Reform's Nigel Farage has declared his biggest single payment as an MP: £270,000 for 12 hours of work as a brand ambassador for gold dealer Direct Bullion, paid in May (also happening now: gold's worst quarter in more than a decade) scoop w Elizabeth Bratton for @financialtimes.com

FT exclusive: Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has declared his biggest single payment as an MP, receiving £270,000 from a bullion dealer, doubling his fee from 2025 ft.trib.al/8shwe6I

Sometimes I wonder if Kemi Badenoch has even visited Nigeria. thecritic.co.uk/a-sl...

Great to see Jenny’s pics here getting so much love! She managed to make sewage gruesomely photogenic last year when I wrote for London Centric about the capital’s other sewage scandal, tracing sewage from a wealthy Crouch End street to the Thames www.londoncentric.media/p/misconnect...

FT scoop: A US fraudster accused of illicitly funding Robert Jenrick’s Conservative leadership campaign met one of Jenrick’s current aides as part of a group to discuss the future of the Tory party, months before the alleged donations (not convicted at time) Free: as.ft.com/r/462555d8-2...

Nigel Farage has shielded himself from public scrutiny in recent weeks, in the wake of revelations about his undeclared £5mn gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne in 2024 Farage held 20 press conferences from Jan to April — but just 1 last month w @annasophiegross.bsky.social

FT scoop: A US fraudster accused of illicitly funding Robert Jenrick’s Conservative leadership campaign met one of Jenrick’s current aides as part of a group to discuss the future of the Tory party, months before the alleged donations (not convicted at time) Free: as.ft.com/r/462555d8-2...

Interesting development on that strange Robert Jenrick donation by @rachel-rees.bsky.social that I expect will get picked up other places soon. www.ft.com/content/5eb7...

Right-wing UK MPs are posting far more on X/twitter since Musk's takeover, while the left retreats (but has not fully abandoned the site) One notable exception is the very online @zackpolanski.bsky.social My article w @pickardje.bsky.social & @rachel-rees.bsky.social as.ft.com/r/295c9f7e-c...

In the wake of our @financialtimes.com article, the PM today made his strongest criticism of Musk to date Starmer accused the billionaire of “trying to whip up division” and “interfering in our politics” Updated story here - as.ft.com/r/eafa2b54-9...

You might think the world's richest man has a $1.8tn IPO to distract him, but no… In the words of @eddavey.libdems.org.uk, Musk "seems hell-bent on injecting poison" into UK politics

🚀 Elon Musk has shifted focus from SpaceX to UK politics, amplifying far-right voices to his 240mn followers. We found a third of Musk's recent posts focused on the UK, a 10-year high, raising concern about his political influence ahead of a critical by-election. as.ft.com/r/b1cb096a-e...

If you read one thing today, make it @stephenkb.bsky.social's admirably clear and rational analysis of the police's actions following Henry Nowak's murder, from the @financialtimes.com Inside Politics newsletter www.ft.com/content/aa94...

Read @amyborrett.ft.com and I's Restore "hit piece" — on how world's richest man Elon Musk is amplifying Rupert Lowe, the far-right nativist party's founder — for free here: as.ft.com/r/3ee6cd78-b...

eight key FT takeaways from today’s Mandelson files www.ft.com/content/da9f...

A fun Sunday read on Zack Polanski today, incl: - the “massive strop” around his departure from the LDs - another CV fib - a senior Green fig saying his social media use is the party’s “biggest liability” w @annasophiegross.bsky.social, for @financialtimes.com www.ft.com/content/2c3a...

EXCL: A maker of electronic parts used in UK and other European biometric passports is owned by an investor group led by two Chinese companies that are on a US export restrictions list w/ @rachel-rees.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/d4b9...

Tech billionaires should not be able to tilt British democracy from Silicon Valley boardrooms. Here’s how we could legislate to stop social media platforms amplifying the Far Right for profit or political influence. 🧵

🚨Elon Musk has boosted the public profile of Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe on X, pulling Britain’s political discourse towards extreme content and amplifying his influence ahead of a knife-edge election in Makerfield More @FT: as.ft.com/r/80f4639f-0...

Restore founder Rupert Lowe has insane reach on X — a sign of how Elon Musk’s support for the far-right nativist party translates into political and financial capital Lowe has had 10 posts w 10mn+ views since launching Restore in Feb. Farage, with 3x followers, has had 0 For @financialtimes.com

Scoop for @financialtimes.com The UK epassport part maker linked to two Chinese cos on the US’s export-restricted “entity list” With @lucyfisher.ft.com as.ft.com/r/9ac0286c-e...

This story took so long to report that one of the bylines joined the FT almost a year ago. Anyway exclusive footage of the Stratford chair-throwing incident and a look at the mess of the youth justice system. www.londoncentric.media/p/westfield-...

WHEN WILL THE MEDIA COVER THESE STORIES? www.ft.com

New for @financialtimes.com: Jenrick’s wife was the lawyer for a donor involved in an illicit funding row - and was told in February 2025 about £37,500 in alleged impermissible donations to her husband With @annasophiegross.bsky.social, edits from @kadhim.bsky.social as.ft.com/r/f86b774e-c...

We’ve been working on a series to help you understand Nigel Farage's insurgent party. The first introduces six Reform (or Reform-curious) voters from across the country in the run-up to crucial elections on May 7, showing just how broad the party’s coalition has become. as.ft.com/r/9c1432fe-1...

