Westminster Voting Intention: RFM: 32% (=) CON: 17% (=) LAB: 15% (-2) GRN: 15% (=) LDM: 12% (=) SNP: 3% (=) Via @findoutnow.bsky.social, 15 Oct. Changes w/ 8 Oct.

AOC: And they are able to radicalize a generation of young boys in particular, away from healthy masculinity and into an insecure masculinity that requires the domination of others who are poorer, browner, darker, or a different gender than them.

Reform UK mayor pulled up for ‘hypocritical’ attack on solar farms

This is a very good - if very lugubrious - read Pithy, acutely observed and unstinting in showing how liberal democracies are being pushed aside by strongmen - and how ineffective, and divided are the politicians supposed to protect them

This is how Farage and Tice reacted at PMQs when someone raised the issue of one of their politicians accepting bribes to spread Russian propaganda. Apparently it’s funny to be a traitor.

"Another Reform MP has been accused of being in breach of Parliamentary rules, after its deputy leader Richard Tice failed to register lavish hospitality he received from Lubov Chernukhin – wife of a former Russian deputy finance minister" leftfootforward.org/2025/10/refo...

Why is Badenoch INSISTING on overemphasising certain words which are presumably KEY anyway, making any overemphasis TOTALLY unnecessary? #PMQs

Westminster Voting Intention: RFM: 30% (-3) LAB: 22% (+2) CON: 20% (+1) LDM: 15% (+1) GRN: 9% (+1) SNP: 3% (=) Via @moreincommonuk.bsky.social, 10-13 Oct. Changes w/ 3-6 Oct.

Pupils fear AI is eroding their ability to study, research finds

"There is no doubt that the impact of Brexit has been severe and long-lasting", Rachel Reeves tells Sky News, as she suggests that taxes will now have to go up as a result to "make sure the numbers add up".

I think England fans are singing “Where were you in 66?”

Westminster Voting Intention: RFM: 27% (=) LAB: 20% (=) CON: 17% (=) LDM: 16% (-1) GRN: 13% (+1) SNP: 3% (-1) Via @yougov.co.uk, 12-13 Oct. Changes w/ 5-6 Oct.

Nigel Farage never did answer why he met the Russian Ambassador. All he did was call the interviewer a nutcase. This interview is a real insight in to how little Nigel Farage likes being asked about his ties to Russia. archive.ph/rTLvd #ReformRussianBribes

So, Reform would rocket-boost austerity, slash welfare *but not taxes*, cancel net zero progress, do mass deportations, huff out of the ECHR (torching the Brexit deal and our human rights)… And to top it all off, there’d be this gem of US-funded christofascist authoritarianism on offer too. Grim AF.

The GENESIS live album "Seconds Out" was released on this day in 1977. It became one of the most respected live albums ever. This is our review: t.ly/En7c0 @tabletopgenesis.bsky.social #genesis

Rupert Lowe on Nathan Gill, former Reform leader in Wales, who has pleaded guilty to taking bribes from pro-Russian proxies: "I had absolutely no idea. I was new to the European Parliament, Nathan had been there for years alongside Farage - they were very close." Shots fired. ~AA

As this detailed report shows Reform is a Trojan Horse for the US Christian right to secretly reshape British politics along Trumpian lines. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/w...

Thank you, Mike

@andrewrawnsley.bsky.social correctly highlighting why Tories repelled by Reform probably won’t vote for a tribute act. If they vote tactically, who they choose will decide the result of the next General Election. observer.co.uk/news/columni...

👀

Westminster Voting Intention: RFM: 32% (-2) LAB: 22% (+1) CON: 18% (+2) LDM: 11% (-1) GRN: 10% (=) SNP: 3% (+1) Via @opiniumresearch.bsky.social, 8-10 Oct. Changes w/ 1-3 Oct.

Interesting how historians are close to the top of this list. I’m doing research on LLMs and historical research. ALL the LLMs I question acknowledge that they cannot be trusted to provide quotes from sources and say students should check actual sources. news.sky.com/story/money-...

"People like Neville represent a cultural and political threat, because the right wants them to think what they think - and very often they don’t." Why Gary Neville's views on British flags made him a target for Farage

A fascinating interview with America’s leading Christian nationalists a self described ‘theocratic libertarian’, which seems to amount to a radically free market combined with moral terrorism. Freedom for the billionaires but oppression for virtually everybody else. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/o...

