My reading of public opinion on Brexit rn: ~most constituencies think the UK was wrong to have left the EU ~most constituencies will now be majority Rejoin given national polling (55-33) ~the national lead that Rejoin enjoys in the polls would tighten a fair bit during a campaign*

Next step, to understand that the UK is in a permanent negotiation with the EU whether outside or in. And this is the UK's most important relationship and needs resourcing appropriately. e.g. for growth, energy, migration, foreign policy

Why not just ask the actual author of the vetting report to testify about what's in it. Why all this reading of the crystal ball instead? www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

People are missing the point here. Yes, obviously what Trump is doing is massively corrupt. But more importantly, he's buying obligations from a group of people with history in insurrection and violence - or, if you prefer, creating his own private shadow army (though, as yet, without leadership).

I get why people see the EU Rejoin question as a difficult one for Burnham - Makerfield is Brexity, the Labour membership is overwhelmingly pro-Rejoin - but I don't think it need be hard to navigate I think I'd tell him to just say "any road to Rejoin must run through Makerfield", or wtte

Public opinion in constituencies that voted to leave the EU in 2016 is not fixed and immutable, people change their minds and populations change too (as younger generations who did not have the right to vote in 2016 enter the electorate).

A good reminder that anyone following Keir Starmer as British Prime Minister will be subject to the same political (and economic pressures). Here Burnham, who is now running in a leave-voting constituency, is using practically the same language on the EU/Brexit than Starmer:

Lots of post-industrial towns across England are currently Labour-held but lean Reform. Starmer's Blue Labour-ish strategy to hold on to them has been both bad and ineffective. So what to do instead? For my money: radical on economics, tough on corruption. www.common-wealth.org/interactive/...

Latest subscriber profile. As far as I can tell the GID was never headed by Kamal Adham, contra Wikipedia and various press reports. intelligencehistory.substack.com/p/general-in...

Terrific journalism from actually looking at the money flows as.ft.com/r/1e5fba60-4...

May be out of the loop, but given talk about Burnham committing to the 'fiscal rules' to calm down the markets, I still don't get why Labour hasn't spent the last two years going starting every public statement in the last ywo years with 'After Liz Truss and the Tories crashed the econony...;

Such an awful debate in every respect. We don't want young people with aspirations. University might be bad for you. Was good for us the successful ones but you don't deserve the same. Mostly because governments have made a mess of financing.

It sounds like there is an important recommendation on increasing further education funding here, but why bury it under this harmful antipathy to universities? Universities policy feels like the apex example of British politics just not understanding the economy Britain actually has

Spy Agencies Gave Trump Ample Warning of Iran Missiles, But He Evidently Ignored Them. Previously unreported damage from Iranian missiles and drones underscores accuracy of strikes, volume of arsenal, as Tehran reloads its launchers. open.substack.com/pub/spytalk/...

I regret to inform you that we will be publishing a detailed analysis this week of the £5m payment to Nigel Farage, and whether it's taxable. It is likely to annoy *everybody*. (except tax advisers, which is all that matters)

Are there issues here under the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, as well as the Lords Register of Interests?

He was with former Garda whistleblower John Wilson

Streeting has a few good lines. "Today, Tommy Robinson and his followers are marching through the streets of our capital city. The last time he did, ministers were sent out by No 10 with a media script to explain the march rather than condemn it." www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live...

Today has made clear that the idea of a Burnham coronation, via a deal with Streeting, if AB wins Makerfield is off. Streeting is confident he has the 81 noms (including existing ministers) to run. (He expects a PM decision, not a challenge from Burnham or Streeting). Would be v civil opponent to AB

"We need a proper contest with all of the candidates on the pitch & I will be standing" Says Burnham needed time to run. The Streeting speech suggests that a contest, rather than a coronation, could move the agenda to the centre-left, because of the centre-right candidate pitching to the left.

Crikey, this is significant. All about Orban's regime showering money on populism abroad including the UK. David Frost mentioned as an alleged recipient, plus Unherd and The Spectator. So much for pushing back against foreign interference. H/t @guystall.bsky.social

If there is a Labour leadership contest, it's important Streeting is part of it - if only to flush out the other candidates' views. This speech today sounds like a significant one.

Many Labour MPs, maybe even the PM, will tell us today that the far right rally doesn’t represent the British people. Meanwhile, the policies they support help normalise, at times deliver directly, what the far right want. This is not how we are better; it is not how opposing the far right works.

