The tax canapes are beginning to be served with two sensible moves - sugar tax extension and local tourist taxes. If you want to get a clearer picture of the full meal on offer, @instituteforgovernment.org.uk Budget liveblog is your key resource. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/live-blog/au...

The proposed settlement changes are really difficult to understand and very stressful if you or someone you know is a migrant. Read our explainer below so you can stay up to date with what's happening.

Is welfare spending ''out of control''? Total welfare spending in Britain in 2025-26 is estimated to be 10.8 per cent of GDP. That's just 0.8 per cent of GDP higher than in 2007-08, and total welfare spending has actually fallen fallen by 1.2 per cent of GDP since 2012-13⤵️ buff.ly/s5mz97u

Carole Cadwalladr asks why the Labour gov are choosing not to investigate Russian interference in British elections and referendums

Reform UK’s vow to scrap thousands of nature laws risks pushing Britain’s depleted countryside into irreversible decline, argues Stuart Spray

Journalist - did you racially abuse your fellow classmates at school? Farage - it’s almost 50 years ago so I don’t remember. But I also know that I didn’t do it. And it I did do it I didn’t mean it in a bad way. Something something banter.

Beautiful piece about a group of young people who ignored the cynics, critics and gatekeepers and just cracked on restoring nature, bringing as many people as they could along for the ride. "Action, access and agency". You want a rural revival? This is it. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

All the supposedly progressive people saying 'Nigel Farage's racism doesn't matter. His fans love it'. It matters whether the leader of the party leading all the opinion polls is an outright racist. It matters if he called black people 'wogs' and said 'gas them' to Jews. Not everything is a game

🚨BREAKING: In a devastating blow to Donald Trump, a federal judge threw out the Justice Department’s case against former FBI Director James Comey, ruling that the appointment of Trump’s hand-picked prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, was invalid.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Judge dismisses cases against James Comey and Letitia James after finding that prosecutor was illegally appointed.

So the line is that he wasn't getting paid for any of this

It’s so important to understand- as Arthur explains here - that the so called peace plan is not only a disaster for Ukraine but a threat to all of Europe

Extraordinary, when you think about it, that anyone could look at former *head of communications for Theresa May* Robbie Gibb & think ‘now that’s exactly the skillset we need a slice of’. www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...

Helluva week in America... here are 5 minutes breaking down some of the key things you should know! All these actions and more available on www.trumpactiontracker.info youtu.be/3xjl2U2QteY

Never mind “Quiet piggy” How about “Quiet pedo”

Gill-ty as charged. I wonder if Nigel Farage will be giving a press conference on this one?

Police are investigating former British MEPs who were tasked by Nathan Gill on behalf of his handler Several EU forces are investigating others who may have been instructed directly by Oleg Voloshyn, and an international investigation team has been started www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/w...

Word of the day is ‘quockerwodger’ (19th century): a puppet politician whose strings are pulled entirely by someone else.

BREAKING: Nathan Gill is sentenced to 10 & a half years in prison after pleading guilty to eight charges of bribery from a Russian agent. The "ultimate source" of the funds came from "a close friend of Vladimir Putin," said Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb.

It's always the ones you most expect... www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Even during blackouts caused by Russian attacks,Ukrainians find ways to run businesses,study,cook,perform concerts,&do so much more We are beyond tired but we are resilient 📹salon_zlatovlaska,wearefromkyiv, tinyvinnykennel,towerzona,veryovka.ukrainia,momotsha. store,coach18vygurivschina,kvitkalilya

Talking of the Reform Party and Crypto currencies, and as Nathan Gill is due to be sentenced… Here’s my piece on how former Reform UK Welsh Leader was due to give a talk on cryptocurrencies at a Kremlin-backed convention in Moscow when he was arrested bylinetimes.com/2025/10/17/w...

My husband @captmarkkelly.bsky.social is a 25-year Navy combat pilot veteran. He served our country with strength, courage, and integrity. The President called him a traitor and demanded he be executed. It is dangerous and wrong. Americans need to stand up and say so.

From the CWS Archives. 19th December 2021.

One of the most nauseating parts of right-wing discourse over the past few years has been their insistence that lockdowns a scam. The Covid inquiry says that 23k people died because we locked down one week too late. God knows how many more would’ve died if the herd immunity crowd had got their way

Having Johnson & Cummings in Downing Street when Covid struck was, just like Brexit, an entirely avoidable disaster caused largely by utterly appalling journalism. And now exactly the same clowns, arses & bigots with bylines are rolling out the red carpet for Farage. www.thetimes.com/article/1b15...

