves the problem. Also, gets closer to merger of NI / income tax, which would be significantly more sensible way of taxing all types of income - very odd unearned income taxed less.

Today's immigration announcement marks the death of the mission for the UK to have the fastest economic growth in the G7. International investors now know that the UK govt will put other considerations ahead of economic growth.

And a f-ing terrible one at that. I honestly despair. To be clear: immigration is NOT the primary cause of the housing crisis. It has a tiny impact. Decades of foolishly using property as our primary personal asset class, combined with under investment in social housing, is the cause.

This is an absolutely disastrous framing to adopt. “Immigration beings great gains but it needs to be controlled to maximise benefits” was/is right there on the table. Instead they have opted to lead with the strongest possible “Nigel Farage is right, don’t vote for him” headline.

Our economy desperately needs highly skilled workers in fast developing industries eg AI, film, professional services. Asking those people to wait *10 years* before they get any form of security is absolutely ridiculous. Ask Germany how its two-tier labour market experiment went.

A hateful thing to say. People whose approach to life is not faith-based have done enormous good, majority non-religious societies have been some of the strongest proponents of human dignity and solidarity. Why is the BBC just printed this unchallenged? If it's "news", it should be balanced.

The Swiss are *very serious* about #CrossChannelRail trains to London, and this is the latest evidence of it www.watson.ch/schweiz/inte... There is space in Basel SBB and Zürich HB for terminals, Genève is harder, and rolling stock should be ordered next year

My analysis of the locals: Reform's wins are a hard pill to swallow, but a crucial reminder of what the left is for. @theleaduk.bsky.social national.thelead.uk/p/labours-el...

Reform on track to win majority on once safe Conservative Lancashire County Council after complete Tory meltdown. Labour losing seats too to independents/Green party. lancashire.thelead.uk/p/lancashire...

One of the best summations of Tony Blair's climate intervention from Richard Black @ember-energy.org. Rightly highlights how so many of Blair's assumptions are deeply flawed and how the solutions he is proposing are speculative at best. www.linkedin.com/posts/riblac...

The collapse in what even shocks anymore - from the world's leading democracy - is what is most terrifying

One of the most shocking things I have read for a while: t.co/lg46ijHLDF

Kemi Bedenoch's plan to scrap hate incidents dishonours Stephen Lawrence national.thelead.uk/p/kemi-beden...

I wrote about yesterday's Spring statement for @theleaduk.bsky.social...

Reform Council Tax Now! national.thelead.uk/p/council-ta...

Why we must stop talking about 'foreign interference' and deal with the Kleptocracy enablers closer to home - brilliant piece national.thelead.uk/p/time-to-st...

“I have heard many horror stories over the years from my postnatal groups of women’s pleas for basics like pain relief or a drink of water being ignored.”

Vital reading from @rachelcdailey.bsky.social for @theleaduk.bsky.social today dispelling some of the most harmful anti-welfare myths and explaining why further cuts will only harm the most vulnerable national.thelead.uk/p/labours-pr...

When Labour is in opposition, *every single time* the Tory attack line has been "if you let them in, they'll go LEFT WING in office". Every single time, Labour has veered to the right. Maybe the attack line should be: "If you vote Labour they'll be too right wing".

Solidarity with Voice of America and Radio Free Europe - some courageous journalists are now in serious jeopardy www.indexoncensorship.org/2025/03/stan...

As the government unveils its benefit reforms, including tightening who receives the PIP (Personal Independent Payment), disabled journalist Charli Clement says there will be unintended consequences...

"Google has refused to deny receiving a secret legal order from the British government, according to a bipartisan group of members of Congress..." therecord.media/google-refus...

UK taxes are not 'extremely high'. For most earners they are lower than they were in 2010 and the overall tax burden is not high compared to the rest of the OECD.

ULEZ works. It’s that simple. Expanding the Ultra Low Emission Zone wasn’t a decision I took lightly, but the latest figures show that it was the right one for the health of millions of Londoners.

EXCLUSIVE from me ✍️ Children in crisis being educated at home because schools can't meet their needs are a high risk of becoming NEET - with huge consequences that last a lifetime. Experts warn of a "lost generation" if gov doesn't act now to support families national.thelead.uk/p/lost-gener...