The seven year old has spoken

Reading Andrew Ross Sorkin's fascinating book 1929 and it's striking that even a hundred years ago, politicians understood the power of an optimistic speech. Shame for Starmer it was published too late

Proof will be in the pudding etc, but it would be a huge missed opportunity if this is all the government does to strengthen the donor declaration requirements (commencement of section 54a of PPERA) which are currently full of loopholes to be exploited…

“a one-year ban is tinkering around the edges” we call for an annual cap on donations, instead of “overly complicated solutions focused on one man”. @stevejgoodrich.bsky.social Backbenchers are planning to table an amendment calling for a universal cap of £100,000 reports @catneilan.bsky.social

Exc: Crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne will be blocked from making further donations to Reform for a year after relocating to the UK, the Observer understands This is just one of several measures in the beefed IP Representation of the People Bill observer.co.uk/news/politic...

You may have seen that Keir Starmer apologised for the forced adoption scandal of the 50s/60s/70s this week. I made an (award winning!) documentary about my own forced adoption and now, with perfect timing, it’s back on Radio 4. Have a listen. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

The walls are closing in around the Reform leader and some of Nigel Farage's allies now believe he could soon be heading for the door www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/the-scanda...

I was delighted to be invited to speak to @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social about our recent podcast Who Funds Reform We chatted about Nigel Farage's £5m, his brittleness in interviews and whether he might use a possible Clacton byelection as an off-ramp open.spotify.com/episode/6EZa...

Strongly support this move from my excellent colleague. The reality is that Twitter / X does push misinformation, abuse and racism, and we all know it. While we both support colleagues to make their own choices, Twitter / X is not the country, and there are lots of ways to engage with voters.

I think that accolade belongs to the Attorney General. bsky.app/profile/catn... bsky.app/profile/rich...

UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is quitting X -- significantly her department is too, she says.

As Keir Starmer * finally * offers a formal apology to the victims of forced adoption I am thinking of all the people I spoke to for this piece, one of the most affecting stories I think I've done

The investigation into Nigel Farage's undeclared £5m is expected to conclude imminently, and rivals are preparing to "throw the kitchen sink" at it. But will he even run? And do the people of Clacton care? I visited on the hottest day of the year to find out observer.co.uk/news/politic...

NEW: Downing Street confirms that Keir Starmer will *not* stand down as an MP after leaving No 10, and will serve out the remainder of his term in the Commons.

Andy Burnham's first 100 days will be a blitz of policies and visits as part of a visibility "vibe shift" Starmer promised that politics would "tread lightly" on people's shoulders. In practice that meant voters saw little of the govt's successes observer.co.uk/news/the-sen...

Fair points made by @davidallengreen.bsky.social - all of which can be summed up as "they weren't good enough", or as he says, it's a question of input emptycity.substack.com/p/getting-ri...

💥Burnham backs public on donation caps Our polling found ⤵️ 🔹 83% of Brits believe wealthy donors use political donations to buy influence 🔹 Nearly half say they would view more favourably a party that introduced a cap & just 7% would view one less favourably. It's time to end mega donations.

Also he did this www.ft.com/content/2661... and then it was briefed to the right paper, this is not his first rodeo

Not everyone is welcoming Burnham with open arms: Speaking to the @theobserveruk.bsky.social one minister said: "This is an interim administration if Burnham comes into power. They’ve already made fatal mistakes.” observer.co.uk/news/politic...

Wes Streeting has said he won't stand Andy Burnham has said he will

If Andy Burnham becomes our next PM, he will be the first to do so as a "Labour and Co op" MP Co op policies include greater devolution, people power and an economy with greater local agency It's no coincidence that Miatta Fahnbulleh is among those advising him observer.co.uk/news/the-sen...

Starmer resigns, saying he accepts the view of the Labour party "with good grace" New leader in place before Parliament returns in September Starmer remains caretaker until then, vowing his successor "my full and unequivocal support"

Steve Bray just not reading the room, as ever

Statement expected at 9:30

New: Allies of Andy Burnham are preparing to welcome him with a ‘mini-rally’ in Westminster this afternoon Starmer expected to resign before that, after Peter Kyle acknowledged the PM was considering the "political realities" this weekend observer.co.uk/news/the-sen...

Social media should be about exchanging ideas and bringing people together, not racism, misogyny and dividing communities. I'm proud to be part of a government that is taking such radical action in creating a safer, healthier life online for our children and future generations. (1/2)

New: Reform insiders will tell Nigel Farage to reassert his red lines on extremism, stop "panicking" about Restore and urge him to sack Zia Yusuf Sources told @theobserveruk.bsky.social Farage should be more worried anti-Reform tactical voting than the right observer.co.uk/news/politic...

