Big thanks @XOBikes for fixing my broken wheel today at their new shop at 176 Blackfriars Rd. XO is a social enterprise which fixes & sells donated bikes. Staff are ex-offenders who've been trained as profession mechanics. All profits go towards training more ex-offenders.

The UK foreign secretary makes a statement on the USA & Venezuela in the Commons. She emphasises the importance of upholding international law in all circumstances and raised these issues with the US yesterday. 1/6

Contrary to what you may think, I do not care one jot about Starmer's fate. I do care about the number of people who seem to mistake precipitousness for moral clarity and bravado for courage - even in circumstances where getting it wrong might have catastrophic consequences. It frightens me deeply.

I'm hoping a few of your followers might support our campaign to protect a 170 year old oak tree in Wivenhoe. We have launched a crowdjustice fundraiser to be able to challenge Aviva and the Town Council from felling a beloved tree, known affectionately as Old King George.

On MONDAY, friends! It's VICTORIAN MURDER CLUB, at 9pm on BBC Two! At this point I forget all the early starts and freezing locations. But I don't forget the magnificent people behind the scenes who make it all possible. If you appreciate them as much as I do, do let them know in the comments!

BREAKING: “What is becoming increasingly apparent is the falsehoods that were peddled by Nigel Farage and others at the time of the Brexit referendum…all you had to do was leave the EU & you would have £350m a week for your NHS, well it hasn’t materialised” PM Keir Starmer

Here’s full interview of #KeirStarmer by Laura Kuenssberg. Most interesting IMO,is his clear steer that we will be aligning more closely with the EU+the single market. [Pls don’t shout at me. I don’t work for the #BBC. I don’t choose its employees+I think it’s important to hear this to be informed]

I see this place has descended into hysteria and hyperbole with political ’journalists’ basing their posts on nothing more than guesswork & conjecture - none of which add clarity to a rapidly changing situation.

In which Mumsnet women persuade each other that voting Reform will give the establishment “a kick in the arse” Oh well done, you lot. Brexit again. Falling for the con and risking it all, cos that’ll teach them. It won’t. It’ll just ruin life for everyone. Your children most of all. (Sunday Times)

Buddy, hope left the building, went to lunch, had 4 margaritas and a bloody mary, got into a fight with the server, was tossed through a window, severed an artery, had its leg amputated, spent three nights in ICU, got divorced, defaulted on the mortgage, and is living in a van down by the river

Well spotted on the date. In his emails to Epstein in mid November 2018 Bannon claims to have met up with Rees Mogg, Farage and Boris Johnson to keep Brexit on track and defeat Theresa May. Farage denies this…. And yet…. bylinetimes.com/2025/11/19/d...

X/grok creating and platforming sexually explicit material of children isn’t just a lapse, it’s criminal. Elon Musk and his companies should be held to account. It’s been over a year since I dumped X. It was the right decision then and even more so now. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

"Maddeningly, voters want contradictory things: low prices when they shop, high wages for themselves; not many immigrants but lots of cheap labour; rising house prices when they own and lower ones when their children want to buy" www.economist.com/leaders/2025... From The Economist

Classic drama from Powell & Pressburger... THE SMALL BACK ROOM (1949) 1pm #DavidFarrar #JackHawkins #KathleenByron drama #TPTVsubtitles

Go all in. We're supporting 2026 as The National Year of Reading! Find out more here: goallin.org.uk

Fantastic read: Hard Streets @profilebooks.bsky.social publication date Feb 5th author @jacriding.bsky.social with us in May Sponsors & Patrons Bookings open January 12th, Friends Bookings on January 19th, General bookings February 1st www.campdenmayfestivals.co.uk/newsletter

Many thanks @chipcampdenlitfest.bsky.social looking forward to it!

‘Of course he abused pupils’: ex-Dulwich teacher speaks out about Farage racism claims

Reminder that Henry Hoovers are made in Britain by a unionised workforce

Miniature musical instrument makers admit defeat as violin size requirement for story is declared "too small to build."

In the month that The Great Vance took his final bow in 1888 on the stage of the Sun Music Hall, Knightsbridge, here is his 'Beautiful Nell' for #songsheetsaturday by Stacey Lee & R Coote with lithography by Alfred Concanen #MusicHall

A gem from #Radio3 Jeremy Sams’ superb score for the #BBC 1995 #Persuasion dir. Roger Michell is just one reason why this is still the best #Austen adaptation. Amanda Root, Ciarán Hinds, Corin Redgrave, Nick Dear’s screenplay… And yes, I’m willing to die on this hill 😉 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Cricket went well, didn't it? The MORE JAM TOMORROW festive quiz is up! open.substack.com/pub/rostaylo...

Can you guess whom I chose as having had a bad 2025? “What he must hate most, I think, is being ignored. And this year he was. All he said was ignored. All he wrote was ignored. It's remarkable. People don't even comment on his column online. I had to search to find out if he was still writing it.”

A gem from #Radio3 Jeremy Sams’ superb score for the #BBC 1995 #Persuasion dir. Roger Michell is just one reason why this is still the best #Austen adaptation. Amanda Root, Ciarán Hinds, Corin Redgrave, Nick Dear’s screenplay… And yes, I’m willing to die on this hill 😉 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

So proud of my fiancé's inspiring diligence and effort, and the resulting publication of his debut novel (edited by yours truly)! If you enjoy the 18th Century, zombies, and/or military history, you'll likely enjoy it. I know he'd be over the moon at any support. nativeoak.org/products/the...

