Labour MP Ian Byrne: "The lines from the PM and Cabinet today essentially labelling the Green Party as extremist is appalling, desperate and frankly embarrassing. "It also makes very clear that the leadership has zero understanding of where it has been going wrong."

After the Gorton and Denton result, rather than retweet this week's post it seems more appropriate to retweet a post from two week's ago. mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2026/02/how-... It's not complicated. If Labour acts like a socially conservative party, socially liberal voters will not vote Labour

This is not a reasoned political response. Labour has spent two years making all the voting groups who backed the Greens feel unwelcome and unheard, and now attacks them for daring to back someone else. They believe Labour isn’t listening and Starmer seems determined to prove them right

Labour MP Clive Lewis doesn’t hold back on the Gorton and Denton result in this interview with ITV

The Gorton and Denton result and Zack Polanski in particular, confirms a point I have argued for some time: sound leadership is essential to the success of social movements. For too long Greens were opposed to the election of a leader. Caroline Lucas was eventually elected somewhat reluctantly.

2026: Chairman of Reform UK says the Green party issuing leaflets in Urdu is appalling 2016: In 2016 Vote Leave published leaflets in Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi

Hahahaha

@fascinatorfun.bsky.social two more

I note in passing that 'Restore Britain' literally means 'return Britain to how it was back in the good days'... open.substack.com/pub/rolandmc...

James Melville is now doing 'the good old days' thing. rolandmcs.substack.com/p/the-good-o...

Tee hee

Tee hee

Excellent round-up of the considerable room for improvement by @alanrenwick.bsky.social

Strong language here from one of the nation’s leading constitutional experts on this legislation

Great to see the Conservatives wanting to reform student loans. Would like to see an account for Osborne replacing maintenance grants with loans in 2015. This has left poorer students with bigger debts vs richer ones for a whole decade, compounding inequality between rich and poor. It’s scandalous.

The task ahead of us is clear. Write a new chapter and reset the partnership between the European Union and the United Kingdom. Strengthen what works. Invest in security, in growth, in our young people 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @chathamhouse.org

It will be tough for America’s global reputation to recover after this absolutely shameful vote.

Memorable 🇺🇦 protest by @ledbydonkeys.org www.facebook.com/reel/2223828...

When it comes to misconduct in public office, we have investigations into a former trade minister, Lord Mandelson, a former/prince trade envoy, Andrew, but saliently missing for both his Bannon and Lebedev connections is the former Foreign Secretary bylinetimes.com/2026/02/16/b...

Rapid UK coastal erosion throws spotlight on £40bn #nuclear plant Story by @attractamooney.bsky.social and Rachel Millard HT @carbonbrief.org www.ft.com/content/7f09...

+++OUT NOW+++++ The definitive assessment of regulation after Brexit. Masterminded by @jreland.bsky.social 1/?

Superb reporting by Jeremy Bowen on #Ukraine www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

BREAKING Lord Mandelson has been pictured being led from his home by plain clothed police officers

Excellent thread ⬇️

My Trade Secrets today on life after the Supreme Court ruling on tariffs. 1. Short of actually tearing up the ridiculous trade "deals" which were based on those tariffs, this would be a great time for other govts and esp the EU to fudge, delay, prevaricate and demand clarity Trump can't give. 1/2

Important explanation of the beyond-tariff implications of yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling that reasserts the role of Congress.

Important explanation of the beyond-tariff implications of yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling that reasserts the role of Congress.

On the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of #Ukraine, Simon Tisdall goes off on one (in a good way). www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

On the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of #Ukraine, Simon Tisdall goes off on one (in a good way). www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Until politicians admit the enormity of their/the country’s mistake, it is exasperatingly difficult to move forward.

Coming soon!

Front-page news around the world e.g. in Colombia.

Bill Bramhall cartoon.

Coming soon!

Reform UK’s policies would drive a 4x4 through the economy. The 4x4 is the double whammy of continuing #Brexit (4% hit to the economy) and proposed draconian #immigration controls (another 4%). Similar economic issues apply to #Labour’s Reform-lite policies. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Reform UK’s policies would drive a 4x4 through the economy. The 4x4 is the double whammy of continuing #Brexit (4% hit to the economy) and proposed draconian #immigration controls (another 4%). Similar economic issues apply to #Labour’s Reform-lite policies. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Sorry, but the guy who has survived longer an achieved more of his priorities than anyone else in politics over the past two decades, who has outmaneuvered multiple leaders of two larger parties and reoriented politics around his priorities is not “bad at politics”. This is cope.

You've appointed Tories to your top team. Why should people believe your party is any different? Farage: "These were two people who were ministers, but frankly weren't ministers for very long". Suella Braverman was a minister for over 4 years. Robert Jenrick was a minister for almost 5 years.

Canada is now the first non-European country to be granted a membership in SAFE. This is a gamechanger program that means Canada can rearm our Canadian Armed Forces members more effectively and scale up our defence industries with more contracts overseas.

Oh for absolute sputs sake

@gilesyb.bsky.social here’s Copilot’s checklist for improving the ONS website copilot.microsoft.com/shares/UhXzM...

This ruling shows that proscribing Palestine Action was a grave misuse of terrorism laws. Labour must accept its mistake, drop its appeal and stop wasting taxpayers' money on suppressing civil liberties.

Blue Labour founder, McSweeney confidante and Farage pal Maurice Glasman was proud of his connections with Steve Bannon and Peter Thiel when we interviewed him last autumn. Wonder if he’s having second thoughts after the Epstein files subscribe.bylinetimes.com/edition/79/b...

PwC somehow more lucid on AI and education than most university leaders these days

Excellent read

Just dropping this old article of mine here. Paraphrasing (IIRC) @davidallengreen.bsky.social, Governments should be aware that the powers they take, conventions they scrap, or rules they change for their own objectives will be used by their successors for theirs. blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2018/...

The great value of juries is not so much the powers they have, but the powers they prevent others from having.

Trump tariffs latest: US businesses and consumers pay 90% of tariff costs, New York Fed says —> Foreign companies are not ‘eating’ US tariffs @financialtimes.com

A platform becomes a publisher when it determines what a consumer will see. #R4Today

Trade Secrets today. Building a critical minerals network ex-China: good idea. But if you think the Trump admin will public-spiritedly run a rules-based international rare earths coalition, I’ve got prospecting rights for deposits of Imaginium in the mineral-rich territory of Delusionia to sell you.