Almost £10 billion of the £15 billion that Boris Johnson's Government spent on PPE during the pandemic was wasted, the Covid Inquiry has concluded. The Inquiry found money was wasted on a "vast" scale, with companies with "connections to government" given first preference for contracts

‘…we need to achieve a minimum of 40% street tree canopy cover, and preferably more, before we start to really feel the benefits of nature’s most advanced air-conditioning technology.’ Me, for Big Issue, on tackling urban #heatwaves…👇 www.bigissue.com/opinion/heat...

Yes, I pay myself rent in order to avoid tax, but it is coincidentally £1 less than the level at which I would have to declare it under Parliament's transparency rules.

Just remember, it could happen to anyone. You’re only one lucky birth away from becoming a successful aristocrat! 😉

One of the things that gives me confidence in Burnham is Miatta Fahnbullah, who is currently sorting the policy agenda. Hyper-intelligent, sensible and radical. Formerly of the Cabinet Office, IPPR and the New Economics Foundation. Big brain with big ideas.

This point needs to be made over and again: The main purpose of wealth taxes should not be to raise revenue. That's a small and secondary benefit. The main purpose should be to *reduce the fortunes of the ultrarich*. Why? Because those fortunes present a massive threat to democracy and public life.

A tide of huge donations has flooded into politics, as billionaires try to game the system in their favour. But Stella Creasy is proposing a groundbreaking £100,000 cap on political donations that could level the political playing field Tell your MP to back the cap 👇 https://goodlaw.social/c244d0

I mean credit where credit is due: "If he wants to spend the summer arguing with a bin, I won't stop him" is top tier posting

What does a wealth tax actually look like? We sent Brighty Buoy and his tiny balls to Wimbledon to chat to fans 🎾

Game on, Nige.

Glorious

Facts you won't find in a Reform UK election leaflet ... meme via Robert Thomson

Supposedly the most intelligent of all species...humans.

In ten days time with your help we can cap how much money anyone can personally give to a political cause and any chance millionaires can buy our politics. If you agree share this and ask your MP to co sign the amendment. It’s time we made sure it’s democracy not donations that define our future.

Absolutely extraordinary story from the Sunday Times that is going to be very hard for Farage to deflect. "Nigel Farage secretly funded by convicted criminal" www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

"Coun Michelle Fascione, who was elected to represent the Simonside and Rekendyke Ward, shared a video before becoming councillor which claimed Islam was trying to 'dominate' the UK" via Sunderland Live ps Muslims make up ~6% of UK's population, so if Fascione is right, they've a long way to go ...

Blatant lobbying, not for the sake of our country, but for the fossil fuel industry, in which almost all the ultrarich - including, in all likelihood, the proprietors of these newspapers - are heavily invested. These people are not and never will be your friends. www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uk-...

If companies can't run data centres without polluting our air and water, pushing up energy bills, abusing workers' rights, harming local communities or wrecking the climate – then they shouldn't be allowed to run them A safe climate and healthy environment are necessities – tech bro profits aren't

"UK newspapers have already published 63 editorials this year calling for more oil and gas extraction in the North Sea... "Experts say trying to extract the last barrels of domestic oil and gas would have no impact on people’s energy bills and very little effect on energy security"

What dystopian hell is this?

If someone offered you 3 times your salary to promote their product and you didn’t even need to give up your current job…..which work do you think you’d prioritise? Nigel Farage earns £93k as an MP and £270k promoting good bullion. (Oh and £18k a month from GB news vs £7.75 a month MP salary)

"The government will repeal the Vagrancy Act on Monday 29 June 2026, ending nearly two centuries of legislation that has criminalised rough sleeping and begging" www.gov.uk/government/n...

Meanwhile, in France... 🥖 Solar canopies have been required on parking lots since 2023. Lots of at least 10,000 square metres must be fitted with a solar system by 1 July 2026. For lots between 1,500 and 10,000 square metres, the deadline is 1 July 2028. Vive le solaire! ☀️ bsky.app/profile/byli...

So it turns out the massive scandal here is that Bridget Phillipson's mum bought a council house for £9k in 1990 and then sold it *33 years* later for £99k. That's the entire story

Why??

I think we just passed oops.

Today programme suffers ‘body blow’ as BBC prioritises social and digital content

And there it is… www.desmog.com/2026/04/30/r...

