Via No 10 today: "The Secretary of State for the Environment Emma Reynolds has set out the government’s Animal Welfare Strategy. This will deliver the most ambitious welfare reforms in a generation, including plans to phase out colony cages for hens, end puppy farming and ban snare traps."

One of the most complained about shows this year: Headliners, GB News, 22 Jan – 1,391 complaints Ofcom: "Complainants objected to a presenter’s comment they believed linked the LGBTQ+ community to paedophiles [it did]. Our investigation found the live programme broke broadcasting rules."

The Telegraph is the last place I'd trust to tackle misinformation. Via Private Eye

There's a word for selling political influence for cash... (sadly Reform aren't the first to do so) Via Private Eye

This is huge if even part of this potential is realised. "The fund will unlock up to 19 GW of offshore wind in the immediate term, providing the country with the homegrown energy to deliver clean power by 2030 and protect households from volatile fossil fuel markets." www.gov.uk/government/n...

"New powers that come into force on Thursday 18 Dec will allow reservoirs to be built faster, enable a new scheme to slash energy bills for people living near pylons by up to £2,500, and support clean power projects being prioritised for grid connections to bolster Britain’s energy security."

"AI’s biggest impact [in elections this year] wasn’t a single “fake video,” but the thinning of the truth. The sheer volume of AI content led to “liar’s dividend,” where politicians could claim real scandals were “just AI deepfakes.” open.substack.com/pub/aiandpol...

The Foreign Office has been issued with an enforcement notice by the Information Commissioner’s Office for “unacceptable” delays in responding to Freedom of Information requests “for a number of years” (ICO via Press Gazette) ico.org.uk/action-weve-...

"National Union of Journalists Wales has condemned attacks on Welsh media by Reform UK, citing comments made by Nigel Farage about BBC Wales director Rhuanedd Richards and legal threats against the NationCymru news website." www.nuj.org.uk/resource/nuj...

Press Gazette: "GB News issued a high-profile apology this week to the mother of Meghan Markle, Doria Ragland, after a totally inaccurate and shocking claim. Carole Malone who made the remarks has blamed misinfo she had seen online. But she had previously doubled down on the debunked comments...

Excellent news. Hopefully this gives the upcoming Elections Bill a shot in the arm www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

Uk to rejoin Erasmus scheme - set to be confirmed formally tomorrow www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

The Culture Sec has launched the review of the BBC’s Royal Charter, aiming to "bolster trust in the broadcaster and put it on a sustainable financial footing" Nandy is looking at options to ensure the BBC is "sustainably funded for decades to come...being independent and accountable to the public."

With apologies for the self-promo, but I've just hit 50k followers here - over double the following I had on X I stopped posting on X earlier this year & have zero regrets. The move over here was never really about reach, so it's just a bonus on top of Bluesky not being owned by a far-right troll.

if these kids were conservative influencers, it would not have been "things can happen"

Fraser Nelson is the latest Farage apologist to dismiss the racism allegations against him, saying that there's never been any evidence of him ever being racist as an adult. Just completely untrue. There is extensive undeniable evidence of it www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/nigel-fara...

No, the PM cannot respond to every batshit racist comment going. Yes, the PM can, should and must, respond to batshit racist comments made mainstream, reinforced by national media, and from, in these terms, fairly high profile individuals.

This thread is wild. Harry Cole is editor-at-large at The Sun. He is platforming extremism here, and leaving outright racism almost entirely unchallenged. Cole remains a member of parliament's Press Gallery (despite now being based in the US)

And I didn't pay a penny! And I'm not a far right influencer! How nice.

Your Party's "areas of [membership] strength appear to overlap heavily with places where the Green Party is already challenging Labour strongly, while local parties are much smaller in older industrial areas." morningstaronline.co.uk/article/your...

"Since the last report, we’ve seen 22 local media launches, and 22 closures. "Launches (predominantly digital-first, e.g. Substack) and closures are not evenly distributed. "Closures disproportionately occurred in the most deprived urban districts with few titles". Launch areas tend to be richer.

No 10: "The government today launched its new National Plan to End Homelessness that sets out three key pledges - halving the number of rough sleepers, ending the unlawful use of B&Bs for families & preventing more households from becoming homeless in the first place – by the end of this Parliament"

"Metropolitan police officers must tell their bosses if they are Freemasons, the force has announced, amid fears membership could be linked to corruption "Anyone who is part or had been a member of a “hierarchical organisation that require members to support and protect each other” must declare it"

This petition is gaining traction... GB News’ recent Trump interview was outrageous - it was completely biased and failed to tackle clear falsehoods. "GB News didn't challenge him ONCE. Ofcom must investigate them for breaching its rules." act.38degrees.org.uk/act/gb-news-...

