The plight of Britain’s boys is a growing political talking point A group of Labour MPs has launched a campaign to produce a coherent, centre-left response to the issues facing young men According to co-founder @alistrathern.bsky.social, it's an area where progressives have "ceded the field on"

BREAKING: Andy Burnham says he has sought permission to stand in the by election.

As the government grants permission for the new Chinese Embassy to be developed, a reminder that MPs in countries as far away as New Zealand were among those concerned about fibre-optic cabling close to the site, as I reported for @thehousemag.bsky.social www.politicshome.com/news/article...

Nine years ago a Twitter user was sending poetry to Sadiq Khan about London’s many cultural identities. A decade on, Reform UK’s mayoral candidate doesn’t dispute it was her old account - so what’s changed? Our profile of Laila Cunningham: www.londoncentric.media/p/laila-cunn...

When I asked Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander about a new Birmingham-Manchester rail link, she told me: www.politicshome.com/news/article...

"We're ending up like a Potemkin power" For @thehousemag.bsky.social's first issue of 2026, I speak with ex-security minister Tom Tugendhat about the state of Britain’s military, his bids for the Tory leadership and why UK politicians should get off TikTok www.politicshome.com/news/article...

Update Kent County Council, described as Reform's "shop window" council, has proposed a 3.99% council tax hike Celebrated as a win by council leader: "Through sound financial management and efficiencies, the council has been able to keep the proposed increase below the level previously expected”👇

Councillors' home addresses will soon be kept secret from the public under new legislation, amid rising concern over politician safety The LGA found that 1 in 4 councillors had experienced threats of violence or death against themselves or someone close to them @noahvickers.bsky.social reports

Amendments to the English Devolution Bill mean local councillors' home addresses will soon be kept secret by default, amid mounting concern over politicians' safety at all levels. @jocoxfoundation.bsky.social and @local.gov.uk have welcomed the change: www.politicshome.com/news/article...

🏏 Parliament’s cricket team has been playing since 1850 Graham Stuart and Andrew Bingham tell @noahvickers.bsky.social about the sport’s lasting popularity among MPs, peers and staff

Grim nights in Wales and Scotland are already baked into Labour thinking about the May locals Less discussed, however, @matildamartin.bsky.social & @noahvickers.bsky.social report, is things getting ugly in London, where Polanski eyes gains "The whole of the Olympic Park belongs to the Greens"

Labour facing tough London elections in May. “The whole of the Olympic Park belongs to the Greens,” Labour source says. “There is no Labour party presence in one of the most sizeable developments in the whole of London… It’s all Green, Green, Green.” Story w @matildamartin.bsky.social

All eyes are on elections in Scotland & Wales next year. But London council elections will also be a crucial bellwether for the government. We can reveal that nervousness extends from City Hall to London Labour MPs & councillors With @noahvickers.bsky.social www.politicshome.com/news/article...

175 Years Not Out! Parliament's Cricket Club Celebrate Their Anniversary www.politicshome.com/news/article...

Here's our big interview with the Transport Secretary www.politicshome.com/news/article...

In 2018, Heidi Alexander (then London's deputy mayor for transport) told the London Assembly that Heathrow expansion "would expose hundreds of thousands more people to worsening air quality and adverse noise impacts". Now she says a third runway has "transformational potential"

NEW: Labour's northern MPs grow frustrated over the government's repeated delays in progressing Northern Powerhouse Rail. Ministers don't want to commit to anything that looks like HS2, but have found the two schemes are bound up with one another: www.politicshome.com/news/article...

Andy Burnham has warned the Treasury not to give Manchester a "cut-price" rail upgrade In a strongly-worded message to Westminster, the Greater Manchester Mayor said removing Manchester Airport from Northern Powerhouse Railway plans would be "ludicrous” He sat down with @noahvickers.bsky.social

Exclusive: Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has warned the government not to give his region a “cut-price infrastructure option” as discussions continue over Labour’s plan to deliver the Northern Powerhouse Rail project www.politicshome.com/news/article...

EXCL: Burnham warns ministers not to build "cut-price" version of Northern Powerhouse Rail, as Treasury ponders how to keep costs down. Cutting Manchester Airport from the route while expanding Heathrow would be "one of the most London-centric things ever" www.politicshome.com/news/article...

What is the roll-out of AI doing to the UK's labour market? What kind of future scenario planning is going on inside government to prepare not only for the opportunities ahead, but for the prospect of mass job losses? My feature for @thehousemag.bsky.social www.politicshome.com/news/article...

NEW: My interview with Natural England chair Tony Juniper, who tells me, on the infamous HS2 'bat tunnel': "We could have finished up with a much better outcome for the bats, without having to spend that money" www.politicshome.com/news/article...

A real pleasure to interview Sir Michael Lyons for @thehousemag.bsky.social Sir Michael chaired the independent New Towns Taskforce which the government commissioned after last year's election. He tells me how ministers can make their grand plan a reality: www.politicshome.com/news/article...

My @thehousemag.bsky.social interview with Mel Stride: 🔵Is keeping the pension triple lock an example of 'living within our means'? 🔵Will Tories change PIP to voucher-led system? 🔵Would he have resigned if he'd made Reeves' rental licence error? www.politicshome.com/news/article...