Amanpour "concerned" re CNN's takeover by Trump-linked billionaire David Ellison, in Paramount's $111bn acquisition of Warner Bros Disc she cited CBS's "ideological realignment" under Ellison from yday's @sirharrysummit.bsky.social, with @danielthomasldn.bsky.social as.ft.com/r/637bea4b-c...

In today's Senedd elections, support for Labour — Wales' biggest party at every Senedd vote, and in UK-wide elections in over a century — is set for a historic collapse. So what does the contest between leftwing nationalist Plaid and Reform mean for the nation's future? as.ft.com/r/0a700e62-4...

Downing Street discussed diplomatic role for Starmer aide, says ex-Foreign Office head ft.trib.al/9VKVPyV

For @alphaville.ft.com, I had a look at this controversial investor's portfolio, and the fact that his stocks all seem to go ... down That'll be the death spiral financing, I guess Scenic route via Trump Media and John Fife's premium quality shrimp investment www.ft.com/content/2215...

Great piece from @rachel-rees.bsky.social that sums up this very normal market www.ft.com/content/bb8d...

Come for the controversial investor whom the SEC described as a "recidivist violator of the federal securities laws" (charge now dropped), stay for the CEO karaoke pics and the short seller named after a scene from The Wolf of Wall Street as.ft.com/r/b97be4c7-e...

Not so whizzy: Wizz Air has become the UK's most shorted stock after warning that the Iran war would wipe out its profits this year as.ft.com/r/bb255a27-8... data viz by @raydouglas.bsky.social

Earnings and AI fears drive ‘extreme’ churn in US stock market ft.trib.al/Cm7yRGi

More lovely charts by @jonathanvincent.bsky.social, showing the huge rotation in US stocks as the anything-but-tech trade gathers momentum. Tech was the main driver in US stocks until Oct — now it's last among the S&P 500's 11 sectors as.ft.com/r/a3d9e607-f...

Retail investors just keep buying silver, even after it plunged 27% in one day and deepened its falls last week Great chart by @jonathanvincent.bsky.social, showing how retail poured $430mn into the metal's ETF as & after the price collapsed, drawn by its "sex appeal" as.ft.com/r/415c75be-1...

Nice hit from @rachel-rees.bsky.social on retail investors pouring into silver despite those massive price falls www.ft.com/content/3183...

but they’re stopping knife crime by employing young people to stand outside stations and ask for donations to stop knife crime by employing young people to stand outside stations and… (Ironically such a successful model that it now has tons of copycats - www.londoncentric.media/p/inside-suc...)

Memory chipmakers are the new hot stocks in the AI trade as the Mag 7 rally fizzles Supply shortages have unleashed "eyewatering" gains for the once unsexy sector — and billions in profits for some hedge funds Read here: as.ft.com/r/fabb2746-3... with @tim.fo, charts by @raydouglas.bsky.social

Memory stocks soar as investors hunt for new AI winners ft.trib.al/WZitrcL

The Stoxx Europe Aerospace and Defence index has surged nearly 15% this month as investors bet that domestic military spending will have to keep rising. ft.trib.al/OcrKrVp

Amid all the Venezuela fallout, spare a thought for the poor Barclays analyst who downgraded Venezuelan debt a mere 14 hours before Maduro was ousted, citing the low likelihood of a political transition. full alphaville here: www.ft.com/content/bbc4... with help from @robinwigglesworth.ft.com

Re-tweet? Rees-tweet? Reeves-tweeves?

Rees writing on Reeves? Reeves writing on Rees! read my @financialtimes.com story on FTSE 100 hitting 10k here - or via the chancellor's X account if that's your preferred medium (analysts disagree with the whole 'vote of confidence in uk economy' thing, but anyway...) as.ft.com/r/aa19ad04-c...

This amazing animation by @raydouglas.bsky.social shows just how many $tns in value US big tech companies gained this year - and how Nvidia doubled its market cap April-Oct to leapfrog to the top More @financialtimes.com 2025 markets charts to go with your mince pies here as.ft.com/r/d8b0748f-6...

2025's big winners and losers in the stock market -- and not a US tech company among them chips! metals! guns! banks! robinhood! ads! yoga pants! from me and a collection of the @financialtimes.com's finest, with lovely data viz by @jonathanvincent.bsky.social as.ft.com/r/441bc00c-0...

Asian chipmakers and European defence companies are among the biggest winners on stock markets in 2025 while US consumer stocks have suffered, as the artificial intelligence boom and Donald Trump’s trade war became major dividing lines for global equities. ft.trib.al/nTKDvuD

The FT's favourite non-FT articles of 2025 www.ft.com/content/72d0...

Pulling out all the stops... asset managers' cash holdings fall to a record low, report @rachel-rees.bsky.social + @emilydherbert.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/3502...

How is untreated sewage from this upmarket Crouch End street polluting a Tottenham park -- and threading its way via the Walthamstow Wetlands & Hackney Marshes to the Thames? In today's London Centric, my deep dive into a small cog in one of the capital’s worst sewage scandals: misconnections.

big banks say big US stocks will get bigger! despite recent AI jitters Binky Chadha, chief US equity strategist at Deutsche Bank, told me yday: “Everyone characterises my forecast as bullish — I’m concerned it’s not bullish enough” With great data vis by @jonathanvincent.bsky.social