‘This is a politics built on authenticity, straight talking and straight action’ ✍️ Zack Polanski on Zohran Mamdani https://bit.ly/49CGAeW

This article says what needs to be said about the appalling Curriculum and (forgotten) Assessment review. Well done @rachelsylvester.bsky.social Bit.ly/4oqbHio

The government’s curriculum and assessment review is a huge missed opportunity but it’s not too late for the PM to champion radical reform. My piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social on why education should be Keir Starmer’s overriding mission observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

NEW: At least five of England’s top-rated maternity units have been forced to turn pregnant women away because of “significant and unanticipated increases in demand", despite birth rates falling across the country. @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Also in the paper this weekend: @rachelsylvester.bsky.social on how to fix the fact that the NHS is spending almost as much on clinical negligence claims related to maternity care as it does on maternity care itself observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

It’s shocking that the NHS spends almost as much on clinical negligence claims related to maternity care as it does on maternity care itself - my piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social on the crisis in maternity services and how to fix it observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

“Silence is not being neutral - it’s an act of collusion” former deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman tells @theobserveruk.bsky.social as calls grow for (former Prince) Andrew to testify before a US congressional committee observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

This is great from @peterhyman.bsky.social . The government mantra should be “education education education” not “immigration immigration immigration”. Change is urgently needed and it’s what genuinely animates Starmer peterhyman21.substack.com/p/make-educa...

I love this fascinating detective story by @vanessathorpe.bsky.social that reveals the identity of The Girl With The Pearl Earring observer.co.uk/culture/art/... @theobserveruk.bsky.social

@rachelsylvester.bsky.social thank you. There is so little to be cheerful about, but your piece on Prince William brightened my Sunday observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

“Everything must change so that everything can stay the same” - how the mantra of The Leopard drives the future King. My piece on Prince William for @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

From secure school doors that break to prison windows that melt, something is going very wrong with Whitehall procurement - my piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Labour is axing funding for the International Baccalaureate in state schools - seems an odd decision that will only widen the gap between state and private sector observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

As Kemi Badenoch confirms plans to pull out of the ECHR a reminder that much of this debate is driven by myths and misinformation observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

In focus groups not a single person can think of a single thing Kemi Badenoch has said or done as leader - my piece for @observeruk on why the real risk to the Tories is irrelevance observer.co.uk/news/politic...

Tony of Arabia - why Blair is still trying to make the impossible possible in the Middle East. My piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/interna...

“There are external countries like Russia manipulating algorithms, using chatbots and other instruments to stir conflict and division” - I spoke to David Lammy about polarisation, the rise of the far right and the Labour leadership for @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/politic...

Harassment, groping and abuse in the operating theatre - the sexual predator surgeons getting away with a slap on the wrist. My piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social with thanks to the brave women who spoke to me observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Education is the biggest divide now in politics in the US and UK. Those who don’t go to university too often feel second class. This is fuelling populism. And it has to change. @rachelsylvester.bsky.social @alisonpeacock.bsky.social @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/peterhym...

Last month Danny Kruger met JD Vance, Thomas Skinner and James Orr for a BBQ in the Cotswolds He told me: “[Orr’s] sympathies are with Reform but I share a lot of the same agenda, and we are talking at the level of ideas and policy – which party happens to own the conversation is secondary."

Myths and misinformation - my piece on the political battle over the ECHR for @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Why Labour should not forget Peter Mandelson’s political legacy despite his personal flaws - my piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/opinion...

Myths and misinformation - my piece on the political battle over the ECHR for @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

‘A useful political scapegoat’: how human rights play out in the UK The future of the European Convention on Human Rights is a divisive issue for both the left and right at Westminster. @rachelsylvester.bsky.social bit.ly/42v4Aw9

How Keironomics could reshape the state - my piece for @observer observer.co.uk/news/politic...

A cabinet of the “fixers and doers” - my piece on the reshuffle for @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/politic...

With Number 10 reshuffle underway, some good tips for the new Downing Street team here ! It’s going to be an interesting substack to follow

Thousands of Afghan asylum seekers - including almost 400 women and girls - are stuck in a Catch-22 situation. I spent all week asking the home office what the plan was for them and nobody could tell me. It’s a genuine policy dilemma - does anyone have an answer ? observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

What a really positive, heartening story from @rachelsylvester.bsky.social

What happens when one of the poorest parts of the country has jobs guaranteed for 60 years? I went to Barrow to investigate the government’s defence industrial strategy observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

What happens when one of the poorest parts of the country has jobs guaranteed for 60 years? I went to Barrow to investigate the government’s defence industrial strategy observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Kathleen Folbigg, the mother falsely accused of killing her children who featured in @theobserveruk.bsky.social podcast The Lab Detective has received compensation. She was convicted in 2003 and spent 20 years in jail before genomics proved her innocence observer.co.uk/news/interna...

How AI is changing education - my piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

“We’ve been very clear we’re not chasing after Reform” - I spoke to Welsh Labour leader Eluned Morgan @prifweinidog.gov.wales about her distinctive Red Welsh Way @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/politic...

New episode of @theobserveruk.bsky.social podcast The Lab Detective is now available. In Athens we investigate another potential miscarriage of justice where a mother accused of murdering her children is still in jail. Listen here: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

Ex-offenders to be hired for Sizewell C construction to boost social benefits of the project observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

My feature for @theobserveruk.bsky.social on global migration trends and why the battle between economic wellbeing and nationalism is only going to get more intense. observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Keir Starmer is moving towards backing a universal digital ID system - my report for @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/politic...

A brilliant listen! Thanks Rachel for taking up the story after the @crick.ac.uk ‘Justice by Genomics’ event. Watch more here: m.youtube.com/watch?v=KExw...

The Lab Detective - how genetics freed a mother wrongly imprisoned for killing her children - my piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social about our new investigative podcast series observer.co.uk/news/interna...

I’ve spent the last three months investigating how genomics can prevent and overturn miscarriages of justice - particularly in the case of mothers accused of murder. The Lab Detective, new four part podcast series from @theobserveruk.bsky.social released today. Do listen lnk.to/thelabdetect...

How to fix special needs provision - my piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social as the government faces another revolt observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

How to fix special needs provision - my piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social as the government faces another revolt observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

“Stopping breast cancer screening at 70 is crazy” - Labour peer Margaret Hodge tells me why her own diagnosis at 80 made her decide to campaign for the NHS age limit to be raised observer.co.uk/news/politic...

Ministers step in to save Teach First observer.co.uk/news/politic...

Government accused of trying to scrap Teach First, which has recruited over 20,000 high flying graduates into schools - my piece for @observeruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/politic...

Trials being set for 2029, judges mopping courtroom floors and victims denied justice - my piece for @ObserverUK on the crisis in the courts ahead of Sir Brian Leveson’s landmark review observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Trials being set for 2029, judges mopping courtroom floors and victims denied justice - my piece for @ObserverUK on the crisis in the courts ahead of Sir Brian Leveson’s landmark review observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

“We need to bring people with us a bit more in future. We need to tell a better story about what we are doing and how we are doing it,” one cabinet minister says. @CatNeilan and I report on the fallout from another difficult week for the government observer.co.uk/news/politic...

Downing Street is “muscling up” against the Treasury by hiring its own econ adviser “Reeves might not be sacked but she will have to arm-wrestle No 10 now,” one MP says @rachelsylvester.bsky.social & me on the fallout from the week, for @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/politic...