Susanna Inge, Secretary of the City of London Female Chartist Association, died #OnThisDay 26 December 1902 in New York aged 82. Hers is one of dozens of stories in Chartist Lives (£9.99 in paperback if you are looking to spend those Christmas Amazon vouchers) www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G3Q7PR7Y

Merry Christmas, London. Have a safe, peaceful and joyful celebration.

I know it. You know it. Robert knows it. Lewis knows it. Everyone knows it, but it is almost never verbalised. Actively working to see what pathetic angle you can use to bring down the Chancellor, by investigating her teen Chess tournament record, is NOT journalism. It is borderline psychosis.

Entertaining as this spat is, it contains not-a-flicker of recognition as to WHY this might be happening. For 16 months, a tax-exile-oligarch-owned, mostly right-wing press, has abused the privilege of these exclusive private sessions, to misrepresent the gov't on every issue. This is the FO stage.

1) Author Friends, do you already know about this settlement over the use - without permission - of scholarly books to train AI? See also Anthropic settles with authors in first-of-its-kind Al copyright infringement lawsuit, www.npr.org/2025/09/05/n...

A grand total of 10 Conservatives (one woman) and 0 Reform present for a statement on the VAWG strategy. Clearly protecting women and girls isn’t that much of a priority for them.

It was Christmas Eve five years ago when Boris Johnson signed his Brexit deal and kicked young Brits out of the Erasmus programme. Today, we exorcised that Ghost of Christmas Past. Our Labour Government is rejoining the scheme. A great day for young people and Pro-Europeans everywhere.

Future of Regent Street, Haymarket and Piccadilly Circus Engagement Report Nov 2025 [PDF download ⤵️] www.westminster.gov.uk/sites/defaul...

Detailed designs for Greyfriars Square have now been approved, a new green and open space next to St Paul’s Cathedral, coming in 2027. At 3,500sqm, it will be the City's biggest public open space. See a visual fly through of the plans here: cityoflondon.gov.uk/stpaulsgyratory

Thanks to everyone (especially @adambarnett.bsky.social) for the suggestions. There were so many pro-Putin statements by Farage, we turned them into a Griftmas Advent Calendar bylinetimes.com/2025/12/10/n...

Corruption threatens our national security, undermines legitimate business and steals money from working people’s pockets. By deploying specialist law enforcement capabilities, we will disrupt the serious organised criminals, terrorists and kleptocrats. www.gov.uk/government/p...

Anti-Corruption Strategy 2025 The Labour government have today launched their cross-department anti-corruption strategy to tackle threats posed by corruption to the UK’s economy, security & democracy. The global illicit finance summit, announced this morning, is just one part of the strategy. 1/2

It's being reported internationally. In the UK, mostly, silence. "Representatives from the crypto industry have held meetings with Reform feeding into the party’s strategy... Farage has championed several industry causes since including picking a fight with the Bank of England over regulation." ~AA

Three more British MEPs in Nigel Farage’s bloc now alleged to have “followed the script” given to Nathan Gill by an alleged Russian asset, according to prosecutors. At least eight UKIP and Brexit Party MPs were focus of efforts by Nathan Gill www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Dubai immigrant, Isabel Oakeshott, whines that Farage got nothing from his deal with the Tories last time, so why should he do that again. Christ. The whining victimhood of these spoiled brats. Squabbling over power, while the rest of us live with the mess they’ve made of our country and our lives.

Daisy Cooper: small boats soared from 0 to 46k - all thanks to Brexit and Farage. Muhammad Yusuf’s arrogant smirk proves that she’s 100% right.

Farage has been dismissing evidence of Russian ties to the Salisbury Novichok attack since 2018 🧐

TAN’s Art Books of the Year! Congrats @yalepress.bsky.social @thamesandhudson.bsky.social @royalacademyarts.bsky.social @lhartbooks.bsky.social @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social @edwardgoreyhouse.bsky.social Tate and MACK

'Our research clearly illustrates that large areas of the country are becoming “cold spots” for social sciences, humanities and arts (SHAPE) subjects, meaning that students face starkly shrinking opportunities'. 1/2

Reform is reporting £331 million in savings across the councils it runs, but Private Eye’s Rotten Boroughs writer Saba Salman says the claims are complete guff. Watch the full episode of Page 94, the Private Eye podcast, on YouTube.

The One Where Alex Loses It Over Dungeons & Dragons

It is not right that the media can deliberately lie and mislead the public. Labour would win massive public support to deal with this. Leveson 2 or something similar. That’s two ideas today to shore up support and win votes. Do it now!!

TAN’s Art Books of the Year! Congrats @yalepress.bsky.social @thamesandhudson.bsky.social @royalacademyarts.bsky.social @lhartbooks.bsky.social @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social @edwardgoreyhouse.bsky.social Tate and MACK

A new French novel reframes iconic works by O’Keeffe, Van Gogh and Goya through the fresh perspective of a young girl. buff.ly/Io9YMcu