Some people (me) often wonder if Jesus was actually a real person at all, or if he just evolved into a mythological fabrication. I’m surprised that #r4today didn’t both side that question.

When I was last in BA, which is a fabulous city btw, we drove past a massive roadside monument in memory of the Falkland /Las Malvinas conflict. It’s very much still in the consciousness however the people don’t hold a grudge. They’re too busy trying to get on with life - which is tough #r4today

Pesky 🇪🇺 taking back control of its borders… #r4today

I thought the best person to go on Laura Kuenssberg to defend me against charges of financial irregularity would be Nadhim Zahawi, who claimed £6,000 to heat his stables and hid £27m in an offshore account then threatened to sue anyone who asked about it.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202... If Sian Astley’s logic is that non-Reform voters should house “migrant rapists”, then Reform voters should logically volunteer to house every migrant they agree isn’t a rapist. Funny how collective responsibility is only ever for someone else. #bbcpm

If Ann Widdecombe really did enquire why a pregnant prisoner in the early stages of labour wasn’t handcuffed to her bed then she deserves no eulogy. If she didn’t then she should just be remembered as that eccentric and socially conservative loon with some quite nasty and repugnant views. #wato

Farage on Widdecombe: Voters loved her. A relatively minor exxample of the propagandist's use of a simple rhetorical trope - "some voters loved her (my voters loved her)" means "all voters loved her". #R4Today

Rent controls may freeze rents for existing tenants but over the long term there is usually upward pressure on rents if it’s not accompanied by an increase in housing supply. A welcome, but populist short term fix which doesn’t solve the underlying problem of supply. #r4today

My message to the people of Clacton: vote first, fact-check later. By the time the facts arrive, they’ll be “fake news”. Remember, he knows that psychologically it’s much easier to sell you the lie than for you to accept that you were wrong by believing it (it’s called belief perseverance) #r4today

I’m still trying to work out what Reform’s Ms Cunningham is: principally an ideologue, principally a pragmatist, principally ambitious or a combination of all three. She seems to have been put forward as ‘the acceptable face’ unlike their sitting MP’s who all seem to have baggage #wato #bbcpm

If Mr Farage believes constituents should “be the judge” of an MP’s conduct, perhaps every Reform MP facing questions over undeclared donations should seek the same vote of confidence. Your move, Mr “Honest Bob” Jenrick. #r4today

PIP decisions are made on the balance of probabilities using evidence and a legal test of need. Anecdotes about someone doing a 22 minute Parkrun while supposedly on 12 points with a free BMW is a trope, not evidence. Don’t let fairy stories undermine benefits that genuine recipients need #r4today

Sun Tzu taught that the clever general chooses the battlefield. The clever opponent simply says: “Fine Mr Farage, but we’ll still be discussing the gifts whilst you’re campaigning.” #r4today

Everything Mr Trump touches seems to turn to dust, doesn’t it? The fact that he bankrupted a Casino may have been a bit of a give away. So much winning… #r4today

If Comcast acquire ITV it would raise serious questions about media plurality. Fewer voices controlling news and entertainment, the greater the potential to shape public opinion in ways that serve corporate rather than the public interests. Getting Fox News vibes… #wato

🇳🇴Norway🇳🇴, and Erling Haaland in particular, are just having the time of their lives this World Cup. Love it.

I’ve known and worked with many Americans over the years: Some of the smartest, most welcoming and warmest people I’ve ever met. The Current fever dream that is the USA will one day end and things will get back to normal. #r4today

Philp spouting populist word salad - clearly auditioning for a new job with Reform ready for when theTories implode. #r4today

Thank you so much for all of your happy birthday wishes. Honestly, I don’t really feel 100. I feel pretty good. I feel like I’m only 98!

Important to remember the Jeremy Hunt only became Chancellor because he was a compromise candidate, someone acceptable to the Liz Truss loony wing, because if not him the markets had their knives out, and the trad Tories who were happy to put up with mediocrity for the sake of party unity. #r4today

The US Supreme Court has confirmed and upheld a previous adjudication that the incumbent president of the USA is a sex abuser/rapist. And he’s a felon, a serial bankrupt and a philanderer. These are facts. If you let that sink in for a moment. #r4today P.S. and Germany got knocked out on penalties

The inference here by the super-nerdy Mr Mason is that Mr Burnham doesn’t know how to deliver any of these (quite usual governmental business dealings) and that he will fail. Given that he isn’t even post yet, I’d suggest the excitable Mr Mason is being a little premature, again… #r4today

Westminster risks brushing over the fact that Jeffrey Donaldson, one of the key figures in keeping Theresa May in power post-2017, has been convicted of child rape.

