Makerfield byelection: odds shift Labour from 64% to 80-85% prospect Reform 35-40% dip to about 15% - Burnham local presence/record + change pitch landing - Reform candidate controversy (trail heavily with women, competitive among men) - Restore look like taking 1/6 Reform votes (prob not 1/4)

When the aging population theory of everything and the housing shortage theory of everything converge 🇬🇧🤓💪 www.reddit.com/r/london/s/p...

It states that despite a tough job market, graduates are still less likely to be unemployed than non‑graduates and benefit from higher lifetime earnings. Our Good Life? research also shows the benefits go beyond income, with higher education also linked to greater wellbeing and life satisfaction.

How sick is sick enough? New Medicaid work rule worries patient advocates, states

"Words have consequences... if people hear guests on your show say "Islam is a threat to the West' & they hear Randy Fine saying 'Sharia law is taking over America,' you don't think 2 Nazi teenagers are going to say 'I'm gonna go deal with this mosque down my street.'" Me to Patrick-Bet David:

Labour absolutely could lock Farage out of power with electoral reform to the Alternative Vote. It's an enormous failing of the electoral reform movement that they haven't made this obvious to Burnham, Labour, and everyone else. open.substack.com/pub/ewanhoyl...

The Times: 'Critics are likely to seize on Starmer’s earlier refusal to cut the soaring benefits bill to pay for defence spending.' The benefits bill isn't soaring. But presumably if enough people say this, it'll become true? www.thetimes.com/uk/defence/a... open.substack.com/pub/rolandmc...

Trump is currently driving every incumbent government towards a huge economic shock.

Brexit was an act of “sabotage” that has made Britain up to £30bn a year worse off, former foreign secretary David Miliband has claimed. He said the loss of income caused by leaving the EU is equivalent to imposing “a punishing taxevery day” on the UK. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

And your reminder that the preponderance of white male upper middle-class Oxbridge grads from well-off families *in virtually every high profile / highly-paid / highly desirable job in the UK*... means we don't need an extra leg up. PS Ever notice how Fromage never talks about wealth inequality?

The revenue raised from a wealth tax on the super rich is clearly important. But I think for me it's the powerful statement it'd make about basic fairness in society. How it's just not right that the super rich live in some parallel world.

Between 1946 and 1981 5m council houses were built and the nation was housed. Only 250,000 have been built since then. There’s another toxic Thatcher legacy. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

‘His air of ordinary-bloke humility contrasted with his large and, for adherents of the post-Thatcher consensus, unsettling ideas. Unsettling not so much in respect of the future as of the past.’ James Meek on Andy Burnham. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

To paraphrase Mel Brooks' immortal 'Springtime for Hitler': Don't be dumb now, be a schmarty / Join Pete Hegseth's Nazi Party!

“ethnically homogeneous Christian Britain”? Never had that before - and these people dont seem very Christian.

Radio 4's More or Less examined the Tory created, Daily Express propagated, headline: 'Migrants will get half of all new homes'. Chris Philp has been busy promoting this shocking 'fact'. So unsurprisingly, it turns out to be entirely fabricated to stir up hatred and division. pca.st/episode/8819...

Dear Makerfield Reform Voters! 👋 Did you know that a Farage Reform govt intends to scrap the NHS? The private health care system he wants to introduce would cost you £10,000s, like the US, where getting ill can bankrupt you! #ReformUK #Labour #GreenParty #Makerfield #MUFC #MCFC

Dear BBC journalists, you really do not have to 'debate' every far-right talking point that pops up on your X feed. It is not "deeply contentious" to suggest non-white people can't be English. It's racist. The word you're looking for is racist

UK tax has gone up significantly over the last 25 years But the tax paid by the average UK worker has not This apparent miracle was achieved by taxing “other people”: higher earners, capital, property, banks, etc The strategy has run out of road A 🧵 on what happens next.

Members of the American Diabetes Association were forcibly removed from the annual meeting for distributing an editorial critical of Trumpian policy. 😳

Foreign money funding Reform UK. Another 7m from two overseas British crypto billionaires - £4m from Hong Kong-based billionaire, £3m from Thailand. Tax exiles shaping UK politics. Modern equivalent of representation without taxation. What have they been promised? Must ban political donations.

Eric Clapton had dreadful views his whole life. Imagine being so racist that you inspire Rock Against Racism? bsky.app/profile/snig...

