Just when you thought this story couldn't get worse. And this puts the PM absolutely in the firing line.

Pope Leo XIV: Jesus told us, blessed are the peacemakers. But woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic, or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.

Peter Mandelson failed his security vetting clearance but the decision was overruled by the Foreign Office to ensure he could take up his post as ambassador to the US, an investigation by the @guardian has revealed www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

This is crazy if correct. No10 and Keir Starmer were reportedly unaware that Peter Mandelson failed his security vetting. How is such a thing even possible? With all the questions that were apparently asked of Mandelson surely someone would have thought to ask “did he pass his security vetting?”

Despite the administration’s rhetoric and bogus legal theories, the supposed armed conflict with “narco-terrorists” appears to be entirely make believe. Murder is the general term for premeditated killing outside of armed conflict.

"Illegal illegal illegal illegal illegal It is beyond tragic irony that in Great Britain we have an ex-lawyer as P.M. who turns a blind eye to his paymasters' genocide, war crimes, settler atrocities and modern day Lebensraum. No wonder people are going Green" via Danny Brittain

Can confirm

I said last night at a Byline Times event that many had warned against Mandelson's appointment. Now we know that included the official vetting process: utterly unacceptable from Sir Keir Starmer www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

"The govt may soon come to find that dynamic alignment is a high-effort, low-reward strategy which consumes a lot of administrative bandwidth while barely moving the economic dial." @jreland.bsky.social argues that the UK plans for EU alignment may prove challenging. ukandeu.ac.uk/the-limits-o...

The people living in Gaza are still enduring a genocide at the hands of the Israeli military. The horrors they face each day should horrify all people of conscience.

Oddly doesn’t mention the risk to national security (& everyone’s privacy) from undue access to data by the US Government under the CLOUD Act. www.politico.eu/article/euro...

“Kagan joins a pantheon of western politicians, policymakers and pundits who’ve had important realisations about the calamities of western intervention – only several decades too late.” www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Being held liable for others' comments is ‘too heavy a burden’, Fabio Butera told fellow journalists and activists supporting his case. Let's hope the appeals court overturns the initial decision, clarifying that responsibility for speech lies with the speaker. www.article19.org/resources/it...

I just emailed my MP through the #CleanWaterNow campaign 🌊 calling for a new water law to stop pollution and restore rivers, lakes and seas. Every voice matters – will you join me? action.friendsoftheearth.uk/target/clean...

Good to be reminded of this: “Whisper it quietly,” instructed the Sun last year, “incoming president Donald Trump might actually do a good job.” “Whisper it,” advised the Telegraph last May, “but it’s just possible sanity is returning to US diplomacy.” …/2 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

First it sued a small Swiss media outlet for reporting on #Palantir, now critics in the UK have become the target. When I asked questions as an MEP, I learned Palantir doesn't like scrutiny. Meanwhile countries in Europe are quietly signing contracts with Palantir, voluntarily walking into a lock-in

I’m sure we can add to this list….

It is not a conspiracy anymore.

There is nothing newsworthy about putting people seeking asylum at risk. There is nothing in the public interest about misleading the public as to the scale of people seeking asylum based on being LGBTQIA+. There is nothing in the public interest about ignoring the barriers they face to safety. 8/

Disgusting reporting by BBC using a tiny number of cases to suggest widespread abuse of a system which routinely denies LGBTQIA+ individuals asylum and forces them back into environments of persecution. This article massively distorts the reality of the situation. 1/ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

“When elected officials appear entangled in networks that benefit the already wealthy, it becomes difficult for the public to believe that they are being served with honesty or integrity. Expressions of regret ring hollow.” www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/...

BREAKING - Zarah Sultana MP exercises Parliamentary Privilege to expose the unjust nature of the Filton 24 re-trial. UK press has been court ordered not to publish these details. “If convicted, they and 18 others will be sentenced as terrorists, but the jury will not be told that”

Outrageous! “The jury has not been notified about the ‘terrorist’ designation, and the British media cannot report this information under a court order. Activists will also be prohibited from telling jurors how their efforts sought to impede the Gaza genocide.” Read! thegrayzone.com/2026/04/12/u...

