Turned on the Today programme for perhaps the first time this year. Instantly presented with three minutes of Chris Mason: glib, inane, uninformative, utterly banal. Turned it off again.

Can I just ask, #r4today, as you seem to be very keen to talk about and investigate Polanski’s council tax issue, why not the same feverish scrutiny over the far more troubling and glaringly corrupt £5M bribe Farage took from that crypto billionaire, Harborne? We can hear your strings being pulled.

The basic issue is that the UK economy, not very dynamic at the best of times, has been shown not to function for growth outside the single market. Nobody has a solution for this and every government since Brexit has collapsed whilst pretending there are other solutions.

Brexit ‘no mates’ Britain still sitting in a sulk outside the room because yet another prime minister doesn’t have the courage to say how geopolitically insane and economically illiterate this is. Or admit the lies they’ve all told about immigration and freedom of movement. What failure.

Britain "at the heart of Europe", 2026 edition:

This is the end result of Shabana Mahmood’s nasty immigration policies… more votes for Reform and so, more racism scaring and dividing our communities. Not sure how Labour can justify this, politically or morally. It’s so far from what we’d all hoped. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Meanwhile, I'm still reeling from the fact that Richard Tice can't find it in him to condemn someone for saying that Nigerians should be melted down to fill potholes.

How about a criminal investigation and a permanent ban from public life for taking bribes and lying to the electorate? A wrist slap for breaching a code, a suspension and by-election is more prize than punishment for tantrum-prone Farage who’s barely an MP anyway. observer.co.uk/news/politic...

“The British press usually works itself into a fury if people in public life threaten legal action against journalists... But when it comes to the wall of money and lawyers propping up Farage and his finances, barely a squeak” Democracy dying in the darkness. www.independent.co.uk/voices/nigel...

Embracing racism is not a way to restore pride, it’s a way to restore racism. It’s not a path to glory, it’s a path to repressed shame and having to lie to yourself, ever more desperately, about who you’ve become.

All I wanted was a technically competent vaguely left-leaning government who would undo the worst of what the Tories did, and change us back to a welcoming, no longer hate-ridden society.

Groundhog Day. How utterly depressing that these dismal people get to fail us all over again. Big hand to the media for their starring role in this hellcycle of corruption, dishonesty and betrayal.

Just remember. Farage isn’t really winning. He’s having power bought for him by foreign-based crypto billionaires and fossil fuel magnates. They want a corrupt PM who’ll sell off our NHS, bin NetZero and scrap our rights and protections to make more profit for them. Good day for moneymen and morons.

A “hero voter” is an older, white Brexiter apparently. “Hero” FGS. Building your governing strategy around the prejudices and fears of that narrow-minded demographic is doomed. We’ve been pandering to Brexiters for a decade and it’s been utterly shit. Maybe the rest of us could get a look-in now.

“When Farage enters 10 Downing St, having been cheered on by my employer (the Daily Mail), he’s going to have to answer questions on the things we’ve been ignoring”

Once again. It’s not about Reform’s vetting process, it’s about what and who they are… to their very core… Ignorant, racist inadequates and weirdos with a v nasty streak. Happy to be useful idiots for a deeply corrupt, hateful leader who will shaft us all for money. www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

Any Labour politician who doesn’t constantly link inflation with Farage for his Brexit and his Trumphilia is lacking basic competence

Keep Britain Kind

Reform is just chock-full of really horrible, inadequate people. Don’t be Reform.

Someone this greedy and corrupt will never act in the best interests of the country. He showed you with Brexit. He showed you with Reform councils. He showed you with his own constituency. He’ll lie to your face and sell you out. Do not let him win because then we all lose. Do not vote Reform.

Anyone who votes for this party knows what they are voting for and every single one of them is deserving of our utter contempt. It should be as socially unacceptable to vote for them as it was to vote BNP 20 years ago.

Anyone voting Reform is knowingly voting for corrupt racists who’ll make all of us poorer and less protected, remove our rights, privatise our NHS, increase fossil fuel dependency, shove children into poverty and threaten our communities… Don’t expect to be forgiven. www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

Britain's broadcast media boasts of its strict adherence to impartiality rules. Mentions per MP. LibDems: 645 Tories: 5,116 Greens: 7,763 Labour (the actual govt): 27,438 Reform: 70,732 Anyone surprised they're ahead? bebroadcast.co.uk/politics-who...

Reform UK are refusing to explain why Nigel Farage posed for a "Christmas drink" with far-right activists, some of whom took part in a violent attack at a church. One of the men pictured with Farage was convicted of assault by beating last month, after storming an anti-racism meeting at the church

Today, the day before the locals, the Times - feeder to the media stories of the day - puts the Polanski Red Cross story on its front page. At no point has it put Farage and his £5million bribe from a foreign-based crypto billionaire on its front page. Maybe tomorrow? Hahahaha. Of course not.

