Out of the gates today, its Wes saying sensible, serious things, and Burnham, mush. I've no strong opinion on either of them yet.

An eye-catching comment from Streeting was that "a dishonest leadership contest" after 2019 was one of the underlying reasons for Labour being unprepared for government. [Leadership contest pledges were ditched post-contest - eg, would defend & bring back free movement, to red line no free movement]

I'd like to read (a) about how the entries to these lists have changed over the decades; and (b) I always have in mind a 'good but evil' list of books, to balance the inevitably correct political character of such lists.

🔴 Keir Starmer promised to crackdown on "Slapps" - abusive libel cases to silence journalists and critics Then Labour quietly dropped it We can reveal why: a three-year lobbying blitz by libel lawyers who've acted for Russian oligarchs, Epstein + more democracyforsale.substack.com/p/how-lawyer...

Thinking of the timing of this by-election, in conjunction with the summer recess (22 July), and the distinction between "an elected MP" and an "MP", for, um reasons. A slight delay, and Burnham cannot become an MP until the house rises in September? is an elected but not yet an actual MP eligible?

No doubt to be proven wrong in minutes, but I think Starmer will fight to the end: a man who delivered Monday's speech thinking it was a game-changer is not a man who understands whats happening to him, and thus will dig in. We can see he's doomed, and will take the party with him, but he can't.

Insightful into the glasses tech.

If true, the idea that Starmer can learn anything is gone for good I think

Conservatives hate universities because they are broke outside the club, liberals think it’s gauche to brag, and foreigners self soothe by making “100 top universities for elite reproduction” lists that ignore the fact that, like, ETH Zurich and Oxford have a lower R&D budget than UW-Madison

I'm afraid this is what a summer of sex looks like when Labour runs it

Wes is very pure Labour; that should be doubted - though many in Labour do. He may regret the sentences on Nationalism being exclusively an evil; the counter is too obvious; and PC is not the same as Reform. Overall a thoughtful letter; I do not doubt he is torn and emotional.

One good thing about recent govt's has been they have not been technophobic. www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...

There's simply no excuse for how vapid this piece is. Starmer is so weak internally at the moment that absolutely nothing is stopping a leadership contender writing a deep, policy-rich piece about what they'd do differently - the only constraint is their own ability to do so.

This is anti-free trade and anti-science madness...a diamond is a diamond; there's no 'natural' in it. We can end diamond kining, which, like all mining, come with destructive side effects. www.ft.com/content/e238...

a lot of the pundit class is constantly saying "what is the one liberal tenant that democrats must vigorously denounce in order to win the next election???" and the answer at the moment is "mercy"

Yes, this is spot on. LDs need to build on the niche party campaigns to break out of that. Need a policy programme for a serious govt. The PMs incompetent, the Tory leader insane; if not now, when?

Ooo Giro d'Italia going through Pignola

The best case left for Starmer is that the alternatives amongst the Labour Party are so entirely uninspiring. It speaks volumes that amongst 400-odd MPs elected in 2024 there are so few who can credibly put themselves forward now.

Most violent hail storm I've seen in a very long time just now in West London

I'm sorry, what?

At the rate we're going, we'll need to dig out the Privy Counsel rules for advising the King against the PM. Her late Majesty never had to deal with anything remotely comparable in her long reign.

Ok, a candidate for the worst written resignation letter...

A pointed, specific example that confirms our worst thoughts of the PMs ability to be PM. Devastating.

It's a neck and neck race between number of ministerial aides resigning and number of newly elected Reform councillors departing.

We can't figure out what might happen cause the dumbness is beyond our imagination:

In so far as it has any policy content, it is internally contradictory. He wants Britain "in the heart of Europe" but not actually in the EU or single market. He values diversity & fairness, but supports extreme anti-immigration policies which trap ppl in an administrative half life.

Stories do beat spreadsheets. But the trick is not to say that. When did you last read in a novel “I shall now employ a narrative device to move the plot on”.

I guess the idea is to lower expectations so that anything better than "totally on a different planet" will count as a success?

The real takeaway from this is just what a disaster statutory obligations are for democracy. An attempt to hide where the costs go that has screwed over all the most visible bits of government and has empowered popularism by forcing councils to make choices no one in their right mind would vote for.

All of the serious people have logged on to say this is stupid because it’s going nowhere but so what? If I was her I’d also rather be remembered as the person who did something rather than one of the hundreds who sleepwalked into losing their seat because it was easier than rocking the sinking boat

This is a spectacular song and video

pure, uncut, liquid Sir Keir to write an article about "breaking with the status quo once and for all" on Friday, then announcing new roles for Harriet Harman and Gordon Brown on Saturday

The writing quality level in this piece- Compare it to other PMs writing, even polly filler for the papers issued under their names while PM. Shockingly poor. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Is it too archaic to have a PM in the Lords? Are we sure?

How can any Labour MP look at this result and think Starmer can carry on. That is absolutely incredible.

labour mps are basically just saying that they dont think saving their party or *the country from fascism* is worth the bother of going through a bit of social embarassment to coup starmer, and they are not even gonna try to do better than this shambles

Yes, this is the accurate summary. And yet... Both main parties trying to frame the results as less bad than predicted?!! Message not being received.

Seems like general agreement: Lab losing only somewhat over 1000, and Tories only about 7-800 is a triumph for those parties...no need to consider a change in leader.

One of the downsides of PR will now be experienced in Wales: a (Labour) party soundly trounced, and in need of a spell in opposition, looks likely to have to stay in government. Bad for it and the country.

Still 45 councils to report results. Not hurrying this are they?

Tory and Reform really going at each other on the beeb right now

Over the past few weeks, I’ve met some incredible people and heard what matters most to them and their communities. I’m so grateful to every Lib Dem candidate and volunteer who has worked so hard to be a voice for their community. Let’s keep it going. Polls are open until 10pm.

Voted. Brisk number of voters. Americans note, and Brits be thankful of our systems virtues: my time waiting in line was less than 1 minute.

Astonishing. Imagine a Iran-Saudi Non-aggression pact, leaving UAE in the cold.

Last July, the pope called his bank in South Chicago. He wanted to update the phone number on his account. The teller told him that any changes had to be made in person with an ID. Knowing that was impossible, he asked: “Would it matter to you if I told you I’m Pope Leo?” She hung up on him.

I'm not expecting Obama to save us. It's just incredibly jarring to see him try to maintain pop culture relevance rather than spending his post-presidency on building houses for the poor, profiting off of lobbying connections, and/or quickly dying.

Wow. Real action! I wonder who will be first in the UK?

Bluesky Date: Do you like it? Me: Yeah, I love Chinese food. It’s great. Bluesky Date: So you hate Japanese food? Me: Wha? Bluesky Date: And Japanese people obviously Mel: That’s not what…. Bluesky Date: Pol Pot did nothing wrong

Astonishing story. If true, it's...well. What is the PMs character really?

It's disgusting and shameful people have to live like this in the UK in 2026 and banning protesting is so far away from how to begin to solve it www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...