We got good news for private renters yesterday with rent inflation falling to 3.3% in the year to May 2026, the lowest it’s been for four years. That’s way below the 2024 peak of 9.1% but still higher than the pre-pandemic norm of below 2%.

🚨🚨 Nigel Farage has been trying to block a Bank of England cryptocurrency plan that could be costly for the billionaire bankrolling his party www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin has posted this crass video. If you or anyone else is in immediate danger, call 999. If you can’t talk, dial 55 on a mobile. You can also contact National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.

Did you know @ruthcurtice.bsky.social sends a weekly newsletter, sharing a roundup of interesting recent political and economic research, and our regular Chart of the Week (find a sneak peek of a recent example below). Sign up here to recieve tomorrow's edition ⤵️ buff.ly/1QaRG7Q

It’s Clean Air Day today! Cleaning up the air benefits all of us and right now, newly elected councillors across the UK are deciding what changes to deliver for your community. Call on your councillor this #CleanAirDay: www.cleanairhub.org.uk/clean-air-day

Leeds VCSEs can apply for funding to deliver blood pressure awareness and testing projects. Attend an information session on 23 June, 10am, Visit our website for more. forumcentral.org.uk/community-bl...

How can we create a fairer and healthier Leeds? A free Health Equity training programme is available for colleagues working across health and social care, helping participants understand health inequalities and develop practical ways to make a difference.

4 million people in England and Wales now receive PIP. As the Timms Review gets underway, here are five things today's new DWP data tells us about the benefit 🧵

📅 Date: Monday 6th July 2026 ⏰ Time: 10:30am – 1:30pm (Drop in at any time!) 📍 Location: Clocktower Suite, Bradford Arts Centre, St Peter’s House, 1 Forster Square, Bradford, BD1 4TY

Think your team has what it takes? Join the Rethink Food Charity Padel Tournament, sponsored by DN7 Building Services, on 9 July 2026 at Optimum Padel Leeds (12pm–4pm). 📷 Prizes
📷 Fundraising for a great cause Book your team today: rethinkfood.co.uk/charity-padel/ #padel4charity

In our latest episode, @sarahoconnorft.ft.com spoke to us about the different stories of work and automation she encountered while writing her new book. You can listen to this and all episodes of High Resolution ⬇️ On Spotify: buff.ly/FaL0UnP On Apple Podcasts: buff.ly/jSScLPN

A new report "Understanding anti-Muslim hostility" from @britishfuture.bsky.social and British Muslim Trust sets out the reach of positive, neutral, negative views towards Muslims, to signpost the range of strategies we need to challenge + reduce hostility + hatred towards Muslims in Britain today.

anyway as i was trying to Not Be On Social Media at the weekend, I didn't post this interview with Baroness Kidron, in which we covered social media bans vs safety by design but also the rather wider charge sheet against big tech www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ju...

Did you see the sign today about hobbies?

Since defence spending’s recent peak in the mid-80s non-pensioner welfare has grown from around 4.8.% of GDP to 5.1% now. Importantly, non-pensioner welfare is now about the level of the mid-90s, below its global financial crisis peak, but has seen some rise from its level immediately pre-pandemic.

But why pick on non-pensioner welfare anyway? Especially since we can now see the fall in defence spending was much more dramatic than the rise in non-pensioner welfare.

The report made numerous false claims about the use of AI by organisations including UBS, claiming the Swiss bank 'integrates AI agents across investment advisory, risk management and compliance monitoring'. ft.trib.al/clkVSb6

When people show you who they are...

At TPUSA's women's leadership summit, Benny Johnson's wife Kate says birth control "weaken[s] and diminish[es]" women and women don't have a right to prevent their own pregnancies

[email protected], @mind.org.uk and @autisticsociety.bsky.social said this week’s Supreme Court judgment “removes safeguards that history shows us are vital for disabled people” while introducing a “regressive legal standard” across the NHS and social care. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Foreign-born players make up the majority of footballers in eight of the World Cup's 48 squads. At the top of that list is Curaçao, where almost all of the squad were born in the Netherlands (96%). theconversation.com/how-migratio...

My colleagues have a report out today on civil legal aid, an important part of the justice system. Restrictions to eligibility in 2013 brought down spending/caseloads. The # of legal aid providers has continued to fall over time, and more and more areas have no provider at all

NEW: Labour's housing benefit cuts have hit a million of the poorest renters, often costing them more than £1,000 a year Greater Manchester and the West Midlands have been worst hit My new substack on the cost of living measure the next PM must take chamindajayanetti.substack.com/p/how-labour...

