If Starmer wants to come out of this as well as can be I really don't know how he does that without turning on Mandelson aggressively and sacking McSweeny.

there's a lot in this piece but the Mandelson email about angling for some kind of job at JP Morgan because 'i do not want to live by salary alone' just exemplifies everything people hate about politicians, the City, and revolving doors between the two www.ft.com/content/91e8...

here is my FT explanation of the allegations against Peter Mandelson and how various documents and emails support the claims that he says he can't recall etc www.ft.com/content/6d47...

BREAKING on ft website: Lord Peter Mandelson leaked a sensitive UK government document to Jeffrey Epstein while he was business secretary that proposed £20bn of asset sales and revealed Labour’s tax policy plans www.ft.com/content/fdf7...

Really striking going through Epstein disclosures just how often British defamation lawyers are referred to: Schillings; Paul Tweed; oblique suggestions to sue to silence Why? Because our libel laws let rich and powerful buy silence Why I signed this last week pressgazette.co.uk/media_law/an...

Most of Epstein’s victims were either too frightened to come forward, or silenced through legal threats. Oh, and here’s a senior British politician giving Epstein tips on how to silence them

The BBC has simply failed to understand that these ethno-nationalists will tear it to shreds if given half a chance. In fact. They already have.

It's extraordinary that *relatively* moderate, Remain-supporting Tories, or centrists if you prefer, have gone from from leading governments in 2010, 2015 & technically 2017 to being entirley unrepresented in mainstream UK politics.

Proud father speaking. Very proud indeed. My daughter Camille has just completed this large canvas (oil and gouache), and I invite you to visit her online gallery at www.instagram.com/p/DTvX1OBjW0.... After living and working in London, Oaxaca and Mexico City, she is now in Paris.

Well done to @anabnos.com for putting his personal and professional interests to one side in order to express in eloquent, powerful fashion an increasingly clear truth: the World Cup should be taken away from the US. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

You have lived long enough to see a French anti-fascist organisation (a traditionally very anti-US milieu) organise a ‘rally in solidarity with the American people’.

“This is undemocratic.” He’s mayor of Greater Manchester. That comes with responsibilities, like don’t abandon your job two years in. “This makes Starmer look weak.” No argument there, but show me a decision that wouldn’t - at this point Starmer would look weak for choosing toast over cornflakes

Maybe party decisions should not be made to suit the personal ambitions of a guy who had a chance to return to parliament two years ago but chose not to and has suddenly changed his mind now the top job is in play? Maybe that guy isn’t worth spending £££ and risking a major by-election over?

As the Burnham fall-out continues, I find it amazing how many politicos seems to have real difficulty separating “this is a terrible strategic decision” and “this is not the outcome I personally wanted”. Both options spelled trouble for Starmer. You don’t have to like the decision to see the logic

i say this as someone with at least a mild background in cybersecurity — tiktok is now trump/fedgov spyware. you need to delete your account and app ASAP. just because the app isn‘t open doesn’t mean they won’t be harvesting your personal data to target you. queer folx get the fuck off that app

rightwingers see people caring about others in their community and instead of finding that inspiring they think it’s some sort of grand conspiracy because they don’t understand what it means to care for others you don’t personally know

hey folks, six figure opinion columnist here and gotta say, made a big ol’ whoopsie on the most consequential and honestly, probably the most obvious opinion of my life. thats my bad. anyway, guess I’ll just keep getting paid to give my opinion, thanks for reading

Is the #USA a safe country for the English, Scottish & possibly Welsh football teams & their fans to visit for the #WorldCup2026 in the summer? If not, then the FA, the SFA & the WFA must act now to get FiIFA to move their matches, or withdraw from it. 1/2

In "Thud!", Terry Pratchett referred to that as the moment when "Someone should do something about this" turns into "I should do something about this"

But this place is the echo chamber, right?

