Nobody has been allowed to cross the road or walk down the street in Whitehall for 20 minutes waiting for the PM to go back to Downing Street. If anyone can give him a nudge into the car we’d all like to get on with our day.

The interview with Tori Amos on #6music this morning, talking about football (Arsenal and Spurs) and finding out that she has covered not one but two Chas n Dave songs was a delight. #radmac

More of this at gigs. To be brutally enforced.

QTWTAIN

The Brit awards were a massive triumph for my old colleagues at BPI. Staging, sound, everything looked and sounded great. Great to see how much it meant to Olivia Dean too - it's still a thing. #BRITawards

That's a great win for England. #thecricket great match.

Though, of course, this letter sounds divisive and sectarian. The people round Starmer are too tribal labour at times. Being in government means rising above this and offering a route that isn’t a dead end of magic policy .

I’m hearing that the SDP has won the Crosby by-election and now looks clearly on course for major victories at the next General Election.

By-elections have always been low blow campaigns. From all sides.

We are intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich as long as they don't do so through misconduct in public office.

It's been a difficult weekend of sport. Rugby, curling and now the cricket. Still, at least we've got the weather eh?

Boooooooo

I think my boy just woke everyone up screaming. Amazing tension #thecurling.

It’s raining

That drop goal was not on - he had no space. #ScovEng

It’s raining

It’s Mandelson’s constant denials that are very revealing. Almost child like. Either he creates an alternative story in his head or he thinks there’s no path to his story unravelling. Or, of course as Dan says, Epstein was a prolific forger.

The only person I can think of of any note from my secondary school was Chris Hemming who played left back for Stoke, then Portsmouth. First professional to play with a pacemaker. I don’t think there’s anyone of any other note.

Ok, I'm ex Treasury and a bit defensive and all that but I get tired of this magic answer to growth rubbish. The UK is a tiny island and has the 6th largest economy in the world. Despite what politics does to hamper it, you have to think HMT hasn't done that bad a job over the past century.

The Lib Dems announce plan to replace Treasury with new Hotel in Torquay. Makes as much sense.

Starmer might be bought down by the ‘Schlieffen plan’ problem that some of the main pretenders have to go for it now before Angela and HMRC/Burnham and a by-election or a new pretender emerges.

Tim didn't need to do this job and all that goes with it. It was a proper bit of public service. If he's had enough, that's absolutely fine too.

Such a stupid decision.

I've always thought No10 only works as a collection of individuals with authority to do their thing. There are so few of them and they are trying to cover everything you can't run it as a pyramid.

Well that was a bit too close for comfort #thecricket #engvnep

I spent some time immersed in the Epstein files. Seeing brazen bad things in writing is pretty astonishing. Even then there are chains which at some point go ‘let’s talk’ and however bad what you read is, as the great @nickmacpherson.bsky.social says, my guess is those conversations were much worse.

Aw. Wales have scored. That’s nice for them.

It's raining

Every Winter Olympian‘s bio during this opening ceremony is “The child of diplomats, he learned short track skating during his parents UN posting in Geneva. He switched to luge after excelling on the internal JP Morgan track during his internship.” #openingceremomy #winterolympics

It’s raining

For all the complicated internal dialogue about how soft left or softish left or softish right or where are they on this or that that tortures MPs for some inexplicable reason, the point Philip makes is the point.

This would explain why Vadera's email is in all-caps. Brown had terrible eyesight - advisers knew to write memos to him in giant font in bold capital letters

It would be a fitting tribute if a law stripping Peerages became forever known as the Mandelson Law.

Alistair Darling and the official Treasury were always aware that investment banks had an inside track to Number 10. But the brazen nature of that inside track is rather breath-taking.

He should know that the letter of resignation has to be to the Secretary of his CLP not the General Secretary. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Gemma Bolton is in my constituency, supposedly. I haven’t seen her at a meeting for years. She hasn’t campaigned in the seat or for local elections since getting onto the NEC. I fail to see what grassroots activists she stands for.

I struggle to think of a campaign that has ever had a worse ratio of taken seriously by MPs to merit of the case.

The term "big beast" is now far too casually applied in politics to both medium-sized and even smaller beasts. Stop the beast Inflation, or at least introduce a Beast* category.

Defections obviously bring out the worst in political parties, as they are essentially tribal. But it's also an opportunity for the public expression of the deep enmities that exist in political parties that is otherwise held a little in check.

Not my disco, but the floor is open wide for them to take back Gaulke and Clarke, get a pro business pro stability message and grow up. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

There are some very sensible machine reasons why the NEC blocked Burnham. His promises to Manchester and the cost and risk of a by-election in particular. This is the decision they would take usually. But most people outside the inner workings of the Labour Party won't see those as the reasons.

Rachel played that absolutely brilliantly though. Stephen owed her that £50k

Amazing telly again. So many mistakes. Not voting with the way others vote at the end and counting the votes.

If Stephen doesn’t vote Rachel he’s a fool #thetraitors

Jade should so obviously have voted for Rachel to try and save herself. #thetraitors

Faraaz has got the numbers wrong. He clearly wasn’t in Labour Srudents. #thetraitors

I think they've edited the episode to make it look like Rachel was a goner but they have talked themselves out of it during the day. #thetraitors

Have to admire Rachel's chops #thetraitors

In case you hadn't guessed without watching, Crawley was out, caught behind, driving at a wide one. #thecricket