Keir Starmer needs to stand up for the BBC against Trump's outrageous $5bn lawsuit and protect licence fee payers from being hit in the pocket. Trump wants to interfere in our democracy and undermine our national broadcaster. We cannot let him.

I'm glad Keir Starmer has listened to our calls for this inquiry following the Reform Russian bribery scandal. Nigel Farage should be the first to give evidence.

Trump is coming after our BBC. He’s suing it for $10 billion, and the Conservatives and Reform are cheering him on. The BBC must not pay Trump a penny. Instead of rolling over, it should sue Trump back for the lies he’s telling about it.

Great! Now do a Customs Union!

A reminder that Nigel Farage has pocketed more than £400,000 this year from GB News. No wonder Farage is cheering Trump on in his attacks on the BBC.

Starmer’s Trump Tax is a disaster for our NHS and for patients. Billions of pounds will be plundered from hospitals and GPs to pay big American pharma, all to please the White House. What on earth is Labour playing at?

“Do you care about sovereignty when it really matters – when the head of MI6 is openly describing the country as suspended between war and peace, say – or just when it’s a convenient excuse for bashing Brussels?” Farage & supporters have pursued Putin’s agenda for years, betraying our security. 2/2

“The most basic question any prospective ruling party must be able to answer is: which side are you on, exactly? Do you choose your own country every time, over foreign actors – in Moscow or even in Washington DC – seeking to destabilise it for their own ends?” Yes indeed. Patriot or Quisling? 1/2

"For the first time, Reform voters are getting the chance to compare what their new councillors promised – including council tax cuts – with what they’re actually getting, which for many looks likely to be the opposite” www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

“Political interference is a matter of national security… To make the Russian political interference around Brexit untouchable was Keir Starmer’s political choice that weakens deterrence, which can only be effective when all the types of foreign interference are promptly exposed and investigated.”

Why Is the Government Really Refusing to Investigate Russian Interference in Brexit? – Byline Times

Jo Cox was murdered before the vote by a far-right terrorist & this is the language this complete disgrace chooses to use

How showbusiness 'journalism' really works

Nobody works this hard for this long to cover up something this bad unless they are guilty.

"In Trump’s first term, the family ceased foreign commercial deals. This time round they have abandoned that commitment. Don Jr and Eric have spent the past year on a worldwide moneymaking campaign. Official filings show that profits continue to flow to the president." https://bit.ly/48Xjca8

Only took three months for the US to weaponize the US-UK Tech deal: "British officials on Monday confirmed the US suspended the deal last week, with one saying the Trump administration was pushing for UK concessions in areas of trade outside the tech partnership." www.ft.com/content/afd4...

"The sabotage in Poland is one of 145 incidents in an @apnews.com database that Western officials say are part of a campaign of disruption across Europe masterminded by Russia." apnews.com/projects/rus...

Europe is the frog that's being boiled. The cumulative effect of Russian sub-threshold warfare is an erosion of the public's trust in institutions, fraying social cohesion in Europe. The below is an excellent investigation/resource with all (publicly known) instances of interference in one place 👏

Santa won't bring a red tape-cutting EU-UK food deal. But both sides' New Year's resolution should be to get it done for Easter. www.standard.co.uk/news/politic...

In the gloom, there are points of light - and what connects them is courage. Last column of 2025 offers some reasons to be hopeful www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

After invading Georgia in 2008, Putin said Crimea was not disputed territory and that Russia recognised modern-day Ukraine and its borders. Why would anyone but a fool trust this snake now?

The story of Farage and Putin, told by British-Ukrainian soldier Shaun Pinner on a destroyed apartment block in Kyiv.

Reflections on the European Council decision to borrow €90 billion and lend it to Ukraine. Tl; dr: Ukraine benefits, but not enough; Putin & Trump will be encouraged; the EU & individual member-states have shown that it’s still too easy to intimidate them. 🧵1/13

Spot on! 💯 Rejoining Erasmus should just be a first step – as the economic evidence piles up, the need for closer ties with Europe could not be clearer. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/19/labour-brexit-undone-finding-nerve-keir-starmer

Kent County Council are Reform’s Flagship Council showing they’re ready for Govern, here’s some achievements👇🏼 1 councillor on trial for threatening to kill wife❌ 9 been suspended or quit❌ Circa £60 million budget deficit❌ 1 councillor faces probe over 'punch' threat❌ Cutting services/raising tax❌ 🤦🏼‍♂️

In filing a claim against the BBC he probably won’t win, Donald Trump is trying to exert leverage so the broadcaster’s executives capitulate, writes @davidallengreen.bsky.social.

