“I’m not very political”, one woman in a Marshall and Millions shirt told us. “Apart from the Tommy marches”. @bengartside.bsky.social and I dip into the world of pro-dog activists for @newstatesman1913.bsky.social: www.newstatesman.com/the-weekend-...

Remember the last Tory government massively increased election spending limits. Back then, the thinking was the Conservatives could exploit that. In practice, they struggled to raise the maximum cash - and now Reform is best placed to outspend the others come election time.

Thought this was very interesting look at what is happening between Restore and Reform (and how the Tories are watching it)

This, on the death of Henry Nowak, is an outstanding piece of journalism by @stephenkb.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/aa94...

Really, really good piece on the dual tragedies of both the case itself and the immediate pivot to using it to incite racist violence. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

My crankiest old man take is that referring to all art/entertainment/journalism/criticism/comedy/advertising as “content” helped pave the way for broad-ish acceptance of AI slop.

Commons debate on the handling of the Mandelson humble address underway; but all stymied by position that the Metropolitan Police has said docs on vetting, conflicts of interest, and other internal correspondence is relevant to their investigations. Effect is to limit what ministers can tell MPs

It is striking that Trevelyan tried to claim her approaches to the minister for defence readiness and industry were purely social and that she was acting out of "friendship". In one instance however, she approached the minister after being prompted by a Babcock colleague.

Very stern letter from the Independent Advisor on Ministerial Standards to Ann Marie Trevelyan about breaching the revolving door rules at Babcock. Unfortunately, the Sunak government failed to introduce proposed financial sanctions so a stern letter is all she will get: www.gov.uk/government/p...

Hansard yday: With the greatest of respect to Simon Hoare, given there are 1500 pages of material, how are we meant to take with credulity the idea that he had on Monday morning the proper opportunity to review whether the redactions to third parties were "sensible, reasonable and proportionate"

No 10 confirms Starmer’s WhatsApp messages automatically delete

Peter Mandelson really does not understand how BCC works and is always forwarding emails on to various individuals in order to share them

Marginalia where Mandelson notes he originally drafted below a story of Foreign Affairs Committee chair Emily Thornberry "stumbling" into the embassy flat, later changed to "strayed", as part of a diary column for the New Statesman

And the winners of the Paul Foot Award for investigative and campaigning journalism 2026 are... Peter Geoghegan and Khadija Sharife of Democracy for Sale.

"MANDELSON FILES REVEAL SECURITY BRIEFINGS BEFORE VETTING PASSED" @pippacrerar.bsky.social / @direthoughts.com for @theguardian.com #PeterMandelson was receiving sensitive security briefings about #ForeignOffice’s work before he had completed the vetting process. #TheGuardian #TomorrowsPapersToday

Our main Mandelson story tonight — Peter Mandelson was receiving sensitive security briefings about the Foreign Office’s work, and was in discussions with the head of MI6, before he had completed the developed vetting process, newly released documents reveal. With @pippacrerar.bsky.social

Here's what's missing from the second tranche of the Mandelson files: 1. The vetting summary document 2. The security chief’s note 3. The declaration of interest form 4. Morgan McSweeney’s email about Jeffrey Epstein 5. The disappearing messages and unwritten memos

'The release may satisfy the procedural duty while still failing to answer the central question: why was Lord Mandelson cleared for the job?'

[taking my glasses off, closing my eyes, putting a blindfold on, entering a sensory deprivation chamber, cutting my optic nerve] yeah, so we just don't recognise this

The spin doctor and the spy master: Mandelson's briefings with MI6 chiefs before he received developed vetting clearance. www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

Guardian liveblog - FCDO Official: "Mandelson thinks that as a privy councillor [sic] he can see things without waiting for vetting.” - FCDO security chief: "Failure to report the correct clearance could have an awkward impact, which we would want to avoid.” www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

EXCL: Huge tranche of Mandelson files being published on Monday shows no record of national security mitigations before he started in Washington. Security officials were sufficiently concerned they recommended he was denied clearance - but sources say Mandelson was *not* asked to take mitigations.

Tomorrow's @theguardian.com front page

Mandelson files show no mitigation of security concerns over US appointment

A trove of government documents about Peter Mandelson contains no record of any measures taken to mitigate serious security concerns over his appointment as Washington ambassador, the Guardian has learned. With @kiranstacey.bsky.social @pippacrerar.bsky.social

Why $1bn in Balkans energy contracts are going to an obscure company connected to Donald Trump

how on earth are they coming away from this rating it a 7 and an 8 www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

devastating story:

This is officially worse than London 2012 opening ceremony waving Winston Churchill statue, which at least was made by (mad) hand

Richard Dearlove, former MI6 chief, has said it would have been “totally impossible” for the Foreign Office to put in place mitigations to manage Peter Mandelson’s associations with senior figures in China, Russia and Israel. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Emily Thornberry, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee: 'It becomes quite clear why UKSV saw him as a subject of concern who shouldn’t be granted clearance. It makes Olly Robbins’ assertion that he understood the recommendation to be “borderline” pretty incredible.'

EXCL: Peter Mandelson’s associations with senior figures in China, Russia and Israel were among concerns raised by the UK’s vetting agency when it concluded he should be denied clearance, sources tell Paul Lewis, me & @direthoughts.com www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Exclusive with Paul Lewis + @pippacrerar.bsky.social: Peter Mandelson’s associations with senior figures in China, Russia and Israel were among the concerns raised by the UK’s vetting agency when it concluded he should be denied clearance, multiple sources have told the Guardian.

In his latest political intervention Blair continues to flag his dislike of transparency, as pushed famously in his autobiography. State transparency doesn't prevent efficacy. It enables it, cutting waste and allowing us to identify what is going wrong before it blows up.

great story from my colleague @maevemcclenaghan.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

nice argument, unfortunately I've already depicted you as the mature cheese-roller and myself as the young, Youtubing upstart www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

The Cabinet Office kept no substantive report about the theft of Morgan McSweeney’s phone last year, nor of a report into allegations of bullying by Anotina Romeo, the cabinet secretary. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Reform's candidate Robert Kenyon said abortion was a "cowardly act of murder" and implied that people falsely claimed to have been raped He said: “Don’t dole out the ‘what if someone is raped by their brother’ arguement... don’t want babies? Use contreception! [sic]” observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

🔴 NEW: Morgan McSweeney - Keir Starmer's chief of staff until three months ago, and reportedly back advising him - was briefed on Labour Together's controversial investigation into journalists more than two years ago Scoop on Democracy for Sale: democracyforsale.substack.com/p/breaking-m...

Sir Keir Starmer’s team was kept in the loop about Labour Together’s “indefensible” investigation into the background of journalists who had written critical pieces about the loyalist think-tank, according to newly released documents www.ft.com/content/9c56...

Independent Advisor on Ministerial Standards has issued a stinging rebuke to Grant Shapps about breaching the revolving door rules in his employment with Cambridge Aerospace. But under the old rules the only sanction is a stinging rebuke ... www.gov.uk/government/p...

In April, Crispin Odey dropped his £79mn #libel claim against us. This is the inside story of how Odey’s battle to reclaim his reputation backfired. It's about the brave women who spoke out against him — and the new allegations the two-year legal saga unearthed. www.ft.com/content/edbe...

The Guardian: Burnham ‘will push to be next PM by autumn’ #TomorrowsPapersToday

Govt spokesperson: “[...] We are committed to complying with the Humble Address in full. “Redactions will only be made where necessary and in a way which is transparent to the House. We are working to publish as much material as we can, as soon as possible.”