Scenes at Kings Cross are verging on comical. In WH Smith the shoplifting is so brazen, people just loading bags full of sandwiches and walking out. A man is playing Despacito so loud that you can’t hear the train announcements and almost all the trains are showing infinite delays or cancelled.

The day when all our dreams come true is getting closer.

"One influencer said that in a previous interview with a government minister they were asked to pre-submit questions for approval and warned against going off subject matter" www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Keir Starmer’s No10 is cancelling afternoon briefings for journalists and instead replacing them with occasional press conferences. At those, it will be limited hand picked questions

Remember when HS2 to Leeds was cancelled by the NIC's shitty maths and fundamental lack of expertise, and Leeds was thrown the bone of "you'll get trams" and I said those would never be delivered? Yeah, as I was saying...

NEW - Keir Starmer is planning a King’s speech in the week after the May local elections. Will be a reset moment at a time when his leadership may be under threat. Bills could include AI, immigration, planning and electoral reform. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

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.

Huge new poll puts Plaid ahead of Reform with Labour and the Conservatives on just 10% each. willhaywardwales.substack.com/p/bombshell-...

In the spirit of spreading goodwill, my top holiday tip is to watch Pluribus if you haven’t already. One of the best acted, most intelligent, gripping shows I’ve seen in a v long time. The premise is amazing!

NEW - The Employment Rights bill has finally passed, after a tortured time in the Lords. Christmas cheer for ministers and trade unions

Latest analysis - applying a bucket of ice to the fizz-fuelled SW1 leadership frenzy The truth is no one has a plan www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

One of those stories where the quotes just keep getting progressively better... www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Six leading business organisations urge Tory and cross-bench peers to drop their opposition to employment rights bill, @jessicaelgot.bsky.social reports - www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

My kids woke up so excited this morning for the first night of Hannukah and now yet again we have a festival where I’m very conflicted about whether it’s safe to take them to synagogue to celebrate. Communities shouldn’t have to live like this.

Lines are open 📞 Phone in to our 2025 telethon and speak to your favourite journalists from the Guardian on 0203 353 4368. We'll be accepting donations by credit or debit card. You can also support the 2025 charity appeal at theguardian.com/charityappeal25bsk

Has this person read a single Sally Rooney novel? www.spiked-online.com/2025/11/15/s...

EXC - Three senior opponents of assisted dying including two former ministers have urged the House of Lords not to filibuster the bill. They voted against in the Commons, but warn today that the Lords is risking democratic legitimacy www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Government sources absolutely adamant no further concessions on the employment rights bill after it lost again in the Lords last night. “A deal’s a deal,” one says, which should calm trade union nerves. More ping pong next week, Mon in Commons, Tuesday back in Lords.

NEW - Chair and panellists for the grooming gangs inquiry is expected to be announced today by Shabana Mahmood

UK will go further to stop ‘abusive’ Slapps lawsuits, Lammy says www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Because of course Henry had got the full roll call from Dulwich College and of course Trevor Phillips couldn’t even be bothered to read the stories he’s writing about

On a purely factual point, Trevor Phillips’s column in the Times misrepresents our reporting in casting doubts on claims that there were more boys called Patel than Smith at Dulwich in 1980 (we did not report 1976 as the year it occurred). 1980 roll shows 13 Patels and 12 Smiths.

Have to say that when I saw posts about Donald Trump getting a peace prize from Infantino, it never crossed my mind that it wasn’t a joke

EXC - I've seen a leaked policy document from Labour in opposition which sets out how to approach assisted dying. The document sets out how it could be introduced as a private member’s bill, suggesting that would still allow “heavy influence” for the government in the process

Truly shocking that Rachel Reeves had the audacity to call herself the U14 girls chess champions when she won the U14 girls chess championship but some bloke thought she was talking about something else.

I don’t think I’m over interpreting but Polanski seems to hint quite strongly in his Rest is Politics podcast that he’s thinking of running against Stella Creasy in Walthamstow. Think that would be a pretty brave move (in the Sir Humphrey sense). One of the v few Labour with a genuine personal vote

Great culture can save lives. Literally. Amazing letter in today’s @thetimes.com about Tom Stoppard

EXC - Angela Rayner is to lay a new amendment to the workers rights bill She will urge the government to move the unfair dismissal changes to begin next year not 2027 but accept the union negotiated changes MPs want to lay down a marker so the Lords don’t gut more of the bill

Very good analysis from @jessicaelgot.bsky.social on Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves’s entwined fates: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Attorney general urges Nigel Farage to apologise to classmates over alleged racism and antisemitism www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

My analysis - why Rachel Reeves isn’t going anywhere www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

BREAKING - Richard Hughes resigns as chair of the OBR

This is somewhat nerdy/technical but reveals utterly woeful practices at the OBR – where they relied on free Wordpress plugins to protect some of the most sensitive economic data the UK publishes. Absolutely dismal stuff, and not just one junior staffer screwing up.

- Starmer admits for the first time publicly he considered raising income tax - Piles pressure on the OBR over Budget leak, calling it "serious error" - Raises prospect of serious new renegotiation with EU on trade www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

This was the point I was trying to make in my question to Starmer today. No one believes these forecasts or what the government told the OBR in order to get them. So why are we carrying on with this?

This story is starting to make me feel I’m going slightly mad - maybe RR overdid the gloom, but the tax rises are paying for a) the welfare U-turns b) the £10bn-plus increase in headroom c) scrapping the two child limit d) bits of other spending eg higher local gov costs 🤷🏻‍♀️

The reason this has been whipped up is the Budget is incredibly boring and tame, with no fundamental reform of anything. It’s a bit of fiscal drag and some tinkering on issues of marginal interest. Really the question is why wasn’t there more serious measures given the economy’s relative stability?

“Oh conference”.

‘We had six MPs and four factions’: inside Your Party’s toxic power struggles A terrific read from @peterwalker99.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Here is a demonstration on trusting the govt’s word - At Monday’s briefing spox said they would “overturn all attempts to scupper these plans, including watering down day one protection from unfair dismissal" At *exactly* the same time, unions and biz groups were in DBT negotiating this climb down

Three years is a long time in politics

It's such a bizarre framing. Labour MPs think taking 450k kids out of poverty is putting the country first! That's why they wanted it to happen! It's not because they personally benefit.

Worth pointing out that this is a direct breach of the manifesto

NEW - the government poised to water down flagship workers rights bill, ditching day one rights to unfair dismissal but reducing qualifying period from two years to six months. But in concession to unions, government will remove provisions for up to nine months probation.

NEW: BBC tells staff they cannot quote Trump line removed from Reith Lecture BBC News article & Media Show prevented from repeating Rutger Bregman’s corruption allegation in its coverage… of whether the BBC censored his speech! BBC/Trump fallout continues www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...

Biggest alarm on day 2 of the Budget coming in two key areas - - SEND, which will see DfE potentially facing a £20bn timebomb in two years - Hospitality - where lots of hospitality businesses panicking about new rates. One hotel owner saying they are facing £60k increase...

Rachel Reeves confirms our scoop from September - two child benefit cap is lifted today in full

Rachel Reeves can count herself (at least a bit) lucky. OBR productivity downgrade would have knocked £16 billion off tax receipts. But she was saved by £32 billion of *extra* receipts from higher inflation and a shift to more tax-rich growth (lower profits, higher wages).

New PIP claims are starting to decline

💥 Govt says fuel duty to *go up* from next September. In the past the OBR has assumed that fuel duty would start to rise after a one-year freeze. This time, the govt has said explicitly that it will only be frozen for five months, and will start increasing it after that.