So @eddavey.libdems.org.uk has posted nothing here about Labour's appalling new policies on refugees, but has had time for a sycophantic post about the royal family. I despair of politics right now.

A "perverse" and deeply immoral policy. Labour have misjudged this so badly.

Today is the day for @eddavey.libdems.org.uk to step up.

Shameful. Labour have utterly lost the moral plot.

When you're stressed about three very long days ahead at a big conference, so go to bed early to get a good night's sleep, and spend pretty much the whole night awake because you're stressed about three very long days ahead at a big conference...

Shabana Mahmood justifiably talks proudly about being the child of immigrants. Yet her new policies would seemingly mean that children born in the UK to asylum seekers and brought up here could be kicked out of the country. This is not the change we voted for.

So proud of our flagship Kent Council, who cut wasteful spending by painting yellow lines outside a school that has been closed for nine years.

I adore Antiques Roadshow, and it so often surprises. Like, just now: I never realised that Dylan Thomas was only 39 when he died.

The end of The Times obituary of Rachel Cooke is quite brilliant, and unbearably sad.

Brilliant from Barbara Ellen in @theobserveruk.bsky.social on those criticising the Waitrose Christmas ad for the perhaps improbable pairing of its main characters. "If anything, Keira, lovely as she is, might be punching up. If Joe Wilkinson is beta, it's time for a rethink of alpha."

This brilliant article by @adamweymouth.bsky.social in @theobserveruk.bsky.social today encapsulates Starmer's shift from pro-human rights lawyer to intolerant PM. I voted against the Tories, and hence for Labour by default. I don't regret that, but... observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Surprised to see the Tories getting such prominence in a major interview right now on Laura Kuenssberg. Oh, hold on: it's the *Labour* home secretary. We voted for a change - in tone as much as in policy. I suspect this may be the final straw for many. Huge opportunity for the LibDems here.

So 0-0 is a positive start?!!

Perfectly argued.

Not very responsible budgeting to be £10bn out...

The faux outrage in the right-wing press about Labour's potential plan to freeze income tax thresholds forgets that the Tories froze them in their budgets in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

I give it two weeks from the current "ooo, turkey, exciting" to "I'm so bored of turkey"...

Worst renovation in London? The beautiful, classy Palm Court in the art deco Sheraton Grand Park Lane has been turned into something akin to a cheap airport lounge - with lighting so glaringly bright it's giving me a headache!

The right in the USA really have completely lost the plot...

It was undrinkable. So I opened a different bottle: that was corked. Ffs.

Other than eight minutes for a lunch break, I've not had a moment to pause for breath today. This will help.

The royals getting away with murder... Why does a non-entity minor member of the royal family need an entourage of outriders anyway? And how much does that cost us?

The royal family, eh? #AbolishTheMonarchy

3 of the 4 most recent Irish heads of state have been women. 10 of the 12 most recent UK heads of state have been men, with 2 more in line. Time to let the people choose. #AbolishTheMonarchy

So poignant always, but especially on 11/11. One of the greatest TV moments ever - if not the greatest.

Beautiful Edinburgh sunrise from the balcony of my hotel room this morning.

Nimbys objecting to 9,000 new houses in Kent because it they might spoil the view from a privately owned garden. They're being build on the site of a derelict former US airbase, which I guess is hardly a joy to behold right now. We so need to reform planning laws to generate growth.

There are 24 million BBC licence payers. Trump is threatening to sue for $1bn. Anyone else feel like withholding 30 quid from our next payments if he wins?

I hadn't realised Ireland had four presidents in as many years in the early 70s. What a tribute to the most recent incumbents that the presidency is now seen as such a force for stability.

I've never thought of "shitting on them" as presidential language, but a future president just used it, so I guess it is...

Sad to think that this is Michael D.'s last night as President of Ireland. Hard to imagine a head of state ever fulfilling their role with more dignity while bringing more joy. May he have a long and very happy retirement. A truly great man.

My wife was in NYC this weekend. A dear friend is there this week. I NEED NYC! It's like a drug I've been deprived of for way too long!!

No better view.

I may only have lived in Durham for 7 of my 57 years, but as the train rolls through the countryside north of Darlington, I do always feel like I'm coming home. And, of course, the excitement mounts ahead of the world's best view, from the railway viaduct across to the cathedral and city.

And I'll say it again: ‪If we had believed children and women, none of this would be happening. He'd be in jail, and she'd be President.

Disgusting.

Christmas cake in the oven - early, so it's done before a lunchtime K-Pop party for the six-year-old. Now for the annual dilemma - just throw the treacle out now, or keep it in the back of a cupboard and throw it out next year...

Just watched the section of the Kenny Dalglish documentary about Hillsborough. Just devastatingly sad. 36 years on and it still feels like yesterday. I'd never seen the goals from the Cup Final that year. Couldn't watch then, and why would you look back? Football was irrelevant. #YNWA #LFC

Up in the gods for Mary Poppins in MK this afternoon. Fabulous special effects and choreography. But goodness it needed cutting by about half an hour, and felt like a very dated style of musical theatre. Still, Mary flying over the audience at the end was a stunning, memorable moment.

I always find it amusing that the vegetarian options in the quite wonderful Chinese restaurant in central Milton Keynes include Stir Fried Beans with Minced Pork.

Enya made a few bob from this... Only found out a few weeks ago that she'd been in Clannad... #totp en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manderl...

"First Time" - the chat-up line of so many #TOTP presenters...

Not *that* Robert Palmer video, then... #TOTP

I just love that #TOTP is trending top worldwide on Bluesky right now. Middle-aged Brits rule the world!!

At what point does the Trump's regime behaviour cross the line into crimes against humanity? This horrific thread needs to be read - especially by any Americans.

The new Monica Galetti x Itsu instant noodles elevate fast home food to a new level. Absolutely superb.

Emma Barnett is something of a national hero for the way she's discussing women's health so bravely. It must be so helpful to so many. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Not one of the other 30+ adults mingling around in this leisure centre while kids do dance classes is wearing a poppy. We will remember them? It appears not, increasingly. Perhaps the two World Wars are now ancient history. Looking around, they're all too young to have parents born in the war.

Alan Carr has gone from being likeable and popular to being an absolute A-list national hero. Celebrity Traitors was simply brilliant from start to finish. Hand out the BAFTAs now.

OK, here we go... Celebrity Traitors has been the best thing on TV in years.