Looong week so only just got round to this @christabelcoops.bsky.social analysis of who Labour’s lost & where to pitch to get them back (economically left, socially liberal). Clarity across labour now that chasing Reform isn’t the answer but …https://thinklabour.co.uk/thinking/who-is-labour-for

Thanks to @nickpaulharris.bsky.social for this! now up at the @newstatesman1913.bsky.social www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...

Reform are targeting individual journalists now it seems

One of the biggest mistakes by the government was to tolerate and pander to this group. Far right extremist thugs posing as patriots, who should have been clamped down on from day one www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

The odd thing about the Odyssey meltdown in the other place is that desecrating Homer basically is western culture. Virgil, Chaucer, etc all at it with the anachronisms.

Prime Minister public message ahead of the Unite the Kingdom rally in London today, organised by Tommy Robinson and others.

On the question of "how could the UK's first soft left Government for half a century govern effectively?" there is a working model. That is the Sanchez administration in Spain- an open economy, infrastructure investment, energy transition. There are some symbolic wealth taxes. It works.

Found some cool, incontrovertible, declassified evidence of NSA spying on the European Community in the early 1960s. We were reading their mail from the jump.

13 men killed by US military boat strikes identified: ‘These were flesh-and-blood people’ www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Face it, you've run out of things to say about the Labour leadership So here's my latest substack on the govt's plans to end the SEND crisis - and what it means to take parents' legal rights away Oh, and how it ties into the Labour leadership battle chamindajayanetti.substack.com/p/send-refor...

Sounds like an opening position.

“I really used to enjoy reading. But now, in school, I can’t read without having this fear of being in trouble for not tracking every line with a bookmark,” pupils, parents, pols complain about behaviour management policies at Athena Academy Trust. (At 3.55 here: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis... )

"It’s easy for politicians to blame the voters for choosing irresponsibly and letting this or that party in. But the reality is, people are tired of being treated as predictable voting blocs. They want a system that reflects the complexity of their views." MVM in @left-foot-forward.bsky.social 👇

I hope this isn’t true. There are times when it’s more important to put country before party. This is one of them. Burnham’s longstanding commitment to a fairer voting system could transform our democracy & counter the dire threat of a Reform UK government elected on a minority of the vote

Absolutely correct from Starmer here. Sharp contrast to the equivocal response to the last Robinson/Musk rally - a very welcome change.

If Burnham becomes PM it will be the first time in half a century the UK has had a "soft left" Government. Social democratic, pluralistic, internationalist, socially liberal, but still coded in the labour tradition - a sensibility and value set rather than ideology. That will feel different.

💯from @robertshrimsley.bsky.social. Relatedly, if you think the UK changes PMs too often, which of the last 5 departures were mistakes? Cameron shd have stayed after losing the referendum? May after deadlock with her deal? Johnson after Partygate? Truss after meltdown? And Sunak lost an election.

“We’re in a fight for the soul of this country, and the Unite the Kingdom march this weekend is a stark reminder of exactly what we are up against." Some robust Keir Starmer words ahead of the far right march in London.

Robert Jenrick is facing renewed scrutiny over whether he knew about illicit US donations to his Tory leadership campaign, after revelations that his wife worked as a lawyer for the British donor who allegedly arranged the money. www.ft.com/content/53e6...

Enjoyed speaking to @bylinetimes.bsky.social to discuss ten years of championing the most open, diverse and successful city in the world. As the rise in disinformation shows - London’s enemies resent us because of our enduring success ⬇️ bylinetimes.com/2026/05/12/s...

It is astonishing* that Angela Rayner's tax affairs - in which the Standards Commissioner found her to have acted "in good faith", in an attempt to protect her disabled son - is STILL a bigger story than Farage trousering £5 million in secret or Tice's taxes. *It's not astonishing, but should be.

This is basically the size of a nuclear power station. And it will be completed and up and running faster than the nuclear power stations that were approved over a decade ago.

Art imitates art. www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/4...

Given Burnham's involvement with Compass and Polanski's comments today I wonder if some kind of understanding re. Makerfield is at least possible.

Sorry for the plug but I feel obliged to reshare this. Farage told a podcast before running for election: “There’s no money in politics, there’s no money if you’re straight [i.e. not corrupt]." Around the time he got £5 million from a crypto billionaire before going on to back crypto deregulation.

Maybe the government should do something about corrupt foreign influence in British politics?