Also from my submission. "Whatever its intended juridical nature, the paragraph as framed is so open to subjective interpretation and abuse by member States as to be a palpable vehicle through which the freedom of expression rights of content creators could be negatived."

It’s not as if they weren’t aware of this. From my submission on the consultation draft.

The new Council of Europe Online Safety Recommendation wants you bloggers and regular public online posters (who are ‘outside formal editorial oversight’) to be subject to self-regulatory codes, encouraged by Member States. I am so reminded of this. www.cyberleagle.com/2018/10/a-lo...

My hero! www.theguardian.com/law/2026/apr...

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson: “The Strait of Hormuz was already open before the war. You are the ones who created the war out of nothing and closed the strait to the rest of the world.”

😡 Thames Water wants to be allowed to dump sewage and not pay a PENNY. Right now, they're trying to force a deal so they can dodge fines until 2030, while customers foot the bill. This isn’t right. Join me and sign the petition now:

39% of Americans still support Trump. Europe has embarked on the road of greater autonomy, but it urgently needs to shift gear. Transatlantic relations will not "go back to normal", they have changed for good. Europe has a chance to emerge as the stronger side, the US is most definitely weakened

Today we woke up in a new Europe! The people of Hungary wrote history and showed the world what democracy means. But now the work starts to rebuild. Europe can no longer use Orbàn as a scapegoat, reforms are inescapable. My blog: open.substack.com/pub/sophiein...

“The EU has been saved by the Hungarian voters. But for sixteen years the EU tolerated him. Europe urgently needs democratic reform and much more robust mechanisms to protect the rule of law throughout the territory of the EU.” open.substack.com/pub/sophiein...

Noone should underestimate the importance of this evening in European history. A turning point in the fight against the autocrats and all those attacking European liberal democracies.

I hope each and everyone arrested successfully sues the police for wrongful arrest, if not kidnapping. This and declaring PA a terrorist organization is Labour Friends of Israel determining what happen on the streets of the UK, and Labour repressing the right to protest. They have to be replaced.

BREAKING: Crowds gathering in Trafalgar Square to oppose the unlawful ban on Palestine Action. Despite the High Court ruling that the ban is unlawful, the Met police decided to continue making arrests following an embarrassing u-turn on their policy not to.

So it turns out paying people a living wage doesn’t collapse the economy; it’s almost like the rich have been lying to us to maintain their power over our lives.

Meanwhile, Iranian embassy in Japan is responding to president’s tweets

“Israel moved quickly to sabotage the Iran ceasefire with air attacks on Lebanon, but the mainstream media refuses to report this as an attempt to torpedo the fragile talks.” mondoweiss.net/2026/04/isra...

Holyrood, like Westminster, has a voting system no longer fit for purpose—and the elections on May 7th could risk the break-up of the United Kingdom, writes pollster Peter Kellner

Interesting: “Every voter who wants to guarantee a majority for Scottish independence at Holyrood should [vote SNP or Green in their constituency but] cast their regional vote for the Greens, not the SNP.” www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/sco...

Perfect encapsulation of Israeli politics: the airstrike on Beirut's Tallet El Khayyat on Wednesday that leveled a building happened at almost the exact same time as the IDF Arabic spokesperson calling us a people of culture, civilization and lovers of life.

Your irregular reminder that our problem going forward is too little immigration, not too much.

“These problems of railways not working in border regions are cross border problems. What is the EU for if it is not to fix cross border problems?” jonworth.eu/my-railway-w...

In Turkey, an elderly man who earns his living by shining shoes is visited every morning at the same time by a cat that asks to have its fur brushed. The man never turns down this little friend.😍👍💙

Absolutely remarkable statement from Pope Leo today. One for the history books www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...