Dave Matthews and Tim Ryenolds playing Neil Young’s Ohio last night and ends with some Rage Against the Machine.

Germany's paper of record (not exactly a paragon of progressiveness) comes out in favor of boycotting the World Cup.

Perhaps the USA will pull back from the brink, but from what has already happened with the centralisation of power in the executive, it's clear that a fundamental shift is underway. How can the UK have a "special relationship" with an authoritarian state whose ideology goes against our interests.

there’s something about the “watch the video and decide for yourself what it shows” argument that unsettles me, and i think it’s partly because if all journalists are going to do is gather phone video off social media and show it to us, then… what do we need journalists for?

The new episode is out - exactly as I predicted. You could download it now and have easily listened to it before lunch. And that is even if you're having an EARLY lunch. I don't know who does that on Sundays. But, as my mum would say, it takes all sorts.

All to please a wannabe king who is demented and thrives on violence.

Bernice King has it absolutely right. We are facing a moral crisis in this country. And we must all act together to end it.

On reflection, European countries demanding that FIFA move the World Cup to Mexico and Canada or they'll withdraw is probably a more effective measure than simply withdrawing.

Worth remembering when looking at the horrific scenes in the US right now that both Reform and the Tories have pledged to bring in ICE-style organisations to the UK if they win power

It is profoundly ironic that the whole stated purpose of mass gun ownership in the US - which carries it with the associated cost of frequent mass shootings, including in schools - is to protect against oppressive tyrannical government and yet...

Can you please not post execution videos to social media websites that all have autoplay

You know who”stayed a little back” in VIetnam? DJT.

Such a disgraceful comment from the President who clearly has such limited military knowledge. The death of my family member in Afghanistan tore our family apart. To hear these words yesterday was a further insult. A full immediate apology is needed.

🚨🚨Re #leavingX, a recent study on the artificial intelligence chatbot #Grok embedded on X estimates it created the astonishing number of 3 MILLION sexualized images in 11 DAYS in January, including 23,000 of children. Unforgivable with this evidence to stay on #X. www.politico.eu/article/grok...

Here's an image of NATO troops doing nothing to assist the USA in Afghanistan.

Fuck off. Just fuck off. I’m tired of pretending to be civil about him. I worked with guys who served in Afghanistan and Iraq. He’s just the scum of the earth.

No one can be watching this Davos speech and reach any conclusion but that the President of the United States is mentally disturbed and that something is deeply wrong with him. This is both embarrassing and extremely dangerous.

he's literally threatened to invade an island of which he can't even remember the name

America, come take your deranged grandpa home, he's embarrassing you.

I really don’t think he has any idea how offensive “I don’t think they will be there for us” will be seen to the UK given the support given to the US since at least 1980. How many UK soldiers died in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Immediate punishment for speaking out against the regime.

So much for their fucking Constitution - no Brit PM or King would survive in power with this smell attached to him

One reason I am gloomy about Britain’s ability to rise to this geopolitical moment is the sheer parochialism and unseriousness of much of its media. The Times, which used to be a serious paper, does not have a single comment piece today on the gravest international crisis in 80 years

There are more than 500 Google reviews of our beautiful Wall. This one touched us deeply, and we wanted to share. ❤️

You do not have to be a cheerleader for Starmer to think it reassuring we have a grown up and serious PM and government at present. Picture Johnson or Farage in No 10.

We have made the decision to formally close our X social media account. Once a vibrant platform to promote the interests of authors, we feel X is no longer a trusted place for balance, community support, and reliable information.

Is there anything that Arne Slot can do to rescue his position at #LFC? For those that want to give him more time, he's a league winning manager faced with huge levels of mitigation. For his critics, the style of play stinks. I've consider both sides here: www.andcouldheplay.com/are-arne-slo...

Meanwhile Greenland… Just throwing A #YESbitch 💖 To the entire country But especially To HER Let HER be your example & RISE BITCHES 🔥🧱💖🇺🇸 #Mm