‘At one point during cross examination, the prosecutor Peter Wright KC called Barton’s explanations “nonsense”, to which the former player responded by asking: “Are you calling me a nonce?” Wright in turn responded: “No, nonsense.”’

Jaysus the quality of caller on @mrjamesob.bsky.social for the more serious subjects is levels above everywhere else - this current caller is brilliant. She should be called to the government to help them with policy.

Lowe doesn't need the money but the 'thrill' of engagment can be just as corrupting as the love of cash & if engagement/cash increase according to the extremity of the opinions expressed then you need integrity to resist the temptation to become ever more offensive. This is what Musk has engineered.

Saw Elf The Musical for the first time at the Aldwych last night. It’s pretty close to perfect. My 17yo was suddenly 7 again & I was smitten from beginning to end. Can’t think of a better way to introduce youngsters to the magic of live theatre. Pure Christmas joy. Would merrily go again again today

We’ve made this investigation free to read because so many people in Sheffield are affected by this story. Our journalists have been knocking on doors for weeks and we’ve had to employ lawyers because of the legal threats made against us. We can only do this kind of journalism with your support.

Is there a prominent Brexiter left who hasn’t torn off their mask to reveal the rancid racism beneath? Boris Johnson’s chief fluffer accusing anyone else of being over-promoted is peak process. The bitterness of insanely privileged men with empty souls knows no bounds.

I am going to break one of this account’s cardinal rules, which is not to have political posts on here, especially not about *them*. But I was intrigued by the erotic novel at the centre of the story and went to see if it was any good. (Spoiler: Ha ha ha ha haaaargh)

On my dog walk I often chat with right wingers. I pretend I am an ex-Reform voter put off by the utter fuck up of our county council. Then they see me as one of their own, don't get defensive and shouty, and start to question their own opinion of Reform. Honey, not vinegar.

Appalled to hear that the so-called "Trump insurrection", for which the House of Representatives voted to impeach him in January 2021, was actually a hoax created by a BBC documentary made in 2024 and transmitted back in time by woke scientists and the deep state

What is going on in Reform’s local councils? My @lbc.co.uk with @mrjamesob.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T9G...

A magnificent piece of work. Comprehesive, revelatory & shocking. Journalism this good is always rare & precious but never moreso than at times like this. Latter day Lord Haw Haws being plumped, preened & delivered to your doorstep in plain sight by a Nazi-saluting goon news.sky.com/story/the-x-...

’Journalists failed to condemn a piece about Sadiq Khan accompanied by a photo of a terrorist atrocity.’ James O’Brien is reminded of a certain Mail article after Zohran Mamdani’s historic win in NYC.

Nice to see Michael Heseltine’s hair back in the Commons.

Teaching children what they really need to know & why it boils the piss of propagandists & liars. tinyurl.com/4rrn2mkx

Free speech & democracy. He absolutely hates them.

Congratulations to @beckyfrancis.bsky.social and team for producing a curriculum and assessment review that's evolutionary rather than throwing all the achievements of the last few years overboard. Lots of sensible recommendations. www.gov.uk/government/p...

Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

I think Othello at the Haymarket is one of those productions that will live long in the mind. David Harewood, magnificent in the title role, brings a vulnerability to the role that's in the text but rarely on stage. I 'hate' the play because it's so bleak but I'd happily watch this version again.

School pupils are to be taught how to tackle conspiracy theories, spot 'fake news' & root out misinformation. The Daily Mail, ajudged by Wikipedia to be an unreliable new source, is furious. You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to work out why.

There goes Zohran Mamdani, trying to plot a course between the Scylla and Charybdis of unhinged attacks from the right and unrealisitic expectations from the left. You have to wish him well.

What I want from today... @mrjamesob.bsky.social opening the show, "Now that Zohran Mamdani has historically won the NY Mayoral race we have our first caller, Sadiq from London, what are your thoughts?" *Obvs James will take 25 mins to get to this point. 😃

Great reflections on Brexit from @anandmenon.bsky.social 'It is hard to imagine a worse moment in the history of international trade to have decided to leave a continental-sized economy to go your own way, because of the direction of international trade thereafter.' www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztqL...

Thread. Shouldn’t need saying but apparently it does.

