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.

Labour : "Let's copy Denmark's immigration policies" Denmark : For the first time in over 100 years, the Social Democrats have lost the Copenhagen Mayor election to.... The Greens

Kemi Badenoch says her decision to ditch her climate commitments is due to her having "listened to the industry". No mention of the millions of pounds her party has received from the funders of fossil-fuel linked lobby groups bylinetimes.com/2025/03/18/k...

This is who the government is trying to copy with its anti-refugee policies. Truly strategic geniuses. 4D chess. Well done everyone.

Keir Starmer's spokesman insisted on Monday that "clearly these changes will not be retrospective" for those already granted asylum, as Reform have been demanding. Now we learn they will be inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Shabana Mahmood is wrong - Another cowardly attack on immigrants does not hide the incompetence of the Starmer government. Me, for the @newstatesman1913.bsky.social www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

And as an update, the Home Secretary now has Rupert Lowe on board with the new policies announced. All we need now is the ghost of Enoch Powell to chip in and there'll be a full set.

The stupidity of Farage’s latest ‘plan’ is staggering. Claiming they’d save British taxpayers money by ripping up international commitments and starting a trade war with Europe is the puerile foot-stamp of a party that uses prejudice as policy. Ruinous nonsense. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

In 2020 Keir Starmer and Alf Dubs urged the then Conservative Government to restore their commitment to family reunion for child refugees, saying there was a “moral argument” to protect desperately vulnerable young people. Five years later Dubs condemns Starmer for doing the complete opposite

Someone tag the Labour party: ““This was a cynical strategic manoeuvre to avoid losing voters to the far right, but it seems, based on polling, that all they have done is prime their own voters to join the far right rather than stay with the Social Democrats.”” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

Oh

Green MP Carla Denyer accuses Shabana Mahmood of trying to "out Reform Reform" and says "toxic racist narratives and the scapegoating of migrants" are to blame for "tearing our country apart" not migrants. Mahmood: "I couldn't care less what any other political party has to say about these matters"

Your regular reminder that there is absolutely nothing "hard" or "tough" about targeting the poorest, most vulnerable, and least able to defend themselves groups of people on the entire planet

“We welcome migrants, we don’t scapegoat them". How Keir Starmer promised Labour MPs and members he would lead his party on immigration

2015 Shabana Mahmood really needs to have a word with 2025 Shabana Mahmood

When a Labour government sees the approval of Tommy Robinson as more important that the approval of the Labour Party membership, things are probably going wrong

These policies, where they aren't just reiterating ones which already exist in a differently worded form, are just plain idiotic. They show not only a complete disregard for people's lives, or basic humanity, but also reality. 1/ www.gov.uk/government/p...

The Home Secretary says "we have become the destination of choice in Europe, clearly visible to every people smuggler and would-be illegal migrant across the world" That is a factually untrue claim: the Home Office shows that the UK is fifth, getting 1/10 claims, while Germany gets 1/5 claims

So the solution is… to join in? I'm afraid the “dark forces” are calling from inside the house at this point.

Labour won't redistribute wealth from billionaires. But they will seize belongings from those fleeing war and persecution. Absolutely disgusting. Asylum seekers are human beings — and they deserve to live in dignity just like anybody else. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

I am not sure these are the biggest reforms for decades/for a generation. Core proposal is incredibly similar in analysis, spirit and content to 2022 Nationality and Borders Act of Priti Patel (offer temporary protection of 30 months) The 2023 Illegal Migration Act more sweeping Both failed

Imagine having a thumping majority in parliament and deciding to use it for something as squalid as this.

The Sun has been told Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will on Monday propose confiscating jewellery, watches, necklaces from asylum seekers to meet asylum costs This reflects the most controversial aspect of the Danish scheme - the Jewellery Law. The toughest Labour MPs thought this was OTT

Which safe and legal routes? #r4today

For Shabana Mahmood to attack some of the most cruelly treated people in the world as having won a "golden ticket" because they manage to get to and claim asylum in Britain is unforgiveable. A new, far right, low for which I can think of no precedent, by any UK Government.