This is what we need again. Rock against racism. People of all colours coming together in the recognition that there are lmore thing we have on common than divide us.

Excl with @pickardje.bsky.social @iankmsmith.ft.com and Sam Fleming - Burnham looks to flex borrowing rules to borrow for a huge council housebuilding programme as.ft.com/r/4018fe59-a...

Whilst the government is taking steps to address the risk of foreign funding of UK political parties, the lack of a cap on UK donations means that a handful of very wealthy individuals can continue to assert undue influence over our politics. buff.ly/W2mOoHJ

Reform dreams of a Britain where good, honest, white folks eat steak with their hands like our glorious Anglo-Saxon forebears.

Some useful details in here about what practically could be done. Interested in the idea of the crisis response protocol - but Ofcom are so ponderous and risk averse, and so wedded to the outdated voluntary regulatory approach, that I think something far stronger is needed

This is extraordinary. Read the the account in the link. The editor in chief of the principal journal of the ADA is escorted from their national conference by police for handing out his editorial, in their journal, that criticises Trump biomedical research policy.

Women in Wales key to decisive election victory for Plaid (38-24 over Reform) - with men split evenly Plaid/Reform (34-33 to Reform) with big generation splits too

Think cycling to work takes too much time? For many people, it's actually quicker than driving or public transport. Find out why, plus tips to get started 👇 cyclinguk.org/time-work 💬 If you currently cycle to work, what do you do with the time you save?

5) More children with SEND will get specialist support without needing a diagnosis, as the government rolls out a new £1.8bn Experts at Hand service across England - ensuring more there are more speech & language therapists, occupational therapists,and educational psychologists to work with schools.

Parents force Starmer into embracing social media ban ft.trib.al/TlwJ6fE

Getting to grips with that dreaded phrase, “doing things differently”: what Manchester did and didn’t do, plus a bit of what Tony Wilson did and didn’t say as.ft.com/r/84ed28ae-6...

"You're saying that you drew attention to war crimes... and Keir Starmer chose to ignore it because he thought you were using it for political purposes?" "That is just a statement of fact." Wes Streeting tells Lewis Goodall the PM dismissed evidence of war crimes in Gaza.

Make a sustainable transport pledge! 15-21 June is #BetterTransportWeek. How about pledging to use sustainable transport at least once? If you already use bus/train/bike regularly, please still sign. Let's show how many people care about better transport! bettertransport.org.uk/pledge-to-us...

Goodwin's ethnonationalism is a niche view even for Reform voters! This is not a contentious debate.

My colleagues have a report out today on civil legal aid, an important part of the justice system. Restrictions to eligibility in 2013 brought down spending/caseloads. The # of legal aid providers has continued to fall over time, and more and more areas have no provider at all

‘It’s hard for the outsider to make a tally, or to be sure which of the many agencies involved deserves credit or blame for a house being built or not being built, and indeed what power the mayor of Greater Manchester has to make it happen.’ James Meek on Andy Burnham. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

How many more incredibly winnable by-elections is Nigel Farage going to have to lose before we start talking about the leadership crisis in Reform?

7) Children in care and care leavers to be supported to build lifelong relationships, with £8.4 million delivered to expand Family Finding programmes, helping them to reconnect with relatives, trusted adults, former carers, teachers and other important people in their lives.

Reform UK councillor in Trafford to appear in court accused of weapon charge Davyhulme councillor Billy Burke, 67, from Urmston, is due in court in August Pictured with #Makerfield Candidate Rob Kenyon. www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater...

‘The far right has typically given Southampton a wide berth, focusing its organising and recruitment on Portsmouth: as a naval base, it’s more fertile ground for nationalist sentiment.’ Tom Williams on the protests and riots after the death of Henry Nowak. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/ju...

Falling vaccination rates for measles is human stupidity at its finest. Source: buff.ly/tNv5kIJ

Alan Milburn confirmed the state is failing to provide proper, timely, mental health support to young people. Government is rightly providing a jobs guarantee after 18 months out of work. We also need a mental health support guarantee that would support employment & economy 👇

Change doesn't happen by chance, it comes with with Labour🌹

So the police force accused by Nigel Farage of "anti-white racism" is over five times more likely to target black people for stop and searches than white people The figure is higher than the average for England and has got worse over recent years www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...