You will find Francis Spufford's latest tucked away in the Fantasy/SciFi section of Wateratones. Worth searching out even if you are a stranger to this section...

“We do have to confront the issues that Reform use to divide us. Scotland’s best days lie ahead of us”

Scottish Labour leader @anassarwar.bsky.social addressed Congress on the dangers that the far right poses to unity and collectivism - values that are core to the trade union movement

Photo of Lord Provost Bill Campbell providing a civic welcome to Congress. In the centre is a stage with a red backdrop with screens and S.T.U.C. pennant flags above. Stage left is a B.S.L. interpreter, stage centre are the chairs sat at a table marked "S.T.U.C. 129th Annual Congress and stage right is the Lord Provost speaking from a lectern. In the foreground are rows of delegates. In the background are the walls and ornate artwork of a historic building.

We're in Dundee for @scottishtuc.bsky.social's Annual Congress!

Our motions focus on music as a human right, international solidarity, and how Fair Work applies to creative freelancers

#STUC26

Rule change will help drivers without driveways charge EVs Motorists will be able to have a “gully” to run an electric cable as a permitted development, which can cost £1,000 under current rules

Lots of good green announcements from Miliband's department at the moment.

"Motorists will be able to have a “gully” to run an electric cable [for EVs] as a permitted development, which can cost £1,000 under current rules."
www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

Boris, who failed security vetting himself, yet still became PM!

Telegraph newspaper editorial on Mandelson's appointment in December 2024 versus editorial today

EPRS infographic on Maternity and paternity leave in the EU (April 2026) (first page)

EU law sets a minimum standard of 14 weeks of maternity leave & 2 weeks of paternity leave. Still, several Member States go beyond these thresholds.

🔎 Want to know more about the situation in your country?

Read: link.europa.eu/vVyBwQ

@femm.europarl.europa.eu @linagalvez.eu @luciayar.bsky.social

Reform: The Party Made by the Worst People in Britain For the Worst People in Britain

Nigel Farage Has Personally Accepted £675,000 from Foreign Sources Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has accepted more than half a million pounds from foreign companies, governments, and donors while serving as an MP, DeSmog can reveal. Since July 2024, when he was elect...

🔴 NEW 🔴

Farage has accepted £675,000 – a third of his income – from foreign sources since becoming an MP.

📝 @desmog.com

I think it's useful to think of MAGA political culture as a long running, decentralized reality TV show from which hundreds of "influencers" are profiting by generating new story lines. We're now in season 11 and the shark jumping and brain-breaking plot twists are coming at an accelerating pace.

When Angela Rayner underpaid £40,000 in stamp duty, Richard Tice said it was "morally completely indefensible” and she should resign if she had “any moral decency”.

Now we learn he set up four shell companies that let him avoid paying £100,000 he owed in tax and to then transfer the cash to Reform

Chart showing media bias

You failed in your analysis during the campaign. Now we reap what you have sown.

Is the pope Catholic? JD Vance thinks he has an answer | Marina Hyde When it comes to theology, Donald Trump’s vice-president clearly knows best. Are we about to see an American break with Rome, asks Guardian columnist Marina Hyde

Is the pope Catholic? JD Vance thinks he has an answer | Marina Hyde share.google/hcZSgsx273Iv...

Prospect reps from our public services sector met this week to coordinate pay campaign strategy.

prospect.org.uk/news/public-...

Rejoin is coming Customs union is a distraction. Only full membership offers a compelling vision of Britain's future.

open.substack.com/pub/iandunt/...

Italy: Acquittal of writer and journalist Roberto Saviano sets landmark ruling for press freedom The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its partners from the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) consortium welcomes yesterday’s acquittal of ...

The acquittal of writer and journalist Roberto Saviano in a criminal defamation case brought by the current Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Matteo Salvini, is a landmark ruling for press freedom and freedom of expression in #Italy. @mediafreedomeu.bsky.social

Photo of a campaigner in a yellow t-shirt giving a passer by a leaflet about the Westminster Council: Back Your Buskers campaign in a busy Leicester Square, London

Learn more about their campaign and sign the petition
🔗 bit.ly/4tMjB88

📸: Jeff Spicer/PA Media Assignments

Pete Hegseth Quotes ‘Pulp Fiction’ Fake Bible Verse at Pentagon Prayer Service Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth meant to invoke holy scripture in discussing the rescue mission of an American fighter pilot stranded in Iran -- but he actually quoted Quentin Tarantino.

Pete Hegseth Quotes ‘Pulp Fiction’ Fake Bible Verse at Pentagon Prayer Service

variety.com/2026/film/ne...

Saying the quiet part out loud...

An advert promoting an AI company at Bristol Airport has been pulled after backlash.

The advert showed a female AI worker who will 'never ask for a raise'.

Reform leader’s outsourcing track record is a warning for Wales, says Unison Martin Shipton Welsh voters are being urged to look at the track record of Reform UK Wales leader Dan Thomas before trusting him with public services, according to a report by Unison the Union. The…

🚨 Reform leader’s outsourcing track record is a warning for Wales, says Unison

Outsourcing has a long record of cutting corners and undermining services.

Read here ⬇️

NEW: ‘Hitler was right’, says star Reform activist – HOPE not hate By Harry Shukman and Sarah Hadley A well-known Reform activist who campaigned for the party in the forthcoming local elections has denied the Holocaust and...

Reform Essex activist who hosted Nigel Farage at his tanning salon is also a Nazi superfan who believes that "Hitler was right."

Excellent work from @hopenothate.org.uk

hopenothate.org.uk/2026/04/14/n...

BBC are being slow to respond to whether they will correct the false claim that immigration hasn't really fallen
bsky.app/profile/sund...

Trump’s Meme Coin Rallies as Investors Chase Mar-a-Lago Invites The price of President Trump’s meme coin surged more than 50% in 24 hours after its official website and X account said the coin’s top 297 holders would be [invited to an exclusive conference and gala...

This isn't being talked about enough:

President Trump is hosting a gala at Mar-a-Lago next week for the top 297 holders of his $TRUMP memecoin.

Not only is this blatantly corrupt, it's a national security threat.

Unbelievable. Thanks to Brian’s diligence we are getting Hegseth’s violent sermonizing in real time.

Remember when Trump threatened to wipe out a whole civilization? And then backed out of that and talked about forming a deal with Iran? And then dropped that and went to a UFC fight as negotiations fell apart? And then unveiled a triumphal arch and a photo of himself as Jesus?

That was this week.

So then let’s get this thread started!

Matthew Goodwin is speaking in Budapest at 17:00 CEST this evening, at this event hosted by MCC:
mcc.hu/en/event/202...

And I’m signed up to go. Updates in this thread

The tag is: #BadLossBudapest

"I find myself floored by the lack of humanity,” another employee wrote, noting they learned about the death from a social media post, not from Amazon."

Hillary Clinton: "I think our allies believe we've lost our minds because they wake up in the morning like we do and see the rants from the president making no sense half the time"

Share the joy! A wonderful, hopeful read.