Juliana Süß, from defence think tank RUSI points to China’s growing capabilities in space. “China has thrown everything they have up into space...For them, space is tied to the China dream." Story from @noahvickers.bsky.social www.politicshome.com/news/article...

EXCL: MPs in parliaments around the world tell @thehousemag.bsky.social they are concerned about China's proposed UK embassy. Lawmakers as far away as New Zealand fear that cabling beneath the site could present security risks not just for the UK but globally www.politicshome.com/news/article...

"We Are Very Exposed": How Should The UK Protect Its Economy From Cyber-Attacks?

The Home Office confirms to me that it does not keep a record of what sensitivity settings police are using when they deploy live facial recognition (LFR) cameras, despite concerns over the technology's accuracy and civil liberty impacts www.politicshome.com/news/article...

Live facial recognition cameras have been used by police for years. With a government consultation on the way, MPs and campaigners are demanding safeguards on the technology, reports @noahvickers.bsky.social

“We’re at a very low spot right now, and there’s no guarantee that things can’t get worse," admits Tory chair Kevin Hollinrake He insists Badenoch can turn it around — but signs of progress are needed by May — and says "if you want revolution, then vote Reform" He spoke to @noahvickers.bsky.social

In their search for alternative forms of asylum accommodation, ministers will be forced to balance a range of competing factors, including cost, speed of procurement and equity of dispersal. What will they choose? My piece for @thehousemag.bsky.social www.politicshome.com/news/article...

Will Labour really expand Heathrow Airport? ✈️ Expansions have already been approved at City, Luton and Gatwick, but the scheme at Heathrow is far larger - and will face significant resistance from within the party. My feature for @thehousemag.bsky.social www.politicshome.com/news/article...

👷 Housing Minister Can't Guarantee New Towns Affordable Homes Target Will Be Met www.politicshome.com/news/article...

Matthew Pennycook can't guarantee to @noahvickers.bsky.social that the government will hit its affordable homes target in the New Towns programme... www.politicshome.com/news/article...

NEW: Housing minister Matthew Pennycook refuses to guarantee that government will hit its target for 40% of New Town homes to be affordable. Comes after Chris Curtis MP admits "I don’t think anybody thinks it’s going to be always 40% across the board" www.politicshome.com/news/article...

You can keep up to date with which senior ministers and Labour-affiliated unions have announced their endorsement for either Bridget Phillipson or Lucy Powell as the next deputy leader of the Labour Party on @politicshome.bsky.social 👇 www.politicshome.com/news/article...

I didn't have Trump down as a Stansted man myself but I suppose none of us is immune to the glamour of taking a Greater Anglia train to Tottenham Hale

🚨 The latest edition of The House magazine is out now in Parliament! Sample it here: www.politicshome.com/house-magazi... If you want the latest interviews, opinion, political analysis and more sent to your door, get 25% off using the code HOUSE25 here: www.tpgroupshop.com/store/produc...

Another e.g of the risk for Reform in alienating potential voters through odd/conspiratorial/online takes. The anti-vax stuff is most shocking. But here's (h/t @noahvickers.bsky.social) some climate change scepticism, + Tice playing down species decline in his Express iview ("dinosaurs disappeared")

"I believed in going down with a sinking ship, because I was loyal to the end where that was concerned." In the @thehousemag.bsky.social, Dame Andrea Jenkyns tells me about her journey from the Tories to Reform and her plans as mayor of Lincolnshire www.politicshome.com/news/article...

Fascinating to chat with Dr James Orr, the 'intellectual architect of Britain's new right' who is chairing the advisory board of a new Reform-linked think tank - the Centre for a Better Britain. www.politicshome.com/news/article...

"It is not often possible to recommend a TV series as compelling as Adam Curtis’ Shifty" 📺 Baroness Tessa Blackstone reviews 'Shifty' | #BBCiPlayer #shifty bit.ly/4nXuNg4

Susan Hall, leader of the Conservatives in City Hall, will face no disciplinary action after sharing an AI-generated image of Sadiq Khan drowning The post sparked outrage in London Labour, @noahvickers.bsky.social reports

NEW: Former London Tory mayoral candidate Susan Hall will face no disciplinary action after sharing on X an AI-generated image of Sadiq Khan drowning. The monitoring officer found Hall did not break the GLA code of conduct and will not investigate further www.politicshome.com/news/article...

Listen carefully: How AI is changing Britain's GP surgeries

"The fact that this is happening tells you very much about the wild west that we’re in... It does feel a little bit like a free-for-all." My latest @thehousemag.bsky.social piece examines how AI is changing Britain's GP surgeries - from consultation to triage. www.politicshome.com/news/article...

💊The NHS is battling "medieval" levels of untreated illness in some of Britain's poorest communities – at a cost to the health service of about £50bn a year, or the same as the defence budget. My big read from Barrow, Blackpool, Burnley and Blackburn: www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

www.lbc.co.uk/opinion/view... First column I've written for LBC

Here's the full Lucy Powell interview, which gave people a right old fit of the vapours over the weekend

NEW: My @thehousemag.bsky.social cover interview with Commons Leader Lucy Powell. We discuss: 💬 Getting rid of 'arcane' language 🕹️ Whether the Commons needs electronic voting 💰 Are MPs paid the right amount? 🌹 Will she run for Greater Manchester mayor? www.politicshome.com/news/article...