Ugh. Proposals to build Wales’ first new national park in 60 years have been rejected. Cllrs in Powys unanimously rejected the proposed Glyndŵr National Park, a 358sq/m project. They said the area couldn't cope with tourists. (The vid of Wales FM doing a Gavin & Stacey impression is funny though)

"According to archive records seen by DeSmog, the IEA accepted more than £357,000 from fossil fuel giants – including BP, Shell, and Esso (owned by ExxonMobil) – between 1990 & 2005, adding to the £122,000 received between 1967 and 1989" And over £164k from Murdoch's News International in the 90s

"In its 10 years of existence, [press 'regulator' IPSO] has launched no standards investigations and fined no one." open.substack.com/pub/alanrusb...

The Labour Govt has already replaced the 92 hereditary peers meant to be sacked before they've even left the Lords, following the latest peerages list, the Electoral Reform Society has found. Labour has now created 96 peers: 62 peers created since its formation Plus the 34 created in Weds' list

Ofcom is very willing to find tiny minnows for broadcasting misinformation... It appears to be terrified of challenging misinformation on GB News (save for a very rare fine against the channel over impartiality re. their Rishi Sunak General Election programme, currently under judicial review)

Via Press Gazette: Press abuse victims including the McCanns, Caroline Flack’s mother and Crimewatch’s Jacqui Hames have written to the PM asking for a meeting over standards reforms 13 years after the publication of the Leveson Report. (Hacked Off)

A bill to reform bus services in Wales was passed by the Senedd yday. The Bus Services (Wales) Bill hopes to transform the way local bus services are planned and delivered across Wales, giving councils a bigger say in how services operate. Bus services will be "brought back into public control."

Via Clear the Lobby: "MPs debate the Railways Bill for the first time on Tuesday. "It'll create Great British Rail, a single body to manage most rail operators in England, plus Network Rail, which manages most rail infrastructure in Britain."

Literally who is going to watch this leftfootforward.org/2025/12/liz-...

The lack of basic verification processes in mainstream British newspapers is quite something pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/d...

The GMB union's London Region has welcomed plans by MPs to bar parliamentary candidates from standing if they do not pass an enhanced DBS check. GMB says "the status quo, which allows candidates who have been convicted of violent and sexual offences to stand for office, presents safeguarding risks"

No 10 ICYMI: "Eurostar and Deutsche Bahn (DB) have confirmed joint plans for a direct high-speed rail connection between Germany & London, which will go direct to Cologne and Frankfurt in 4 and 5 hours respectively. "The line should be up and running in the early 2030s" and will use double deckers

Absolutely insane to me that GB News retains its broadcasting license. It's BNP TV.

GB News has paid “substantial” libel damages to a UK charity after airing false claims it had sent money to terrorist groups in the Middle East pressgazette.co.uk/the-wire/new...

Giving a peerage to former Downing Street director of communications Matthew Doyle is an... interesting choice. Few could argue No 10 comms was excellent in Labour's first year in office www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Former Tory MP Ben Howlett "bought a 50% stake in the influential PoliticsUK Twitter/X account for just £100, from a young Tory parliamentary staffer. As part of our investigation, we paid for two pro-China posts on PoliticsUK" They were published and only deleted after Howlett was told of the sting

You will be shocked to discover after reading these stories that while Rachel Reeves claimed to have been the "British girls under-14 [chess] champion" she was in reality merely the "Under 14s British Women’s Chess Association (BWCA) Girls" Champion. This is getting utterly ridiculous now

Thames Valley Police have been accused of an attack on free speech and the right to protest this morning, after effectively banning an anti-monarchy protest in Windsor Campaigners from Republic were to hold up a banner saying 'Charles, what are you hiding?' as the German state visit passed through.

Via LabourList: "Farage has reportedly told donors he expects Reform UK to do an election deal with the Tories...either in the form of a co-operation agreement or a full merger. Labour's Luke Charters: "From Tory rejects joining Reform, to copy and pasting the same failed austerity politics" (FT)

Big news for devolution and Cornwall - recognition from Govt of its 'unique' national status (National Minority designation, having its own language etc) & noting they will not have to team up with arch nemesis (half joking, but only half) Devon & probably not have to get a mayor to get more powers

Something uplifting: There's been a big surge in solar power capacity in the UK over the past year www.pv-magazine.com/2025/11/27/u...

'Britain becomes world’s largest economy to end new oil and gas exploration' Feels like this should have been bigger news... www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/britain...

No 10 today ICYMI: "The Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill...gets Royal Assent today – which will crack down on illegal and inhumane pet smuggling by banning transportation of heavily pregnant and mutilated animals into the UK." Govt's Animal welfare strategy is also coming soon.

Via Press Gazette: Press 'regulator' IPSO ruled that a reporter working on behalf of the Daily Mail website breached the Editors’ Code on privacy and intrusion into grief or shock by *entering a woman’s porch through an external front door*. No fine for the paper, of course.

🔴Your Party’s Chaotic Conference Exposed a Movement at War With Itself Heckling, expulsions and a power struggle between Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana dominated the first major gathering of Britain’s newest socialist party, reports @josiahmortimer.bsky.social bylinetimes.com/2025/12/01/y...

🔴 Your Party’s Chaotic Conference Exposed a Movement at War With Itself Heckling, expulsions and a power struggle between Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana dominated the first major gathering of Britain’s newest socialist party bylinetimes.com/2025/12/01/y...