Reform Defunding Schools Reform UK’s Flagship Kent Council is planning to take £2 million from schools’ already-squeezed budgets to pay for vital services it can no longer afford. Linden Kemkaran, Reform’s Kent Leader is failing. schoolsweek.co.uk/reform-run-k...

“Compared with the kids who run foreign policy in this country, I've more respect for Putin than our lot.”

Westminster Voting Intention: RFM: 32% (-3) LAB: 17% (-2) CON: 17% (+3) GRN: 15% (+4) LDM: 12% (=) SNP: 3% (=) Via @findoutnow.bsky.social, 8 Oct. Changes w/ 1 Oct.

Proving once and for all the Labour Government is not Tory lite, nobody will ever agree with every Government policy but ditch Labour and this is what we'll get. The left and centre left majority in the Hoc need to fight against this together.

NEW | On the latest story about students (and sex): THE KINK IN THE TIMES’ POSITION ON UNIVERSITIES AND FREE SPEECH Why is a national newspaper obsessing about student societies and quoting extreme pressure groups? I think we all know the answer... brokenbottleboy.substack.com/p/the-kink-i...

One Small Step: my SKETCH of Kemi Badenoch, a leader unconstrained by reality.

Does Reform have a Russia problem?

Teaching British Politics is great fun until I have to listen to speeches written by hopeless wingnuts.

Kemi Badenoch promises to abolish stamp duty. Hurrah. But where is the £12bn a year coming from?

"While Britain was redefining what a woman is, China was building five nuclear reactors," says Kemi Badenoch. I cannot be the only person curious about how these two things are related

@roberthutton.co.uk Did you see Jenrick’s “Total War”speech today?

“Are we gonna quit when the going gets tough? Are we gonna dig deep and fight like never before? How long will our battle last? As long as it takes.” Joseph Goebbels at the Berlin Sportpalast on 18th February 1943, the so-called Total War speech. Oh hang on, it was Jenrick today, an echo of evil.

This is a lie. There are many criticisms you might sensibly and truthfully make of the Sentencing Council and the Sentencing Guidelines. I’ve been making them for years. But this is an outright lie. Pure fabrication. A fraud on the public.

On reports that Reform’s DOGE unit in Kent has found no savings and is set to hike council tax, Lib Dem Daisy Cooper MP: "Reform's pledge to slash millions...has turned out to be nothing but smoke & mirrors "Like his idol Elon Musk, Zia Yusuf has spectacularly failed to deliver what DOGE promised"

"Britian loses" One of the side-effects of the implosion of the Conservative party is how beyond amateurish their entire operation is now. Even at a senior level the quality and experience of the people working for them is just incredibly low

@mattchorley.bsky.social Did she have steak ta-ta? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Are YOU a politician struggling to satisfy a demanding public? Find EASY solutions to EVERY problem with Super Magic Defeat-O!

Politico: Kent County Council controlled by Reform UK, 'is likely to raise council tax rates next year after its cost-cutting “DOLGE” program struggled to find savings, the FT reports. Council Cabinet member Diane Morton said local services were already “down to the bare bones”' Exactly as warned.

Reform UK's Kent council tax going up by 5%. They didn't find cuts through the failed DOGE. This was their flyer in May 2025.

I’m at a Tory fringe event where polling guru John Curtice is delivering some blunt polling truths about where the party is right now. We’re still only on a recap of the election but it’s already a very polite punishment beating.

But but… I thought Reform had all the answers? This should be game over for them. But they’ll find someone else to blame, and everyone will forget it within weeks.

Westminster Voting Intention: RFM: 31% (-1) LAB: 21% (-1) CON: 19% (+1) LDM: 13% (+1) GRN: 9% (+2) Via JLPartnersPolls, 26 Sep - 3 Oct. Changes w/ 19 Aug - 1 Sep.

Westminster Voting Intention: RFM: 34% (+2) LAB: 21% (-1) CON: 16% (-1) LDM: 12% (-2) GRN: 10% (+3) SNP: 2% (-1) Via @opiniumresearch.bsky.social, 1-3 Oct. Changes w/ 24-26 Sep.

Not the best of times for us. It can only get better. #LFC

Come on, Reds #LFC