Just to point out that it is often said about China that it prefers negotiating one on one with smaller countries to bring to bear its power differential.

Richard Tice eager to be seen to support Ukraine. I wonder why? Meanwhile it was Tice, warned of the FBI investigation in 2017, who triggered Oakeshott to check the emails of Wigmore and Banks and discover a rash of hidden Russian meetings I wonder if there’s another tipoff now

The UK is set to rejoin the EU's Erasmus scheme a move supported by 65% of Britons Net support by party Lib Dem +81 Lab +77 Con +36 Reform +7

The "political genius" of Morgan McSweeney in one chart

President Trump has shown, again and again, he can’t be trusted as a reliable ally. The Prime Minister needs to stop hoping for the best and start dealing with reality.

Six years after it was scrapped, Erasmus+ is coming back. As our Campaigns Manager, Richard Kilpatrick, explains, this goes far beyond university exchanges, supporting schools, youth programmes, vocational training and deprived communities across the UK.

Scotland’s young people face limited opportunities after Brexit but could their vision for the future re-shape Scotland’s place in Europe? | Motaz Amer

One minute he's endorsing Nigel Farage's Reform Party Ltd, the next he's being charged with strangulation (x 3). www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

Wow @thetimes.com, that’s impressive An entire article about “freak heat” in the Dolomites causing mayhem amongst skiers without once mentioning climate change…🤷🏼‍♀️ 🧵 1/5

"Kemi Badenoch has to use people like me to give her any kind of relevance," @jessphillipsmp.bsky.social tells @lewisgoodall.com, responding to Badenoch's criticism of her handling of violence against women & girls. "She should probably apologise to the girls who might have been raped."

No words. Pretty much all my female friends have been assaulted at one point or another; at school, in the forces, just on a night out. It wasn't immigrants doing those things because, frankly, you didn't get many of them in rural Yorkshire. It was men. Fucking hell

Read this. Then read it again.

Zelensky *cannot* withdraw his troops and cede territory. His army won't do it. The public won't accept it.

If we can't even identify our enemies then how can we fight them? Trump's National Security Strategy is the longest suicide note in American history www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

I wrote about a year of Trump for Best for Britain's Diplomatic Cable, covering some authoritarian themes that haven't been making the headlines…. open.substack.com/pub/bestforb...

A good piece which adds to my sense that the political cost of dramatically reducing immigration and even reaching net emigration, is likely to be far greater for the government in terms of the impact on the economy, taxation and public services than the alternative

Lots of pessimism in the replies to this about changing peoples' views on immigration - even if numbers dramatically fall. But that's what's happening in the US. bsky.app/profile/moll...

Recently published figures showing a huge drop don't take into account new restrictions introduced by this government. So further falls are very likely. To give one figure from the post in August 2023 we gave out 18,300 health/care worker visas. Last month it was just 600.

New post just out: "The Overshoot" Net migration is collapsing, and will fall further over the coming years. We could even have net emigration. What does that mean for the country and the political narrative as we head towards the next election? (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...

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

HURRAH! Petitions are crap at making gov'ts do things they don't want to. But they are good for two things: First, making them explain why they won't do something, but second (and more important) nudging/giving them permission to do something they DO want, but that's been crowded out bandwidth-wise.

Brexit was one of Russia's proudest achievements - splitting Europe and spreading misinformation. https://www.thetimes.com/comment/columnists/article/putin-never-stop-export-chaos-g87brj805

When Charlie Kirk, a commentator who stirred up hatred and prejudice was killed, the Trump government led a purge against anyone who commented on it in a way they didn’t like. When a beloved director & actor is brutally murdered, Trump mocks and criticises him just hours later. Revolting hypocrisy.