London threat level latest…. Would be funny if it weren’t for the fact that this concerted undermining of London has a serious agenda

In a crowded field, this stands out as one of the most short-sighted at almost every level. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Essential reading

Well done to Sky for correcting this bit of ignorance. As shown extensively in the Epstein files there's plenty of proof that being rich doesn't mean you have any great insights into the world.

Bizarre and disturbing in equal measure. London’s far from perfect- great cities never are- but this is ground we absolutely must not concede

Children need their families. Refugee children are no different. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The Boss has spoken.

Those below the poverty line are, increasingly, well below it New @statspeter.bsky.social @katieschmuecker.bsky.social @jrf-uk.bsky.social study www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Excellent news. As is the continued commitment to end new leasehold flats. www.theguardian.com/money/2026/j...

This is the memes-to-murder pipeline in action. A far-right influencer reignited a years-long scandal over welfare fraud, which led to Tim Walz to abandon a third term and to Trump to send in ICE. It all stems from that. The stuff happening online has consequences. And it’s getting worse, fast.

Youth unemployment is down to imagined mental ill health apparently. Alternative thesis: it's largely down to what is happening in the labour market with entry level job openings massively falling. It's a demand rather than supply issue. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

We are Christopher Isherwood, watching the increasingly alarming scenes in the Berlin street below from our apartment window above.

Shares in Iceland fall on news of Trump invasion threat.

Surprise, surprise. Yusuf talking nonsense. Here's the graph with pensions stripped out. The complete opposite of what he claims. Keep numbers away from Yusuf as you would fire from a toddler.

This will get massively overshadowed today and as ever the devil is in the detail, but is should be one of the best things Labour has done. It has the potential to improve the lives and finances of millions of people. www.businessgreen.com/news/4524489...

Yesterday it was cows using tools, today its penguins using satellite imagery.

Levels of despair have surged among the young: '..for men under 25, despair more than doubled between 2009 and 2021. The percentage of young women in despair rose even more sharply, with most of the increase coming after 2016.'

Setting geopolitics aside, I don’t need much to make me happy.

This is a very good point. The November 2025 US National Security Strategy never mentions the Arctic at all. The idea that it's a genuine security priority for the Trump administration is not credible.

The thread linking this and today’s @jacktshaw.bsky.social paper on the dire state of the public realm is how centralisation and the crushing of local government finance has done harm out of all proportion to the money saved by the treasury: social, cultural and political

Falls in the number of pupils have been hitting schools in London for a number of years - but now the problem is reaching beyond the capital. It's a story of birthrates, housing, funding and disruption. By me, for @schoolsweek.bsky.social schoolsweek.co.uk/how-falling-...

This, and this again.

She smiles at the man who shoots her and says she isn't mad at him. Clearly initiates the effort to leave when the aggressive agents arrive. The question now (not that this was in question) isn't who's telling the truth. It's when DHS had this video and knew that what they were saying was a lie.

Great to see our Public Right to Justice work with Nuffield & @queensparkkaren.bsky.social in a magazine that guarantees many MPs will see it

A rise in MPs’ casework is a symptom of a justice system under strain, writes @queensparkkaren.bsky.social in @thehousemag.bsky.social.

The worst civil conflict in western Europe since WW2, which ran for thirty years *in the actual UK*, reduced to a 'something like' analogy for race war fantasies by a London academic. No words. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

It’s a dark night when you look at the news and are forced to admit that you no longer believe in the power of the FIFA peace prize

Sam West stunning as Malvolio in Twelfth Night at the @barbicancentre.bsky.social tonight @jennyedwards.bsky.social What absolute riches London has to offer, and how beautiful it is looking

What the war against London really is about. V good by @robertshrimsley.bsky.social #Giftlink And on a different note: A v Happy New Year to everyone!

Huge congratulations to our wonderful @lsegovernment.bsky.social colleague Professor Tony Travers who has been appointed a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the New Year Honours list for 2026 🎉

Well deserved. Few people are harder working or more dedicated to local government x.com/londoncounci...

The true meaning of Christmas

London lit better than ever this Christmas. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to be able to live in and enjoy this amazing city

Many of us rely on social security to pay our rent, and often face some of the worst accommodation. For too long dodgy landlords have got away with providing squalid homes that make their tenants ill, so it's excellent news that MHCLG and DWP are now cracking down www.gov.uk/government/n...

The doom and gloom about London is ridiculous and harmful. Team FT is Team London - as.ft.com/r/19d3d36d-e...

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

Wrote a piece in this about the growth in the scale and complexity of MPs casework, and how it is been driven in part by the crisis in the justice system (based on this year’s @nuffieldfoundation.org essay collection- ‘Public Right to Justice’)

FT defends London, one of the greatest cities in the world www.ft.com/content/dd79...

Delighted to have been approved today as the new Chair of @playengland.bsky.social and looking forward to working with @tomhayesmp.bsky.social and other friends to support the vital agenda of children’s play

Matthew Goodwin objects to prosecuting this: ‘I think it’s time for the British to gang together, hit the streets and start the slaughter. Violence and murder is the only way now. Start off burning every migrant hotel then head off to MPs’ houses and Parliament, we need to take over by FORCE.’

Despite the dark shadow of Bondi, a beautiful celebration of hope and light at the LJS Multi Faith Hanukkah service tonight, with many friends.

This entire weekend

In what is possibly the least surprising news ever….

Hard to overstate how stupid this is. But it is true. One young person I’ve been working with was refused a tenancy on the grounds they can’t afford the rent living alone (even though their rehousing would help free up a large, under-occupied flat which will therefore…stay under-occupied 🤦)

This is excellent news. A conscious choice to prioritise social housing in the face of housing need.

In the mid-1980s, Tory-run Westminster Council became one of the most corrupt local authorities in British history. It is a story with many dimensions. This is about one of them: www.onlondon.co.uk/true-london-... #london #truelondon

Happy 76th Birthday, Tom Waits!

The sky is darkening like a stain. Something is going to fall like rain. And it won’t be flowers. Auden ‘The two’ * I have been known to have fun at parties

'The whole system is near-criminal in its ability to harvest public money so that exploitative providers can provide inadequate housing and support to vulnerable people' Observer story on supported exempt accommodation in Birmingham observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

In the 80s/90s families spent years sharing one room in a B&B-I’ve stark memories of Bayswater homelessness hotels. Now children can spend their entire young lives in Temporary Accommodation. It’s good that the government recommits to a 6-week max in B&B. Next: LHA unfrozen and social homes built