How pathetic - and talk about trying to change the subject. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cn...

Excellent and disturbing photos of wildfires across Europe. www.theguardian.com/world/galler...

Burnham in favour of devolution but not a voluntary union it seems. Nothing new there then. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

From Crete to Scotland the low carbon way - by boat and train. My new photo blog from my May 4000 km journey across a stunning vista of European nature, mountains, cities, seas. open.substack.com/pub/kirstyhu...

Now Ed Balls is tipped for a peerage and possible advisory role in Burnham's government-to-be. Blairite/Brownite retreads from David Miliband to Balls - if that's the answer, then for sure Burnham is asking the wrong question. www.politico.eu/newsletter/l...

New analysis has found that Wales is outpacing both England and Scotland in the speed at which homes are installing solar panels and electric heat pumps, and is now leading Britain’s transition to energy independent homes. eciu.net/media/press...

Left Party now in first place (albeit in a close pack) ahead of Berlin's state election in September.

Good piece on EU ambassadors visit to Scotland, youth mobility & on the many benefits for small states like Ireland (taking over EU presidency today) of being EU member state @kathleennutt.bsky.social www.heraldscotland.com/politics/wes...

John Swinney good on emphasising Burnham's devolution plans need to include more powers for Holyrood but weak/negative on suggesting there could be a case for more north sea oil and gas development www.heraldscotland.com/news/2624112...

BREAKING: Scotland's First Minister John Swinney has responded to Andy Burnham's claim he wants to extend devolution in Scotland He warned 'Scotland is a nation and not a region' and urged Burnham to give Scotland the right to a second independence referendum

Scotland and Wales get a mention or rather an assertion but if Burnham is going to bypass Holyrood that will create political conflict and if it's just 'an offer' to Holyrood/Scottish govt what might that be? All of this still sounds like it's basically about England.

The European Commission is drawing up plans to give EU candidate countries economic benefits before they join the bloc, as governments search for ways to speed up enlargement without lowering the bar for entry.

Some people seem to quite like this essay, for which I am grateful, so just giving it another punt, especially for anyone too scunnered by the football to be up for longreads yesterday morning;)

David Miliband wants back in a Burnham government or Wes Streeting as foreign secretary? All the old and younger Blairites circling - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Much speculation about Andy Burnham - but in a few weeks he will face a whole spectrum of decisions and whether he is a narrow, domestic, England-focused PM or able to rise to the challenges of our times both across the UK and internationally will soon be clear. open.substack.com/pub/kirstyhu...

Much speculation about Andy Burnham - but in a few weeks he will face a whole spectrum of decisions and whether he is a narrow, domestic, England-focused PM or able to rise to the challenges of our times both across the UK and internationally will soon be clear. open.substack.com/pub/kirstyhu...

🥵 It's hot in here. Europe is sweating through a record-breaking heatwave that's killing people, trees, and destroying crops. Meanwhile in Brussels: EU governments push to divert green investment funds towards fossil fuel expansion. Read the full story 👇 www.politico.eu/article/eu-c...

It's just one long stream of BS from these fossil fuel-backed clowns. Adopting their policies would destroy a million jobs (see next post) while creating almost none in return. Total environmental and social vandalism. The absolute state of "conservatism". www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Whenever anyone talks about Andy Burnham moving something to, or focusing on, the north, helpful to add to north of England. Sounding like a v england focused pm to be. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @FT

Burnham rather unknown in Brussels. He may want to focus on domestic issues but he'll need to invest in EU political relations quickly. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @FT

I've had 2 journalists today asking if Miliband as Chancellor would be a "Liz Truss moment" and find it difficult not to just respond "are you on crack?".

The sensible thing to do will still be to postpone the summit, and give the new PM and his team time to negotiate a new, in my view hopefully more ambitious agenda for EU-UK relations. But now it will look bad for the EU and bad for the new PM (if, as most likely, Burnham is PM by now).

Starmer's farewell - and giving Burnham a much shorter lead in than he'd hoped. Fair enough, who wants to be a lame duck PM any longer www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

Midsummer's eve Lochinver

Scotland, unsurprisingly, still by far the most pro European nation in UK: "56% of people in England, 61% of people in Wales and 75% of Scots believe Britain was to wrong to vote to leave the EU" in new YouGov poll yougov.com/en-gb/articl...