Trump thought suing the BBC would intimidate them. Instead, they turned his own lawsuit into a legal headache that could force him to defend his actions surrounding January 6 under oath. That is the kind of self inflicted karma no political strategist could have scripted.

So unwritten that of the five prime ministers to inherit a majority in “mid-term”, only one of them called an election before its due date. Why are some political journalists so uninterested in history?

Extraordinary credit to Sadiq Khan for pushing through this deeply controversial policy. This is what can happen when politicians are prepared to stick to their principles.

One of the lessons of the last two years is that Labour urgently needs to stop being afraid of its own shadow. Burnham should appoint whoever he thinks would be the best Chancellor and throw his authority behind them. The Daily Mail will try to kill them anyway. So just govern.

“We’ve only had 114 years to do something, let our kids sort it out!”

Wealth inequality is damaging economy, society, democracy, environment. Increasing proportion of wealth is extracted, rather than created. Gains accrue not from adding value but from capturing it, by collecting economic rent on assets that others need. Ultra-rich hijack govts.

Your Prime Day reminder that half of Amazon warehouse workers struggle with food & housing costs. A third have had to rely on government assistance like SNAP — which was gutted last year. If Bezos can spend $500M on a yacht, Amazon can afford to treat its workers with dignity.

It tells you everything you need to know about Kemi Badneoch and Nigel Farage that as London schools, hospitals and transport networks all buckle under extreme record-breaking temperatures, they gather with fossil fuel lobbyists, climate deniers and the far-right to demand an end to Net Zero

"The punishment for the protesters exceeds the lengthiest prison sentences given out for the attack on the Capitol on January 6. Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys who was convicted of seditious conspiracy, was sentenced to 22 years in prison."

Quiz time! Who - in our democracy - was the last PM to enter No. 10 as the result of winning a general election, and leave No. 10 as the result of losing one? Answer: ❌ Starmer ❌ Sunak ❌ Truss ❌ Johnson ❌ May ❌ Cameron ❌ Brown ❌ Blair ❌ Major ❌ Thatcher ❌ Callaghan ❌ Wilson ✅ Heath (1970 - 74)

Wednesday marks 10 years to the day since Cameron resigned to let Brexit usher in a new era of stable self governance. Since then we've burned through: 5 more prime ministers 8 chancellors 8 home secretaries 9 foreign secretaries 10 education secretaries 10 defence secretaries Masterful work.

This sets a horrific precedent . Suppose, say, I chose to criticize Nigel Farage, whilst the US govt decided to support Reform in the next UK elections, under this policy, could I be deported, or stripped of my citizenship, for allegedly thwarting US foreign policy? www.nytimes.com/2026/06/19/u...

Funny you should ask that. Here's one I made earlier... bsky.app/profile/paul...

I so miss the days when the BBC reported what has actually happened instead of the endless breathless speculation it now favours!

You don't have to be a statistician to note that a direct fatality rate of 20% amongst journalists in Gaza (compared with around 3% for civilian population) suggests the former were targeted. Oh, and the fact that many, possibly most, died not in combat zones and by targeted drone attacks.

And not a squeak from Farage, Lowe, Robinson or Tice. Nothing. Literally nothing.

The 500 richest people on the globe added $336 billion to their fortunes on Monday, bringing their collective net worth to a record $13.3 trillion. Read that back. Our problem isn’t an issue of resources. Our problem is ever-expanding wealth inequality.

And don't forget: we don't have to help Bezos get richer. A lot of products on the Amazon site can be purchased directly from the vendor on their own website.

Hermer is a good egg. He's been a credit to this administration.

And here it is. For all the whining about condescension & belittling the poorly educated, nobody - and I mean nobody - holds Nigel Farage’s base in more profound contempt than Nigel Farage.

The brazen lies of Reform ex-Tories. Suella Braverman was Home Secretary & Robert Jenrick immigration minister when the Belfast attacker was granted refugee status to stay in the UK. Now they pretend past Tory actions were nothing to do with them as ex-Tories.

If you were to count out a million seconds, it would take you 11 and a half days. A billion seconds would take you 31.7 years. But a trillion seconds would take 31,700 years — to reach that point today, you would have needed to start counting around the time that neanderthals went extinct.