Amazing - Sarah Pochin pivots the conversation *back* to Nigel Farage's undeclared £5m 'gift', rather than have to respond to her own comments about seeing black/brown people on TV

In accordance with ancient tradition, our next Prime Minister is announced to the nation while standing between a furry and a man with a bin on his head.

Awful night for Reform. Smashed in Makerfield and Tories took Aberdeen South. Two party politics reasserting itself and they might not even be one of them. Time for the press to stop accepting inevitability of PM Farage. After Makerfield that will be tough.

Much of the Parliamentary Labour Party will now back any candidate who they believe can defeat Reform. In Andy Burnham, they have a man who has just done exactly that. spectator.com/article/burn...

Reform won their sixth highest share of the vote in Makerfield in the 2024 general election. If Nigel Farage really were heading for Downing Street then his party would be winning a seat like this with ease. Instead he loses his third winnable by-election in a row

Who would Andy Burnham appoint as his chancellor if he becomes PM? My latest newsletter column for @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/politic...

Exc: First Government department quits Twitter over racism and violence concerns Richard Hermer sent a directive to staff last week saying the Attorney General's Office would be coming off the platform observer.co.uk/news/politic...

EXC: Andy Burnham will not challenge Keir Starmer in first 72 hours if he wins the Makerfield by-election. The Greater Manchester Mayor instead wants to meet with the PM to discuss a timetable for his departure www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

Former police officer ran county lines drug ring ‘worth hundreds of thousands of pounds’ Gary Parkinson, who served with Greater Manchester police for 15 years, was jailed for conspiracy to supply class A narcotics to small towns in Devon. John Simpson reports https://bit.ly/4vcCouw

Al Carns has questioned the "logic" of Dan Jarvis’s appointment as defence secretary @theobserveruk.bsky.social understands that Carns had been hoping for the role himself Instead, NSA Jonathan Powell called him to offer security minister observer.co.uk/news/politic...

Nigel Farage’s hyperactive press engagement - which involved a weekly press conference - suddenly stalled after revelations about his mysterious secret £5mn gift from a reclusive Thailand-based crypto billionaire www.ft.com/content/2678...

Defence minister Al Carns has also quit

John Healey is an utterly decent man. Under his leadership of the MOD I saw real mettle on the issue of VAWG in armed forces and also his handling of the murder of Agnes Wanjiru was so far away from what their family had become accustomed to. A great man. www.gov.uk/government/n...

The family of the Belfast stabbing victim have released a statement saying - like the family of Henry Nowak last week - that the attack should not be used to "divide people or fuel hostility" They condemned disorder and praised the "valuable contribution" by migrants inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Douglas Alexander has apologised for late declaration of a meeting with Global Counsel - as revealed by @transparencyuk.bsky.social and the PM has accepted his apology... assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a2939...

Ahh there it is

It was a disgrace that the Judicial Appointments Commission engaged in a direct attack on press freedom by seeking £14,000 costs from a journalist. The journalist had to take contempt of court proceedings against it for refusing to comply with an FOI. www.easterneye.biz/jac-loses-fi...

As the government announces plans to force tech companies to stop children sharing nude images this is one mother’s story of discovering her daughter was being groomed by a paedophile in the US, as part of a “pandemic” of online exploitation of kids observer.co.uk/listen/the-s...

Some people shrug off the use of illegal (ghost or cloned) licence plates as low level crime, evading speeding tickets and congestion charges etc But increasingly police are aware of their role in organised crime, and even murder - like that of 21-year-old Kyron Lee observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

"Reform is now the richest political party in the UK. Donations raised in the first quarter of 2026 topped £9m, more than the combined total raised by the Conservatives and Labour. But without its crypto-backed contributions Reform would be lagging far behind." @catneilan.bsky.social

A Restore Britain spokesperson went viral claiming a London school left a pupil in tears after her ham sandwich was confiscated due to the school's ban on park. She challenged doubters to phone the school. So @kdenkwrites.com did. This is what she found: www.londoncentric.media/i/193542671/...

Just listened to this podcast - the first of four investigating the funding of Farage's various political parties over time. Arron Banks features in this one. Recommend.

The latest episode of Soho Bites came out late this month because I was working on this series about Reform UK - a coproduction between @theobserveruk.bsky.social & @therestpolitics.bsky.social, reported by @catneilan.bsky.social & produced by @poppybullard.bsky.social. Well worth a listen.