Happy summer solstice

Diabaig, mid-summer

Both the government and the Court of Appeal now treat protesters as terrorists and terrorists as protesters. It's hard to accept that a "Labour" government is imposing rightwing authoritarianism on the UK, but please read this column to see what's happening.+🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

New study of Brexit impact on nations and regions finds more successful places harder hit, especially Scotland (and London)

This, by @kathleennutt draws on my recent blog on Scotland and EU 10 years after Brexit www.heraldscotland.com/politics/wes...

One of the most striking patterns from today’s historic vote: The higher the share of non-Swiss residents in a municipality, the *lower* the support for the far-right SVP initiative to cap Switzerland’s population at 10M. The contact hypothesis holds up well! Plot (c): @marcokistler.bsky.social

Early projections on Sunday showed Swiss voters had rejected a proposal to cap the country’s population at 10mn people, delivering a surprise defeat to a rightwing initiative that had appeared neck and neck in opinion polls until just days before the vote ft.trib.al/X3a0hqp

If Burnham wants to put public control of water at the heart of his putative time as PM, then that's an English agenda given Scottish water is already publicly owned. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

EU Member States agree unanimously to open accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova on Monday www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/pre...

10 years on, Brexit has impacted negatively on Scotland - and Scottish remain voters are much more likely to support independence now than leave voters. Where next for Scotland and the EU? my latest blog. open.substack.com/pub/kirstyhu...

Now is the time to come together and stand in solidarity with refugees. With over 150 events, Refugee Festival Scotland is the perfect opportunity to do just that. The festival starts tomorrow! Join us in bringing communities together. Find events near you: https://ow.ly/OP7U50Zaqvq

10 years on, Brexit has impacted negatively on Scotland - and Scottish remain voters are much more likely to support independence now than leave voters. Where next for Scotland and the EU? my latest blog. open.substack.com/pub/kirstyhu...

So glad that Luqman Saeed - an academic at Ulster University - has written this piece about the Belfast riots. I hope I could write this clearly and perceptively were I under similar pressure right now. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/ju...

Carry on Campaigning? Or Brexit as Not-So-Jolly Gents' Japes, plus Wives and Sisters making dinner. I have just done a rough and ready analysis of the 'talking head' contributions to the BBC's 'Brexit: a Very British Civil War'. A short 🧵about this Blokey Affair: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Tax-break trees: how woodland became a store of wealth for the rich

Labour's decay is visible both in Starmer's failure & in the humiliating toadying MPs & ministers showed to Mandelson. Burnham may not be the answer.The Scottish government looks stronger but in the fall out from the Murrell scandal, fresh thinking is vital. My blog open.substack.com/pub/kirstyhu...

Labour's decay is visible both in Starmer's failure & in the humiliating toadying MPs & ministers showed to Mandelson. Burnham may not be the answer.The Scottish government looks stronger but in the fall out from the Murrell scandal, fresh thinking is vital. My blog open.substack.com/pub/kirstyhu...

A group of volunteers have been told without the ‘required permits’, they could face prosecution for clearing rubbish that is choking one of the UK’s longest rivers, writes Alex Thomson. Read our latest newsletter:

French artist JR has wrapped the Pont Neuf in Paris in homage to Christo who wrapped it in 1985. Amazing.

Seems main things we've learnt are that Mandy thought he was still the prime power behind the throne even a year ago, and that various blairite/Mandyite ministers, MPs, spads etc sucked up to him...amusing but not dynamite

Excellent article. Reminds me of Neil Kinnock who was a European Commissioner in 1999 when the entire European Commission resigned because French commissioner Edith Cresson had appointed her dentist/friend as an adviser. Kinnock said 'it was not our [collective] fault but it is our responsibility'.

“Journalists and activists need to take stock too. Until we all stop dividing the world up into good guys and w**ks, we are going to be stuck in a groundhog day of shabby, tribal politics” @danigaravelli.bsky.social is brilliant on the Murell fallout www.heraldscotland.com/news/2615250...

"To suggest she has no responsibility for that, and to link that lack of responsibility to her sex, is a form of infantilisation that will do women no good in the long-run." My @heraldscotland.bsky.social column on Murrell and Sturgeon. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2615250...