The accepted wisdom seems to be that it was McSweeney who got Mandelson in. I wonder if it was, ultimately, Blair. Who, perhaps not unrelatedly, seems these days to spend much of his time shilling for US tech firms.

I'm guessing that the "Jes" in this message is that other moral paragon, Jes Staley, though I can't be sure. A Labour government minister, channelling the demands of his finance-bro chums. This, my friends, is how it happens. This is why we don't get what we want, or what we vote for.

Here's the context: When Mandelson was Business Minister, Epstein wrote asking him to make only the cash portion (ie not equity etc) of bankers’ bonuses taxable. Mandelson's answer: “Trying hard to amend as I explained to Jes last night. Treasury digging in but I am on case.”

It's rare to see how lobbyists operate. But the Epstein-Mandelson correspondence shows us what happens all the time: plutocrats and government ministers conspiring against the public interest. This is why all lobbying should be in the public domain, but despite Labour and Con promises, it's not. 🧵

Look at his hands!

Liz Truss waiting patiently by her phone for Reform to ring, not realising it's actually a penguin biscuit

Amazing news that Suella Braverman has defected to Reform UK a mere 194 days since her husband, Rael Braverman, left Reform UK for comments they made criticising his wife.

Eh?

457 British troops. You evil, senile bastard.

Once upon a time there lived a funny little man called Trumpy Wumpy. He had straw hair, orange skin & smelled horrible. But he could do magic! He grew back his ear once & he had a strange power called Redaction which made things he didn’t like disappear. He was jolly nasty…

Who wants to see Robert Jenrick in the style of the JD Vance meme?

Jill in the village shop says she’s thinking of defecating to Reform. She has started baking Clacton Baps, told us London has fallen & keeps asking for the migration status of every customer. She says Dubai is where she longs to be as she is a committed Christian. WHAT DO I DO?😱

As Hillsborough is trending, it's important to remind people that Reform UK's Deputy Chair is Paul Nuttall. Paul Nuttall once lied about having lost close friends in the tragedy. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-poli...

I think there's merit to holding by-elections when an elected MP changes parties. It's a party's platform they campaigned on. The whip system ensures they vote accordingly. When they join another party, that's another platform, another set of policies. Voters should get a new say.

By-election now, Robert Jenrick! #byelectionnow

…but it won’t pass unless we push it 📣 Email your MP before Wed. Please. It takes seconds to email them and could make the world of difference… Just hit the link below: www.compassioninpolitics.com/write_mp_acc...

Yesterday I posted my last ever Tweet and called on the Government to do the same. Read more below on why I think it’s time to leave the cesspit formerly known as Twitter. www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...

I call on my party and my government to remove themselves entirely from X and communicate with the public where they actually participate online and can be protected from such illegality.

IMPORTANT NOTICE 📣 If you are an Equity member who was recently engaged as a performer or stage management on Squid Game: The Experience by Luna Cinema/Luna Entertainment, please contact Equity with a copy of your contract at [email protected]

Mr & Mrs Adolf Tice announce the engagement of their son Dick to Isabel, daughter of Mr & Mrs Ayatollah Oakeshitt. The Nuptials & Nazi salutes will take place at The Church of St Thomas the Drug Dealer in Dubai. The couple will spend their honeymoon in Clacton slagging off London.

After campaigning during the local elections criticising councils for raising Council Tax, Reform UK in Durham are planning to raise it by 5%. Liars and hypocrites.

Get ready for Phase Two: a raid on Oslo to seize the Peace Prize.

It is a little known fact that they prerecord the Jools Holland Hootenanny - all the people on screen are faking it being New Year for tv. For eg, last year’s was prerecorded June 15th, 1535, during the Siege of Munster, look carefully and you can see John of Leiden mingling with the audience.

Open up this picture fully. Then look at the surface of Mars. Then look up to the top right. Spot Mars' moon Phobos high in the sky. Then notice the bright spot beside Phobos. That's Earth.

Please watch & share this footage of 2 lovely guys (faces clearly captured on CCTV) who just stole my bag from under my chair, bending it like Beckham in what is evidently their signature robbing move. Maybe it will be shared widely enough they don’t get to do it to anyone else. Stay safe out there.

Reform UK Review 2025 Darren Grimes deletes every Tweet he’s ever done relating to tax pre-August 2025. You can still see replies, but his posts are missing.

Merry Christmas to all our readers. Everyone else can fu(the rest of this post has been deleted on the grounds of taste)ck off. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q68x...

Duly signed and herewith shared.

Vaccines don't cause autism Pass it on

Richard Tice, March 2025: "I have never met Nathan Gill, and he has never had anything to do with Reform,"

Spread it far and wide. Sarah Pochin, Reform UK

Oh this is joyous 🥰

If you ever want to find out how thick grown adult humans can be, become a transport manager. We trust these fuckers with vans and your parcels. You can't believe the shit I go through every day. Primary school kids have more sense.

Daughter of Robin Williams, Zelda Williams 💔

Newcastle says no to fascism. The far right brought a hundred or so with them, bussed from far and wide. This city turned out 1000s, from local communities, estates and streets. Geordies of all backgrounds coming together and outnumbering the purveyors of hate by some distance. Newcastle united.

This tweet has been doing the rounds on Twitter now that Nathan Gill has pleaded guilty. If only someone had tried to investigate UKIP & Russian interference 🧐 There’s another timeline where the Guardian supported me, doubled down on the investigation & I look 5 years younger ..

To ‘ultra-crepidate’ (19th century) is to lecture others on subjects you know very little about.

Can't believe they commissioned this!

I've written to my MP about yesterday, Yaxley-Lennon, Musk and the threats we are facing, calling for him to work cross-party and condemn both the thuggery, and work to stop foreign billionaires calling for violence and threatening us in the UK. I also said they should get off X.

"My school saves thousands of pounds every year from those solar panels." The TUC directly takes on Reform, a party funded by the fossil fuel Industry. Posted on IG by tradesunioncongress

Why not, let’s get this petition going more. Urge Nigel Farage to Release His Tax Returns www.change.org/p/urge-nigel... #FarageTaxes #SlipperyNigel

Mosley, Powell - and now Farage - ride on the crest of an inflammatory wave but eventually finish up in the dustbin of British history, in retrospect remembered as sad and despised politicians who tried to build political careers on the back of hate.

Durham Reform UK leader Andrew Husband has seen three of his companies collapse since May, leaving debts of about £1.7mn

It's not asylum seekers who jack up rents, undermine the NHS, hold down wages and keep people insecure. It's capital. The role of the far right is to shift the blame for decades of economic attacks by the rich and powerful onto powerless people who have only just arrived here.

If Zelensky has to turn up in a suit, Donald has to turn up with no make up.