Why do we have to tolerate such unadulterated bollox from this hideous man? And why does the media give it all a veneer of potential respectability? Farage is pathologically corrupt and obscenely greedy. He’s a national security threat, a liar and a racist. Just say so. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

This can't, or shouldn't, be even remotely good enough, and surely wouldn't be accepted as such for any other party leader. Amongst many, many other things, it can't have been both 'unconditional' *and* 'to pay for my security'. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Just heard self-centred hypocrite Nigel Farage on BBC News say that no British politician has been physically attacked more than him. An insult to the memory of Jo Cox and David Amess, both murdered.

Have to say.. as red flags go, proposing to set up concentration camps and taking a £5M personal bribe would be the top two when deciding who NOT to vote for. It is genuinely insane and extremely troubling that Farage could still be electable despite that… or even because of it. WTAF, UK?

Just a thought, but could we maybe focus on the fact that *Reform want to put tens of thousands of people in fucking concentration camps*, rather than the location of said camps?

As these things go - and it obviously won't impact on his diehard fans - this, from the Tories, is actually quite an impressive effort.

Brexit costs the UK between £180 billion and £240 billion per year, according to a huge study from Stamford / Kings. This is a bargain.

Yes. Stop Farage. Stop Reform. Stop the corruption. Stop the racism. Stop the misogyny. Stop the hatred. Stop the cruelty. Stop the incompetence. Stop the division. Stop the threats. Stop the fascism. Stop the failure. Just, ffs, stop him.

So typical of Farage to try to deflect from the brazen corruption of his £5million gift from a foreign-based crypto billionaire by making a mad and fascist policy announcement so we talk about that, instead of him. We can easily do both. Reform is corrupt and racist. Farage is corrupt and racist.

On a day when mega-rich, privileged and safe, Zia Yusuf, pledges to shove asylum seekers in detention centres (in Green constituencies), before forcibly deporting them, this is a v important read. These grim people are frauds. Exploiting ignorance and racism for votes. But only to enrich themselves.

Reform is a racist party. Voting Reform is a racist act. We must not shy away from calling this out. They don’t get to hide behind “legitimate concerns” and feel sorry for themselves. Their hatred and inadequacy has made them very ugly indeed.

An absolutely poisonous party run by absolutely poisonous people.

So today, £5million-giftboy, Farage bins his planned appearance on #bbclaurak But as soon as he wants scrutiny-free attention, he’ll be back. How dare he use the media when it suits him and shun it when it doesn’t. No one wanting power should have that kind of control over their own accountability.

For £200,000 Farage will promote your company and get his councils to buy your products. Just imagine what he’d do for you if you gave him £5,000,000. Because it wouldn’t be nothing. It’s never nothing. He’s in hock to his donors and if he took power, we’d all be. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Brexit Racism Russian bribes Christofascist Trump links Clacton house purchase Multiple jobs Tice’s tax The Epstein files The ruinous policies The inept councils The wild corruption… For love of god. When will Farage be held to account? Once he’s been red-carpeted into No.10 and it’s far too late?

It's extraordinary to think, given the current state of the world, that when David Cameron tried to make the geopolitical case for EU membership in 2016, he was greeted with derision, not least by the Times. As I say in my latest post, no one is laughing now. open.substack.com/pub/nixons/p...

There’s no “accused” about it - a politician being handed £5m IS a conflict of interest. Accepting such a gift is an open and shut case of not being interested in, let alone fit for, public service www.ft.com/content/6a56...

Strongly disagree with Nelson on his claim that Farage offers “*genuine* hope to people who feel betrayed by the established parties” As with Brexit, it’s hope built on lies and prejudice, funded by corrupt power-brokers who offer nothing but cost and loss to ordinary people. The ultimate betrayal.

people all over the world starting to understand how it is possible to bankrupt a casino

Any other politician. Any other party. This would be wall to wall media scrutiny. Farage and Reform shouldn’t be able to move without this being thrown at them. Venal brokers to crypto billionaires and fossil fuel magnates. A corrupt man leading a corrupt party. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

“£240 Billion of income that has disappeared” So far… And Farage wants to scrap Labour’s reset, scrap the Brexit deal altogether in fact… and go to a leave-the-ECHR-no-deal Brexit. Has the country completely lost its mind? When will this idiocy stop? Prejudice as policy is ruinous.

So, I've got some questions for Nigel Farage, about his £5m gift. Here's one: "You have previously stated that on police advice, you hold no parliamentary surgeries…Given that we now know you have a large private security budget, why are you unable to hold constituency surgeries?" Here's the rest:

These. People. Do. Not. Give. A. Shit. About. Democracy. Or. The. Country. Just money. Their own money. Making tons of it. Whatever it costs everyone else. And god it would cost. Our rights. Our protections. Our NHS. Our national wellbeing and our security. open.substack.com/pub/democrac...

“I’m very much on my own and will be for the rest of my life, and I have to face up to that grim reality. Christopher is an ardent supporter who is deeply concerned for my safety” Oh jeezus. What a load of whimpering tosh. You’re corrupt, Farage. And your rich bezzie, Harborne, is buying you power.

The majority of us see Farage and Reform like this… as a bunch of lying, hypocritical, racist shysters who are totally unfit for office. So why do we have to put up with a media that generally treats us all like we’re the idiotic minority who get taken in by their crap? Be more Private Eye.