It’s as easy as ABC* but Rachel Reeves took two years to get there… Social media blanket for Aussie teens. Home birth. Austerity; Brexit; Covid. tinyurl.com/4rrn2mkx

One of those calls you don’t forget in a hurry… www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9Kz...

“The BBC is not an American broadcaster, and it doesn’t owe any obligation to shareholders determined to close deals and make profits. Its clash with Trump is a chance to show the advantages of being a public broadcaster by standing up for the truth. It should seize that opportunity.”

After a week of Fuentes/Carlson/Roberts, I should probably say that I've been working on a book on contemporary right-wing antisemitism. This blowup is the result of years of tolerating open, naked antisemitism in all its forms as long as it's not "woke".

A warning from August 1941: Thompson wrote it for Harper's magazine. She had written her book "I saw Hitler" in 1932 having interviewed Hitler as head of the New York Post's Berlin bureau. Message -post war generation vulnerable to nazism- prescient!. harpers.org/archive/1941... @lbc.co.uk

Thank you @mrjamesob.bsky.social - only just started but thank you for this highest recommendation

Here you go James

🏛️ PODYSSEY SEASON 2 - All the details! 📜 What. Where. When. 🍊 open.spotify.com/episode/6Aw1... 🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a... @sturdyalex.bsky.social

Reform UK have performed so many u-turns on policy, here’s there new logo.

Lots of commentary saying that it's not clear what the point of the speech is. Seems pretty clear to me. It's pitchrolling broad based tax rises in the Budget and making sure - as Reeves did with the fiscal rule change in 2024 - that it doesn't surprise the markets on the day.

As anti-Labour media will always put words in her mouth, why not beat them to it: "Yes it's true, Daily Mail readers, we are coming for you and your money because a) everyone else had to pay under the Tories b) Brexit screwed the poor c) you voted for both. Cheers, Rachel."

This is the only pertinent point to be made, really.

Extraordinary to hear Reeves cite tariffs and increased defence spending in her speech, as she sets up the blame for tax rises. This message could have been really effective if she'd issued it when Trump introduced tariffs. Now, much less so.

Whenever I read a story about one of these hard-discipline schools, I shudder, thinking about the horrifying stories of abuse and trauma we’re going to hear in the future from kids who went through them.

Never have I seen such a perfect example of Schrödinger's Migrant. Zia Yusuf, asked whose PIP Reform would cut, talks about "foreign nationals". Less than a minute later, same "foreign nationals" are taking all the jobs and damning British youth to life on PIP. 🤡 Utter clownshow. ~AA

'You don't need me to list the people who could barely conceal their desperate urge for this to be somebody whose identity fit their prejudices...' James O'Brien asks if the police have 'any choice' on revealing the ethnicity or nationality of suspects now.

This is so lovely, I had no idea Oldham created IVF - it's great to see towns celebrate their history and achievements www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

You’d need a heart of gammon not to laugh…

Israeli military’s former top lawyer arrested over leaked prisoner video on.ft.com/47lZDc1

He’s so close but you know he’ll never get there…

To be fair, they’re losing MPs at a much faster rate.

Blimey. Deference drives you nuts, kids.

Andrew Windsor (feat. Emily Maitlis). Ghosts. tinyurl.com/4rrn2mkx

🚨My new book VIP Lane: Croynism and the Pandemic is out now. Available to buy here: viplanebook.com It was great to chat about this with @mrjamesob.bsky.social a few weeks ago. Full interview here ⤵️ @bylinetimes.bsky.social youtu.be/uB58NJi63Co?...

O’Brien & Lineker live on stage. Tickets available here. All proceeds to Global’s Make Some Noise. (Don’t tell the Daily Mail.) uk2.emma-live.com/FullDisclosu...

🚨Two years+ after @GoodLawProject revealed Luxe Lifestyle were on PPE Vip Lane thanks to the help of a former minister, the government finally corrects the record. But, as I detail in my book Viplanebook.com this is still the tip of the iceberg. It’s likely that 70 firms were on VIP Lane not 52 🧵

🚨 Dominic Cummings Lobbied Officials to Hand ‘Test and Trace’ Contracts to Palantir After Secret Meeting With Peter Thiel + New emails released to Byline reveal Cummings involvement in VIP Lane deals. Read my latest @bylinetimes.bsky.social report here: bylinetimes.com/2025/10/31/d...