New OS for my 11yo MacBook is a bit of a surprise. Does it make any odds? mrmacintosh.com/macos-big-su...

Can he hang on until after the Gorton byelection?

With millions struggling to afford food, utilities and essentials, a protected minimum floor for benefits could provide a lifeline and reduce reliance on food banks - @kevingopal.bsky.social speaks to those who need it most national.thelead.uk/p/child-pove...

A protected minimum floor, preventing people having their Universal Credit cut beyond a certain level, is a stepping stone to ensuring benefits cover the cost of essentials. Me in @theleaduk.bsky.social.

Bit hopeful on his part - 'we request', we 'remind

Leaflet wars just stepped up a gear: Mill reveal Reform UK have broken electoral law manchestermill.co.uk/exclusive-re...

We are running 3 free training sessions for front line staff, managers, and decision makers in local authorities - ‘Children in care- citizenship and immigration training’ which you can sign up to here: gmiau.org/settlement-a...

🚨 BREAKING | Hannah Spencer, a local councillor and plumber, has been nominated as the Green Party candidate for the Gorton and Denton by-election. Spencer endorsed Zack Polanski in the leader election. She won the selection with ~80% of ballots. (Via @tomorrowsmps)

Ban politicians from using football analogies.

The Home Office is consulting on facial recognition technology, aiming to significantly increase its use. But questions remain over accuracy and a tendency to “incorrectly include some demographic groups in search results”. Me for The Lead Untangles: national.thelead.uk/p/the-lead-u...

Consultation is open until 12 Feb.

An invasion of privacy or a much-needed way to keep people safe at major events? As the Home Office consults on police use of facial recognition technology, we explore the the pitfalls and the promise of better security @kevingopal.bsky.social national.thelead.uk/p/the-lead-u...

For more than 2 years, police in Berlin - encouraged by city and national politicians - have systematically used excessive violence in an attempt to beat the Palestine solidarity movement into silence. I wrote about this phenomenon for the @lrb.co.uk

Pleased to have been able to add some northern perspectives to The Lead's comprehensive coverage of child poverty. Ultimately, children are poor because adults are poor, and lifting the two-child cap is necessary but not sufficient to end it.

I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture. They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1

Former editor of The Big Issue in the North @kevingopal.bsky.social discusses the shameful crisis of child poverty and the regional disparities that are being driven by inequality and deprivation with @nmozz.bsky.social

Child poverty is at an all-time high in the UK according to official statistics - but it's important to look beyond the figures to who it really impacts. Last week, @kevingopal.bsky.social spoke with Sophie, a student who grew up skipping meals in Newcastle, because she saw her mum doing it.

My fave bit is "did it work?" 🤣

Touch flat footed, Zak #Ashes

“When you’re younger and you’re in it it feels normal. Where I’m from everyone was in the same boat. It’s not just my mam who was in poverty – it’s generations before that." Sophie, from Newcastle.

As this week's flip-flopping on income tax shows, nothing is an entirely done deal - me for @theleaduk on child poverty in the North and the prospect of the end of the two child benefit cap - substack.com/@kevingopal/...

This contribution to the volume of human misery is yet another policy from Labour based on a false premise, in this case that refugees are overly attracted to Britain. It will increase bureaucratic limbo, thus making worse the problem of "cohesion" it purports to solve. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

If it quacks like a duck, and walks like a duck ... Jaw dropping letter to investors confirms 79th Group could be UK's biggest ever Ponzi scheme www.thebusinessdesk.com/northwest/ne...

If Shaheen is an activist, then Goodwin, whose whole twitter feed is extreme and inaccurate far right nonsense, is definitely an activist. If Goodwin is an academic, then Shaheen, who has done more recent and more credible academic work, is an academic.

lmao david byrne showed the video of the ice agents tripping over themselves while trying to run after a biker on wacker drive during the “life during wartime” segment of his chicago show tonight

Asylum seekers, housed in hotels in Manchester, are reaching out in their own words to address the concerns of the local community. Please take a minute to read their letter, & share it with the people in your life who need to hear the truth about the people they are protesting.

Ah, right.

* reaches for that Irish passport application form *

From @zackpolanski.bsky.social on Lab govt: “The alarm bells of authoritarianism are ringing loud and clear."

📢 Benefit cuts don’t have widespread support

Amongst pro-migration voters - i.e. Labour's base last year and the easiest votes to recover in future - support for this policy is...0%. Nil. Nada. Zip. Zero. Goals don't come more open than this. Labour should be attacking this proposal at every opportunity.

Shame on Downing Street for going along with this. So much for being committed to a free press

Gone by tomorrow?

One of those "it's hard to be shocked in 2025, but...." stories. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Statement from Rachael Maskell MP after at least three racist incidents in York recently: "these flags are more than just a flag of our country, for some they have been used to rally those who suppress the rights of others and perpetrate acts of hate"

Not sure what's worse - that she's lying or telling the truth.

"Bluntly, if the government cannot make the point that it is a bad idea to give money to the Taliban, it is far from clear to me when a better opportunity to attack Farage is going to present itself."- on.ft.com/3HKB1zO via @stephenkb.bsky.social

It's Black Sabbath country I guess 🎶gammons gather in their masses 🎶 smaller than most evening classes

Butterflies galore in the Wenning Valley

Rushed in before the ICO verdict? Regulator @infocommission.bsky.social‬ says: "We have recently concluded our audit of South Wales Police and Gwent Police and will be sharing our findings shortly.”

And a bit out of time for the early eighties - the Led Zep film The Song Remains the Same.

The deliberate killing of five Al Jazeera staff has brought the total number of journalists killed by Israel since the start of the war to 237, according to Gaza's Government Media Office. 🔴 LIVE updates:

Penultimate paragraph undermines story: 'The researchers stressed their findings were observational and did not prove a cause and effect relationship' - www.theguardian.com/food/2025/au...

His wise counsel then included use of the word 'swamped' - 'David Blunkett warned Tony Blair of ‘explosive’ research into immigration attitudes in 2004' - on.ft.com/418nFUf via @FT

Kent Police appear to be arguing that 'reasonable suspicion' of support for Palestine Action is the offence itself

Police in Canterbury today informed a protestor that the phrase "Israel is committing genocide in Gaza" could be considered a declaration of support for Palestine Action and therefore a terrorism offence.

Some politicians are happy to let universities fail — but the consequences on local economies and social mobility would be colossal. Read @kevingopal.bsky.social's latest piece in today’s newsletter: national.thelead.uk/p/higher-edu...

Me for @theleaduk.bsky.social this week on the higher education crisis, and what the real damage would be if Blue Labour's wish was granted and a university went to the wall - national.thelead.uk/p/higher-edu...