I know it’s a very busy day but this story *really* matters Josh Simons says he hired ‘a PR company’ to investigate a ‘suspected illegal hack’ But if you’re worried about a hack, why pay £30k to a PR firm? A lot about this story isn’t right. And a cabinet office minister is at the centre of it

Peter Mandelson is being investigated for potential “misconduct in public office” over emails he sent as a minister to Jeffrey Epstein. Our explainer sets out what this means in UK law and why few politicians have been prosecuted over it. Read more www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/mi...

"My particular expertise is that I straddle the worlds of business and government" We noticed that. But there are less flattering words than straddle. This is a great thread. So much in it. Part of me hopes the Met delay charges so sub judice doesn't end this excellent reporting.

my last Epstein scoop for the weekend: Jeffrey Epstein wired $150,000 to Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York, in 2001, according to newly released financial records, after helping her to cash in share options earned from her work for Weight Watchers. www.ft.com/content/8623...

Been a long time since I had to let my FT subscription lapse. With @pickardje.bsky.social's reporting now, going to try to find a way to afford it again. Brilliant stuff. Seriously important.

crucial to remember here that Mandelson - who is shown trying to undermine the bank bonus tax in 2009 - went on to work for JP Morgan as a client of his Global Counsel advisory firm www.ft.com/content/91e8...

here's tonight's FT splash, fresh from the Epstein files

Richard Burgon MP, addressing RMT Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Regional Council today at the NUM HQ in Barnsley. Workers must have protection from unfair dismissal from Day 1, not after six months.

He's one of Britain's richest men. So why does Asif Aziz's property company keep leasing London gift shops to overseas students based in abandoned offices or flytipped car parks — before vanishing without paying millions of pounds in taxes? www.londoncentric.media/p/asf-aziz-l...

Don't want to keep banging on, but In the UK it's EDI. If you call it DEI you are just being a big fat copy cat and don't merit being taken seriously. Thank you.

🚨 A statement: Over the past year James O’Brien & others have made claims about my departure from LBC. I’m restricted in what I can share with you but hope the statement below will draw a line under the matter. My focus is on moving forward. I am grateful for your continued support, Sangita

Join Birmingham Stand Up To Racism for a peaceful protest to say the far right are not welcome here. Meet at 11am this Saturday outside St Martin’s Church on Edgbaston Street. NO PASARÁN! ✊🏻✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 RSVP here - facebook.com/events/s/sto...

Is there a proper term for the linguistic error where the words of a phrase are grouped wrongly? Examples: fine toothcomb, high watermark…

Some years ago I bought a few shares in a community wind turbine in the back room of the Victoria pub, Leeds. A few cynics said you'll never see your money again. 10 % interest over the last year. I guess it was windier than usual.

Island of Strangers - by @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social m.facebook.com/story.php?st...

I normally don't mind a bit of irony. But it would be nicer if M&S's apology for losing our personal data didn't recommend its website for tips on staying safe online.

The International Civil Aviation Organization finds Russia was responsible for shooting down MH17. The ICAO Council will consider what form of reparation is required in the coming weeks. www.government.nl/latest/news/...

Great thread, very interesting.

"As is often the case with Mr. Trump’s declarations on social media, it was not entirely clear what he was talking about." Evergreen analysis from the New York Times.

E P Thompson on opinion polls: 'A psephologist is a man employed by the mass media to research into what people think the mass media has told them to think' Details 👇 wp.me/p15p2Q-e3E

Brilliant thread. Wise & informed, with perspective.

i actually cannot handle this on any level. this is journalism malpractice.

So important to think of this. Not going to get better till it's fixed.

I wrote about some details that the Trump administration might not want to come to light when it comes to what kind of deal Trump has truck with Bukele asharangappa.substack.com/p/whats-the-...

sumerian scribe, 3000 BCE: yeah most of my day is chiseling the little arrows on the tablets. the arrows can mean grains, clay, poultices, all sortsa stuff (sighing) yeah i guess it's kind of a bullshit job

Original of my "Hosanna, Not Alleluia (2023) as well as the link between the two ideas: dianabutlerbass.substack.com/p/sunday-mus... Original source of the "two procession" idea (2007): www.harpercollins.com/products/the...

A better read than the NYT piece. Original and with credits. dianabutlerbass.substack.com/p/palm-sunda...

This is a concession by the U.S. government that its “arrangement” with El Salvador is irrevocable. To me this has to be grounds to argue that the arrangement itself is unconstitutional under the Fifth and Eighth Amendments

No pause for penguins. Can't see the bond markets liking that.

It's easy to get depressed and despairing about the state of things. Then you stumble across this and life looks good again. Genius.

That's the trouble with libraries today...

stocks briefly rallied on Monday after CNBC ran a Citigroup ad featuring a purple haired lesbian and investors speculated that Woke is being restored

Recent threads have been asking why Trump is so opposed to the EU. People seem perplexed. This helps explain.

Very good and helpful article. Though the author makes the extraordinary claim that Jaffa cakes are, like housing, obviously not imported. So how do they get to the UK from Jaffa, if no one imports them? Makes no sense.

Blaming migrants for successive government failures won’t fix real issues like GP shortages. We need action, not slogans.

Monday is also your last chance to apply for the European fundraiser role, find the details here: www.bellingcat.com/bellingcat-i...

It's fascinating to me that 95% tax rates were completely socially acceptable in the 1960s, but a very anti-tax song like Taxman was also socially acceptable. Today *both* seem unimaginable. Why is that?

Persuasive and informed analysis. And free.

Strangely sane in a mad world.

If you, or someone you know, is thinking about doing a Poetry MA next year, I'm here to tell you that at UEA we have two scholarships available, closing date 1st April (Tuesday!): The Ink Sweat and Tears (www.uea.ac.uk/study/fees-a...) and The Birch Family (www.uea.ac.uk/study/fees-a...) Please RT!

I think the Watergate building could be defective, to be honest with you.

I spent my Tuesday at an event in Warsaw listening to representatives from Polish civil society discussing their experience in fighting back against authoritarianism. Maybe it's time for pro-democracy groups in the US to start engaging with them because that's clearly not happening at the moment.

Bravo to @jeffreygoldberg.bsky.social for his bravery and journalistic integrity.

Read for yourself: Here are the attack plans that Trump advisers shared on Signal. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Greenland has a new hat, and I think they got it right!

To be silent the whole day, see no newspaper, hear no radio, listen to no gossip, be thoroughly and completely lazy, thoroughly and completely indifferent to the fate of the world is the finest medicine a man can give himself. ~Henry Miller