NEW: Commons women & equalities committee says it will stop using X. Chair Sarah Owen says given preventing violence against women and girls is among its key areas, “X is not an appropriate platform to be using for our communications”. Ministers next? www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Kemi Badenoch’s spokesperson has said that the shadow attorney general Lord Wolfson has recused himself from any legal advice over Ukraine or Russia because he is representing Roman Abramovich - which would include anything about the deployment of UK troops. That’s a bit awkward.

After Kemi Badenoch says Keir Starmer should call for an emergency Nato meeting over Greenland, Starmer makes the point that when he attended the Nato summit in June, Badenoch said at the time that he should have missed it to be at PMQs instead.

I don’t know. Yesterday a woman in the Bloomsbury Waitrose described the one in Granary Square as “the good Waitrose” and for a moment I thought “huh, maybe David Betz is right. Maybe we will start to see civil war on the Strand”.

Nigel Farage is talking up Reform's chances of winning the next London mayoral election. But the fact that Labour are restoring the supplementary vote system for mayoral elections makes it pretty unlikely this would happen, I would have thought.

In terms of the direct impact on British people's lives, this could well be one of the most important policy initiatives of this parliament, particularly the plan for mandatory, regular tests for drivers over 70. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Technology secretary Liz Kendall says the mass of indecent and child sexual abuse material on X via Grok is "absolutely appalling, and unacceptable in decent society". No new action for now, but govt will back any Ofcom enforcement.

Nigel Farage's visit last month to the F1 finale was paid for by the government of Abu Dhabi, the new register of MPs' interests says. He also had "meetings" there.

Three hours after Mike Tapp was sent out to say he could not give a "running commentary" on whether a Nato member annexing another Nato member was be a bad thing, and Keir Starmer confidently said it is a bad thing. Who would be a junior minister? www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

It's up to the US "to lay out its legal basis for the actions that it has taken" is Venezuela, says Home Office minister Mike Tapp. For now the UK cannot take a view given what he calls "the fog of war". The UK will "not be pressured by social media" on this, he says.

“It’s interesting from a legal perspective”. Prize for the best use of understatement so far on Venezuela goes to Priti Patel on Sky.

Just a few more facts needed. Any minute now we’ll have enough facts.

One thing that perhaps hasn’t been factored enough into UK political predictions is how much an increasingly off-piste, lame duck Trump could harm Nigel Farage, both in terms of their closeness and voters being perhaps less minded to try a government of novices amid global chaos.

What the actual fuck.

I've written about why there is a arguably a political incentive for UK ministers to try and ignore the case of Shamima Begum, but also reasons why this might not be possible forever. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

In a remote jungle in the Philippines, one combatant is still doggedly waging a conflict that actually ended years before.

I had a chat with Zack Polanski about his fairly busy first four months as Green leader, how the party can combat Reform, and why he spends an hour every day replying personally to direct messages on social media. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

One final appeal as the year ends: Producing The War on Cars is our full-time job and we can't do it without listener support. You can save 20% off your first month or an annual subscription with code TWOC2025. Please subscribe and help us keep the podcast going and growing. Thanks!

Ahead of the departure of the last hereditary peers I spoke to Lord Trefgarne, once a minister in Thatcher’s government, who is preparing to leave the Lords after nearly *64 years* there. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I honestly cannot stop laughing

If you’ve not quite yet switched off from news: Reform’s plan to slash the aid budget by 90% would not cover existing contributions to global bodies such as the UN and World Bank, shredding Britain’s international influence, charities & other parties have warned. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Over on X it’s not just the guests on certain right wing TV stations who are now being openly racist. This sort of thing would have been career-ending not so long ago.

Cycling in booming in London but fairly stagnant UK-wide. What’s going on? I spoke to some people who know about these sorts of things. www.theguardian.com/news/2025/de...

The more discussion I see here about No 10’s decision to cut back on lobby briefings the more I realise that lots of people really don’t understand what they are and what they are for. Which may or may not be a fault of political journalism.