ICE is building a 24/7 social media monitoring program that would scan Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and dozens of other platforms. Private contractors would turn public posts into enforcement leads fed directly into government databases. buff.ly/gXCFJBl

Fly-tippers dump ‘mountain’ of waste in Oxfordshire field www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Shabana Mahmood on the BBC this morning talking about desperate people fleeing war and persecution as being given a "golden ticket" and "handouts" and saying she's got a "moral mission" to take them away from them Indistinguishable from the rhetoric of Reform www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/shabana-ma...

Dear Mahmood/Labour, Once the strutting fascist, Yaxley Lennon, is taking credit for your policies, you must know you’ve completely lost your way. You need to get your head out of your arse and your account off X. Yours The real silent (fair-minded and ignored) majority of the UK

Performative cruelty once again. By Labour. Support for people seeking asylum is already heavily restricted. Most are not allowed to work, but for those who can support themselves they are already pretty much expected to. 1/ www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Train worker who protected passengers in Huntingdon attack leaves hospital www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

This by Mahmood is frankly not only disgusting, but also massively disingenuous. It equates seeking asylum with illegality, there's nothing illegal about seeking asylum no matter the route. It ignores that Labour's policies penalise those in need of protection, and plays to hard right rhetoric.

Helpful list of some of the people who, or whose families, Shabana Mahmood thinks should only have been allowed to stay temporarily

Train worker Samir Zitouni has been discharged from hospital after suffering critical injuries in the Huntingdon attack In a statement via the police,his family said: “We are so grateful for the outpouring of support from the public, and very touched by all the kind words about Sam’s brave actions"

Just some British patriots in Benidorm, taking over a street in Spain to shout in their own language about unwanted foreigners. It’s a blessing that they are too thick to understand irony.

Twats marching through Benidorm. Spain should really deport them.

This is as bad as anything proposed by Reform. Leaving refugees in permanent limbo and unable to build a new life in the UK would be a complete abdication of our humanitarian responsibilities www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

This is an element of the migration/asylum plans I suspect quite a few Labour MPs will find hardest to sign up to: if you come to the UK as a refugee you can never make your life here, but only ever exist in a state of limbo.

Labour are now the "darker forces" Mahmood is scaremongering about. Depriving people who have fled unimaginable horror the ability to rebuild their lives in safety and security, which this does, is sickening. Labour is sickening. #r4today www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Tough time for freelance artists and the amazingly talented @gailmyerscough.co.uk is having a tough week sales wise. Have a look at her wonderful site! I’d be very grateful (as would she!). Please share! Thank you! www.gailmyerscough.co.uk

Brexit detonated our economy and our politics. Since then, our country seems to have lost its mind, veering off to the right, reawakening the racism genie, ruining itself to try to hide the dishonesty and snowballing damage of it all. And now Farage could be PM ffs. Mindblowing self-inflicted idiocy

Strange that not a single MSM outlet has picked up this story, that the guy who reported on misleading quotes at the BBC used misleading quotes in his report of the problems. LOL #r4today www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-e...

This is how the BBC reported the IOF’s brutal execution of a terrified six year old, surrounded by the dead bodies of her slain relatives. Critics accused it of “bias”, but many of us see s/t else entirely: a state broadcaster that basically does as it’s told while pretending independence. #r4today

Reform in Lancashire threatens closing five day centres and five care homes, with “reprovision” forcing disabled or older adults (including a 106-year-old) into alternative support.  🧵1/3

I can remember when it was a scandal if the 18 weeks wait figure dropped below 95%. It was only about 10-12 years ago. The collapse in NHS performance under the last government was truly staggering, and went well beyond the pandemic.

Outrageous that Live Facial Recognition is being used on local people in Crawley today. I have warned ministers that police are acting unlawfully by deploying this intrusive technology with no approval from Parliament.

"If you want a picture of the future, imagine Liz Truss grovelling for the attention of a far-right billionaire - forever"

Health Secretary Wes Streeting says that the British Medical Association, which represents Britain's doctors, is a threat to the NHS. Streeting took a record £225k from private healthcare-related donors in just two years.