£5m? Go on Nick, go on… #r4today

I think the Tories do ‘The Pivot’ much more expertly than Labour politicians #r4today

Well I guess now we know what “Manchesterism” means for Westminster.

What a balloon. He isn’t even there yet and Mr Mason (Laura Keunsberg Lite) is already starting to roll out the bandwagon. Seven prime ministers in ten years. A media that rewards sensation. Nuance required to govern ignored. When do we start looking at the circus around the bandwagon #r4today

My ranking of most unpopular PMs of my lifetime: Thatcher (neoliberalism), Johnson (Brexit opportunism), Cameron (austerity), May (drift), Sunak (mediocrity) Truss, who managed to crash the economy before she knew where the stationery cupboard was. An extraordinary run of talent. #r4today

Roy Hattersley used to be my MP. He also had me kicked out of the Three Horseshoes in Acocks Green for being underage. I still voted for him… #r4today.

www.theguardian.com/media/2026/j... The question of why a blind eye was turned to all of this for the last 30 years needs to be asked. Fit and proper person and all that. I also think (without any evidence) that Boardroom politics may be in play here. It’s a very dirty business… #r4today

Another murder of a student - this time a Saudi man - with a knife. This one took nearly a year to reach a conviction. Sentencing awaited. Will media and politics take any notice? www.cambs.police.uk/news/cambrid... Perpetrator - victim #R4today

Do the microdrama people know about the Gold Blend/Taster's Choice couple? www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkrt...

Lord Mann, this is nuanced. Political badges and religious symbols are different, but where do we draw the line? I feel Healthcare professionals should treat everyone equally, leaving personal beliefs at the door and giving patients 100% attention, irrespective of who is in front of them #r4today

You know what we don't talk enough about? Queen & Annie Lennox/David Bowie rehearsing 'Under Pressure' in 1992. So much going on! Everyone's clothes, Bowie with a lit cig throughout, where Annie PROPER GOES FOR IT, George Michael singing along in the background. The amazing vocals. Yes, please!

Notice the almost total lack of helmets. No need.

Honestly, shouldn’t this have raised a massive red flag at the time 🚩 What could a Dullard possibly want to do with a confidential briefing from the treasury on Icelandic bank deposit refunds? Asking for a friend… #r4today

The Dog invented his own game 🎾 and it’s wonderful

Here’s a poem called ‘What Don Corleone Did Next’. #worldotterday

I always felt uncomfortable with Blair and saw him as a polished PR operator with a salesman’s instinct. But he and Brown were, and still are, streets ahead of so many of the political lightweights who followed them. #r4today

Actually, Blair has a point. The old rules no longer fit the world we’re living in. He may not have the answers, but at least he recognises that entirely different questions need asking. #r4today

Dear #r4today Can you ask Mr Blair if he personally stumped up the $1bn to be on Trump’s Board of Peace? If not him - then who did? Thank you

Mr Sunak, you knew exactly how deep the hole was that you dug when you left office. You’re a numbers man. That’s why you could tell everyone how much more tax they’d need to pay to fill it. #r4today

Mr Sunak on Financial Literacy: short the banks, survive the crash, marry into a billionaire tech dynasty, then tell everyone else what the rich people know - and yes stop buying lattes and avocado toast. #r4today

West Ham’s entire corporate structure contains nothing but slackness, no exceptional qualities from player production to managerial hiring and firing. | Barney Ronay

#wato Why not raise the fact that Johnson was caught on film exiting his government car to be filmed running 50m into his hotel. Typical Johnson.

Do we know just how many millions a Thailand-based billionaire has donated to British politicians, to whom, and for what purpose? If not, why not? #r4today

Have they had that Mr Javid on #r4today? The man who suggests he was a steady merchant banker but was really a senior Deutsche Bank Director whose roles involved structured credit, CDOs and credit derivatives businesses - finance instruments that were central to the 2007–2008 global financial crisis

Immigration make Britain brilliant