NEW: Chris Parry, the Reform mayoral candidate who said David Lammy should “go home to the Caribbean”, also suggested at least eight other politicians from minority ethnic backgrounds do not have a primary loyalty towards the UK. Reform have not disowned him. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Downing Street have unilaterally announced they are cancelling one of the two daily No 10 "lobby" media briefings and will at times replace the other with a ministerial press conference. The lobby system has its drawbacks but it very much holds No 10 to account, so this will reduce scrutiny a lot.

Fascinating thread about a fascinating poll on Welsh voting intentions. I was particularly struck by these two vignettes.

As far as that PMQs goes, recess might have already started. Apart from a couple of decent jokes from Starmer, both he and Badenoch seemed to be going through the motions a bit.

Very pugnacious official response by Reform to this mass letter about Nigel Farage's actions at school. Calling the allegations of racism "smears" and "a naked attempt to discredit Reform and Nigel Farage" echoes the Richard Tice "made-up twaddle" line. The defence does seem to change weekly.

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.

Labour's gradual shuffle back towards the EU continues. Exclusive by @pippacrerar.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

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

I'm been at a Richard Tice press conference at which he: • Refused to say whether he still believes Nigel Farage's school accusers made up their claims, calling the row "old news". • Refused twice to condemn a Reform candidate who said David Lammy should "go home" to the Caribbean.

As with many contentious policy areas, the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling on gender is, as much as it is anything, a job creation scheme for lawyers.

Overdue and valuable work, even in part of me does miss the daily rush of adrenaline.

Reform UK say they will not be commenting any more on the claims of racism against Nigel Farage when he was younger. Danny Kruger, who was hosting a press conference on their proposed changes to the civil service, told me: "We have nothing more to say on those allegations."

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.

V pertinent point in a useful mini-thread.

Given Christmas songs start playing in most big shops some time around early September* then the plot by the Woke Liberati to cancel the festive season isn’t going very well. *I exaggerate but only a bit.

Well, it has "provoked debate", alright. Mainly along the lines of "Has Bobby Gillespie only just become a massive bell-end with a tin ear for racial sensitivity, or were the signs there as long ago as 1994 when he put a neon Confederate flag on an album sleeve?" www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Some interesting thoughts from roads minister Lillian Greenwood, who I spoke to this week. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Met commissioner Mark Rowley says Trump talks 'complete nonsense' about crime in London - www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

New from @jessicaelgot.bsky.social - Senior *opponents* of assisted dying have called on peers to not hold up the bill through parliament, warning there is a serious danger of the Lords losing democratic legitimacy. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

“If you were a member of the public, you would think that grooming gangs is the biggest threat to children in our country,” says the director of Britain's Child Sexual Exploitation Taskforce “But in the overall statistics, that represents just over 0.5% of offending” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/w...

This is quite an interesting article about 20mph zones and the way that such a high proportion of drivers tend to go faster. I agree with idea that one reason speeding is so easy is that modern cars are so quiet and cocooning. You're so cut off from the outside world. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Very good explainer/analysis by top colleague @libbybrooks.bsky.social on the legal aftermath of the Sandie Peggie employment tribunal result, and the way organisations are still left tiptoeing across a minefield of rights, duties, and potential lawsuits. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

One of the things I noticed in this very long account of Nigel Farage's dealings with the US and the MAGA/Trump world is how very *male* it is. I counted 27 contemporary politicians/pundits/hangers on citied in the piece, and precisely two are women.

This story from yesterday didn't perhaps get the attention it should have. It's utterly shocking. It follows dogged reporting by the Observer (in its pre-sale era), which was repeatedly rejected by the academy federation concerned. www.theguardian.com/education/20...

I got a Lime bike to work today for Xmas festivity reasons and I increasingly enjoy the very niche commuter-race sub genre of overtaking other Limes beyond the 15mph powered limit. The combination of vast bike weight and tiny gearing makes it inherently ludicrous.

The UK is rejoining the customs union! The Commons has just said so!* *Not really, but the Lib Dems' ten-minute rule bill to do so has just passed, after a 100-100 tie with the deputy speaker casting a tie-break vote to allow the process to go on rather than stop.