Data centers don’t just magically appear. Texas didn’t become the data center capital by accident. They go where politicians offer billion-dollar tax breaks, cheap power, weak regulations, and a giant welcome mat. If we’re serious about fighting these projects, follow the incentives.

Rightly angry piece from @iandunt.bsky.social about the Populist Right BS that followed the awful Henry Nowak murder case and how the media/national conversation has been drawn into it. iandunt.substack.com/p/an-abysmal...

Our June blog introduces you to another one of our free resources We have written a series of practical and reflective papers grounded in our frontline therapeutic experience Designed for professionals who work with refugees and asylum seekers www.solace-uk.org.uk/blog/sharing...

Apparently, Ivanka and Jared thought they were Christopher Columbus when they discovered an island in Albania, which was protected lands. Albanians are saying we don't want your dirty money! #albaniaisnotforsale

More than a quarter of UK musicians lost all EU work since 2021, report finds. Average tour earnings down 45%, with nearly three-fifths of musicians saying touring in Europe is no longer viable. www.theguardian.com/music/2026/j... @theguardian.com

Been a grim, grim fucking week man iandunt.substack.com/p/an-abysmal...

Absolutely superb Behind The Lines episode, that may just lift your spirits a little.

Why are the 13 million lower-income families across the country – a group we call ‘Unsung Britain’ – so frustrated? Because they are working more than ever, and yet their living standards have stagnated over the past two decades. @ruthcurtice.bsky.social on The Policy Fix podcast ➡️ buff.ly/Wl3riSt

Just a tiny flavour of Reform blue-thicks abusing Henry Nowak's father, in the ugly place, for not letting them exploit his dead son. There are, literally, thousands of messages like this.

🆕 The Rage in Farage @sturdyalex.bsky.social, @pimlicat.bsky.social, & guest @christabelcoops.bsky.social discuss the exploitation of Henry Nowak’s murder, as Farage invites disorder for the third summer in a row. 🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/4elm... 🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q...

Really, really good piece on the dual tragedies of both the case itself and the immediate pivot to using it to incite racist violence. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Today, I’m launching a High Court claim against xAI, the company behind Grok. I am just one of thousands of women and even children who have been the victim of abusive and sexualised AI deepfakes. This should never have happened – and xAI must be held accountable. www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

Keir Starmer was at his best at PMQs today as he berated Farage’s attempt to whip up fury over the tragic murder of Henry Nowak

Note Farage deliberately ignoring many calls to condemn the violence against police.

Celebrating Rahel who supports the Harehills Action Team as both a Chatty Cafe volunteer and a HAT Community Advocate💚 #VolunteersWeekLeeds #VoluntaryActionLeeds

Well done @iandunt.bsky.social for not letting Reform cllr Alex Wilson take the high ground for what Farage did.

Losing support to Restore, Farage seizes a golden opportunity to bring racists back into the fold

And it's not just any riot - it's a Farage riot

This headline is a travesty. It's not a protest and it's got nothing to do with Henry Nowak. It's a racist riot. Call it that.

The owner of X is calling for violence (again). If you have not stopped using this site already, today is a very good day to do it.

Got to be one of the most inflammatory statements ever broadcast on the BBC, let alone a current affairs show. Apparently, there’s a ‘regime’ that for ‘30 years’ has been operating against the interests of whites.

hope you enjoyed the equality act 2010 while it lasted folks

China moving forward in leaps and bounds.

Financial worry is sitting quietly in your team right now. Rising costs. Debt. Housing insecurity. We partnered with Workplace FinWELL Champions® to deliver stigma-free, practical #FinancialWellbeing Training. Money has to be part of the wellbeing conversation. www.finwell.training/mhscot...

Only a third of workers in cleaning, hospitality and warehousing would speak up if they were unhappy with their pay. A similar fraction would do nothing or are unsure what they would do, suggesting disengagement with pay-setting processes at work.

Small charities make a BIG impact 💚 We’re proud to support the Civic Reception for small groups and charities in Leeds. Book here - https://ow.ly/BYte50Z53Ii #SmallCharityWeek

🧵 Our May 7th elections analysis was published today. The findings are stark: - 41.4% of wards were won by by less than 5% - 398 wards were decided by less than 1% - 9 wards were decided by a 1 vote Election ads will now be increasingly decisive. reformpoliticaladvertising.org/after-the-vo...