GB News has been accused of downplaying or avoiding analysing the hundreds of mentions of President Donald in the Jeffrey Epstein files, media reform campaigners argue bylinetimes.com/2025/11/20/g...

🔴 GB News Downplays Revelations About Trump’s Epstein Links as Presenters Echo White House Spin The channel was criticised by media reform campaigners for its “fawning” interview with the President as it dismissed revelations of his extensive ties to Jeffrey Epstein bylinetimes.com/2025/11/20/g...

Good. She must be held accountable for what she said. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/reform-laura-jones-suspended-racial-slur-senedd-b2869040.html

"When you take into account the rise of Nigel Farage" "That we can never go far enough to placate him and an increasingly extreme core of people who want to go much further than just deportation of refugees."

Tomorrow is a hugely important day. At 4pm, the UK Covid-19 Inquiry will publish its report into the UK’s pandemic decision-making & political governance. I dearly hope our political leaders & decision-makers will listen, learn &, above all, act on the findings. Because there will be a next time.

Go on Shabana. Learn from Denmark how to lose elections girl. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

I am moving to Dubai because England is so dangerous. www.ft.com/content/9bf6...

This is very good indeed on how Mahmood talks about race. To suggest that immigration policy and racism are linked "reflects this government’s biggest failing, which is that it is essentially incapable of saying that racism is wrong, full stop".

This #InternationalMensDay let's break the silence around men's mental health & wellbeing. Too many struggle alone - huge stigma remains about asking for help. It's a sign of strength to ask for support. Let's check on the men in our lives & ensure everyone feels safe to share when they're not ok.

🚨BREAKING PMQs🚨 Starmer: "On energy policy, she follows Reform. On the European Convention, she follows the man who wants her job." "And when her Shadow Minister said we should deport people lawfully here to achieve cultural coherence, she pretended that it didn't happen."

Sweet moment at PMQs as Keir Starmer congratulates the newly-engaged Lib Dem MP Josh Babarinde "a lifetime of happiness" with his fiancé after Babarinde proposed inside parliament this week. Babarinde looks very chuffed.

Last night Russia sent about five hundred drones and missiles to kill Ukrainians. Most were intercepted but those that got through hit a post office, a store, a power plant, and multiple residences. 19 people were killed in Ternopil. (1/2)

👏"I'm joined today by Mike from York Mindfulness, a fantastic charity, giving men a place to talk." "Will the Prime Minister, as a dad himself, agree with me that strength as a man means being open about our emotions and that we should never face into challenges on our own?"

There are 3 premises of the asylum reform plans. 1. UK is the destination of choice in Europe. - Untrue. - But claims to the UK are rising.

Footage shared on social media claims to show migrants stealing items from a graveyard in the UK. This is false—the video actually shows a cemetery in Ukraine. It is unclear what the people are doing by the graves, however.

“Spreading these kinds of lies stigmatises autistic people and makes life harder for them and their families.” National Autistic Society They’ve had enough of Richard Tice’s constant attempts to sound tough schoolsweek.co.uk/reform-start...

Just want to big up Aled Jones who took time out from his hectic Xmas schedule to meet and greet a friend and her son before he took to the stage in Elf The Musical. It’d be fair to say Aled has quite made the young lad’s Christmas. V much appreciated xx

Last night, Russia struck a residential building in Ternopil, killing ten people (the death toll as of now). Search and rescue operation continues on site. Every day, innocent people are killed and injured by Russian attacks.

This story about a Reform councillor in Northumberland has about three different massive stories in it. He's accused of ripping off his constituents to the tune of £140k. He owes his own council nearly £40k in unpaid tax. His own council is suing him.

Not sure how Labour can fully square the circle between admitting that Reform's proposals to deport children are racist, but their plans for deport children, even if born and raised in the UK, are "fair and compassionate".

I came to this country as a child refugee. No English, no certainty, no idea what my life could become. Britain gave me refuge. Not on a timer, not with conditions attached, but with a chance to grow roots. A thread 🧵 1/8 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

@pimlicat.bsky.social @mrjamesob.bsky.social @matthew-wright.bsky.social