Starmer says he doesn't think Trump is serious about using military action to seize Greenland. Might bookmark this.

In the wake of Trump's hissy fit letter to Denmark about Greenland, Keir Starmer uses press conference to say there needs to be ‘calm discussion between allies’ - reiterates UK support for Danes.

Huge moment for Reform as Rosindell defections mean that the proportion of its MPs that were state education rises above 25% for the first time.

Nigel Farage had been due on BBC1's Laura Kuenssberg show, the latest in her series of party leader interviews. But at the last minute he has seemingly been replaced by Richard Tice. Hmmmm.

Lord Frost furious this morning that the phoney war over Greenland is back on, leaving the raw politics of a defection to Reform to develop botulism on the kitchen worktop.

Jenrick’s media plan…. Sure his ego and Farage’s will get along just fine

Not the analogy I would have used...

every provocateur who wangs on all the time about Britain being “broken” should be sent to an actual failed state or autocracy for a month as a learning experience, there’s no shortage of them

Maria Corina Machado, I apologise, I was not familiar with your game.

It's early in the year for an inductee into the OBN (Order of the Brown Nose) but all credit to Machado for making a strong case.

The Reform pitch is increasingly “the last government was terrible, so we’ve hired everyone who was in it”.

If Jenrick does join Reform, there will have to be some swift U-turns for some of its leading figures - this was London mayoral candidate Laila Cunningham *checks notes* seven days ago www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

Nigel Farage currently doing a pretty poor job of denying Jenrick had done a deal to join Reform, at a press conference in Scotland.

Kemi Badenoch sacks Robert Jenrick as a shadow minister and boots him out of the Tory party saying she has credible evidence he was about to defect

I need the most “the problems with police culture in England and Wales” paragraph you can find:

Politicians: don't use AI to make your maps.

Former BBC Royal Correspondent Clarence Mitchell among a slew of Tory (and Green!) councillors joining Reform today. He'll be able to have a great chat with the guy who told the party conference last year the King's cancer was caused by the Covid vaccine.

Part Iron Cross, part Austin Powers-style faux masculinity symbol, superb, no notes

Wes Streeting taking another opportunity to put ideological distance between himself and No10, for some reason: Health Secretary attacks critics of how Whitehall works warning they make Labour look impotent to voters www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

❤️‍🔥Tory sources confirm that Nadhim Zahawi made approaches to senior members of Kemi Badenoch's team about getting a peerage just weeks before defecting to Reform UK - but was turned down.

Another fun defection to Reform from the Tories today: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

Ofcom has finally decided that yes, it will launch an official probe into child abuse images generated by Grok on X www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

Few things in the news currently to raise a smile so kudos to Your Party for trying.

Again, "I only make CSAM for money" would not help an ordinary person's defence, but would aggravate their sentencing.

Perhaps my least popular opinion is that if it was not for the job loses involved, a massive closure of pubs would not be a bad thing. Many are too big, poorly sited for modern demographics and offer poor service for locals. The pub tie system is also a disgrace and should be banned.

I suspect political journalists will get a lot of mileage out of Laila Cunningham's campaign to be the Reform London mayor, one way or another www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

photos from Trump's speech to House Republicans (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty)

Ministers have *finally* intervened and told Elon Musk to act over CSEM and deepfakes of women being generated on X by Grok. Liz Kendall emerges to say they are 'demeaning and degrading' www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

I happen to have polled this very question earlier this year. It's complete nonsense to say that X is the most popular platform for news. However its news audience is still very large.

WH sources say Venezuela's opposition leader committed the "ultimate sin": She accepted the Nobel Peace prize. “If she had turned it down and said, ‘I can’t accept it because it’s Donald Trump’s,’ she’d be the president of Venezuela today,” one said. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Starmer today suggesting the UK can align with the single market without freedom of movement, man it’s too soon after Christmas for cake(ism).

There’s always a tweet.

The US has overthrown South American leaders with less pretext before, but they used to do it quietly. Who thought we’d miss the days of a coup by a right wing paramilitary underwritten by the CIA…

El caballo se ha escapado, senõr.

Nigel Farage says allegations he said "Hitler was right" while a pupil at Dulwich College and "gas 'em all" to Jewish schoolmates are "maybe solidifying our core support". Which is quite a revealing comment.

Eight days ago, Starmer was defending the 'sensible' original tax plan at the Liaison Committee, why not have him announce this there? Or the Chancellor in the Budget? Or six months ago to avoid six months of bad headlines and bad feeling? Very odd.

Mad timing, announcement dribbled out on December 23 - Labour waters down plan to make farmers pay IHT on their agricultural land: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

As a former editor of Popbitch – and the proud owner of a legal letter sent by HarperCollins, accusing me of being "highly likely to cause serious harm to [their former star client]’s reputation both as an individual and author” – may I just say: GET IT RIGHT UP YE

Presumably he becomes Pupate of all England cc @callummay.co.uk

A mini-story to cheer you up this morning. The other day my teenage son returned to his locked bike to find the back wheel nicked. We went back yesterday to rescue it - and found this note taped to the frame. We have the wheel again. A very happy Xmas to Ollie and his note-writing other half.

Interesting background on Paul Doyle, who drove his car into the Liverpool parade www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/art...

Fantastic detail from the PA court coverage of Lib Dem peer Lord Razzall getting his second driving ban of the year.

Steve will hopefully be interned on the Isle of Man within seconds of the first bombs dropping, as is tradition.

Friday’s @thetimes.com cartoon times.newsprints.co.uk/morten-morla...

Thanks for making them sound totally delicious PETA

NEW: it’s the inaugural Your Party conference this weekend, and I’ve been speaking to people involved about a project which has become so bogged down in disagreement that, as one person told me, at one point they had six MPs and four factions. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Nigel Farage giving away five golden tickets with his Reform black shirts that entitle winners to enjoy/endure lunch with him. Wonder where he got that idea?

Taking a few weeks off after the arrival of Wilcock Jnr. Amid the witching-hour poonados and dealing with a surfeit of poppers a chance to test the buggy out by the mill.

Small businesses being notoriously immune to cash flow squeezes.