"To renew itself and to become a good government, Labour needs to recover the art of being genuinely thoughtful about what it wants to do with power." From @stephenkb.bsky.social in the linked piece. Spot on.

But it can’t be entirely shocking that telling people “we’re going to refuse to commit to an identity and then govern badly because we lack an overarching direction or a concrete plan” is losing its charm.

Intellectual rigour is not a major feature of UK politics across the board. Has not been for some time. Which is not to say this piece is wrong.

Mariupol now: A “reconstruction designed to conceal 🇷🇺 war crimes also underlines why Zelensky & 🇺🇦 won’t simply hand over Donbas to Russia. An experiment in social engineering where homes are confiscated from the Ukrainians who lived in them and handed to Russian immigrants loyal to the Kremlin

A lot of indications that currently shiny Chinese infrastructure will see a pile up of similar maintenance and material decay issues by the late 2030s

"The apparent inconsistency in Reform’s explanation adds to questions about Farage’s transparency over the purpose of the £5mn gift, which Harborne gave to him about two months before Farage announced that he would stand to be MP for Clacton at the 2024 general election." www.ft.com/content/88ce...

Next step, to understand that the UK is in a permanent negotiation with the EU whether outside or in. And this is the UK's most important relationship and needs resourcing appropriately. e.g. for growth, energy, migration, foreign policy

The UK doesn't get special deals from the EU whether outside or in the process of rejoining. To be fair I think people are starting to get this after just ten years. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

Here's hoping the BBC's new DG takes a look at the 6 O' Clock News today and concludes, "We've got to do something about this tabloid tat."

14 May: "Germany's domestic intelligence agency has reportedly chosen a data analysis system from France, instead of US-based Palantir. Civil society has welcomed the move, but says more must be done." www.dw.com/en/german-in... Karp Palantir: Evil #humanrights #law

Nigel Farage’s claim that he paid for a £1.4mn house with his fee from a reality TV show has been challenged by corporate accounts that appear to show that the income remained on his company’s balance sheet after the property purchase. www.ft.com/content/88ce...

In Lithuania, an absolute majority of the population has university degrees. I am increasingly persuaded this is objectively good

Labour and Conservatives have embraced university-bashing that will lose voters to the LibDems and Greens while failing to get back voters from Reform

As long as employers in the best paying sectors expect their employees to have a degree then there will be high demand for university degrees. Unless Milburn's Labour government wants to impose rigid state controls that dismantle market forces.

Such an awful debate in every respect. We don't want young people with aspirations. University might be bad for you. Was good for us the successful ones but you don't deserve the same. Mostly because governments have made a mess of financing.

Farage almost never talks about brexit any more. He's pivoted entirely to the issue of "illegal" migration which I a bit ironic because one of the main planks of his own leave campaign was that Brexit would stop "illegal" immigration...

One of the biggest mistakes by the government was to tolerate and pander to this group. Far right extremist thugs posing as patriots, who should have been clamped down on from day one www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

I hope Labour sorts itself out & wins in 2029 with or without the LDs, & I'm not going pretend I know how Burnham will do. But having a leader from a v leave-y seat seems like an unideal structure given a) war & US disengagement & b) the massive, even bigger than expected Brexit hit to the economy.

Mike Johnson prefers the term "Southern Baptist" to Christian Nationalist, highlighting the fact that the nation in question consists of the eleven states of the Old Confederacy. bsky.app/profile/atru...

Distribution centres have been built all across Europe, frequently where factories used to be. Many people work in them. Yet they are not seen by politicians as equal to old factory jobs, and I call that nostalgia. Sorry.

The government isn't forcing churches and community centres and town halls across the country to fly the Ukrainian flag. People are doing it themselves because we see a battle and we know which side we are on. There are lots of ways in which Reform is wildly out of touch with Britain.

This. What happens when Remainer Labour MPs become prisoners of constituents whose views on #Brexit they don't really share.

Nandy really is very very unimpressive. I shall never understand why anybody thought she was leadership material. Initially Owen Jones (says it all 🙄) then herself in 2020. They all talk of “bringing Labour together” laughably whilst flogging the decidedly minority view…because “Wigan etc etc”

Says it all about Nandy, and about too many of our similarly clueless and faint-hearted politicians. Not a thread of leadership in any of them. Andy Burnham maybe in the same camp, a likely prisoner of Brexity constituents?

In case you missed it 👇

Bold thinking from Andy Burnham this is not. I fear he may become a prisoner of Brexity constituents, as Lisa Nandy has become. A local rather than a national leader, it seems.

Sneaking a giant screen into the flagshagger march is one of the funniest things @ledbydonkeys.org have ever done. "STAY HYDRATED" 😂🤣😂

“Eventually“ joining the EU is meaningless.

We used to call "Robinson" types hooligans.

Tommy Robinson is marching through London again today. He presents himself as a patriot, a journalist, and a victim of the establishment. But in reality he is a serial criminal with a rap sheet two decades long. Here’s the record he’d rather you didn’t read. 🧵

Is it time for PR?

An embarrassing display at Tommy Robinson's march that didn't even get 50,000 people. The US and Israel flags along with the ridiculous wooden crosses picked up by people who have never been near a church show you who is funding and controlling this 'movement'. Patriotism 🤣

Basically, it's football stadiums in the 1980s

NEW: Wes Streeting says the UK must eventually rejoin the EU “The biggest economic opportunity we have is on our doorstep. We need a new special relationship with the EU because Britain's future lies with Europe, and one day back in the European Union.”

Pope Leo will travel to France from September 25 to 28, the Vatican announced on Saturday, and will visit the Paris headquarters of UNESCO, which is facing budget shortfalls after the United States withdrew from the agency last ​year. For @reuters.com

Despite claiming to give his paymasters “nothing in return” for their money, the truth is that Farage has been assiduous in serving their interests. Last year, as Christopher Harborne was handing millions of pounds to Reform UK, Farage was taking to the airwaves to openly promote his company

Two suspended Durham Reform councillors quit party

“We’re in a fight for the soul of this country, and the Unite the Kingdom march this weekend is a stark reminder of exactly what we are up against." Some robust Keir Starmer words ahead of the far right march in London.

If this isn't "designed to stir up hatred" against Jews, what is? Why are the Met not arresting them?

World Cup washout: Tourists avoid US amid Trump's deportation debacle www.dailykos.com/stories/2026...

Welsh names are really interesting.

Llanfoist Waitrose eavesdropping via @fatbadger442.bsky.social

Starmer's leadership has been marked by trying not to upset Brexit voters – on Brexit itself, on immigration, on nastier manifestations of anti-immigration sentiment... perhaps even on Trump. The next Labour leader needs to stop/reverse all of that. Fire Mahmood as Home Secretary for starters.

In what other country would a man be paid 5 million pounds for setting back its economy by more than a decade?

Questions over Farage’s houses and £5m gift renew scrutiny of finances

“Memo to the next Labour leader: for God’s sake don’t accept any Coldplay tickets” says STEWART LEE www.thenerve.news/p/stewart-le...

I hope this isn’t true. There are times when it’s more important to put country before party. This is one of them. Burnham’s longstanding commitment to a fairer voting system could transform our democracy & counter the dire threat of a Reform UK government elected on a minority of the vote

"I don't know every fact and figure."

Watch: thedailybritain.co.uk/danny-kruger...

MERZ: “.. I’m a great admirer of America — my admiration is not increasing at the moment. .. I would not recommend my children today go to the US to be trained or to work there.” @bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/news/article...