from Fraser Nelson:

extremely good, this one

I’m not a #BBC conspiracy theorist and I usually defend them, but I find it very odd that we’ve not seen a word from them reporting this, or Farage’s Cameos yesterday, or Tice’s alleged tax avoidance on Monday.

If it had been three Labour frontbenchers…

The rise of the undecided voter Exclusive polling shows how late the Gorton and Denton by-election was decided

Important data about Gorton & Denton from @bwalker.uk.

1. Only around 5% of Lab 2024 voters switched to Reform vs 36% to Greens.

2. No evidence of support for Reform among under 35s (sub 10%) - it's all over 55s

3. Progressives were undecided til last minute

www.newstatesman.com/politics/pol...

Travelodge changes policy after attacker given victim's hotel key The woman was attacked by Kyran Smith, who was given a key to her hotel room by staff.

“the changes would ensure additional or replacement keys were only issued with permission from the person staying in the room”

I can’t get my head round this not being the case already! Until now an abuser would’ve been able to get access to a DV victim’s room?!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

It's almost like being fabulously rich doesn't make you happy or well adjusted. It's almost like it makes you sad and lonely. And leaves you forever casting about for scapegoats to offset your deep self-loathing. Thank you Jim Ratcliffe and Elon Musk for these important life lessons.

Teddies and a letter from mum - devastating remnants of lives stolen by Nazis

Today, on Holocaust Memorial Day, we will remember the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust.

NEW: Suella Braverman has defected to Reform UK, shocking the many people who were sure that she had already.

Bluesky idea: if people who didn't agree with you change their opinions so that they do agree with you, why not be happy that you are making progress - rather than complaining that they are "only just catching up"?

TV fans are raving over abduction thriller that 'makes your blood crawl' 'Unsettling and thoughtful.'

Headline to make your skin boil.

metro.co.uk/2026/01/12/t...

At @instituteforgovernment.org.uk Wes Streeting says: "One of the great challenges...is how to reform the state and public services so they deliver for people"

"Failure in this area has led to disaffection, cynicism, and ultimately, the rise of populists."

The plot against London Distorted attacks by the populist right are really about demography

What the war against London really is about. V good by @robertshrimsley.bsky.social #Giftlink

And on a different note: A v Happy New Year to everyone!

'Labour's mental health review needs to reframe overdiagnosis' - LabourList We’re having the wrong debate about mental health diagnosis. The government's eview is the opportunity to fix that.

The mental health ‘overdiagnosis’ debate misses the point.

If the issue is managing the stresses and emotions of everyday life, Wes Streeting’s review gives the govt the opportunity to empower people to manage their mental health without clinical pathways:

labourlist.org/2025/12/ment...

'Labour's mental health review needs to reframe overdiagnosis' - LabourList We’re having the wrong debate about mental health diagnosis. The government's eview is the opportunity to fix that.

The mental health ‘overdiagnosis’ debate misses the point.

If the issue is managing the stresses and emotions of everyday life, Wes Streeting’s review gives the govt the opportunity to empower people to manage their mental health without clinical pathways:

labourlist.org/2025/12/ment...

European nations to begin major talks on ECHR migration rule changes The talks are the most significant sign yet that international human rights law could be reinterpreted.

Critics will say that Labour’s trying to out-Reform Reform, but this kind of international collaboration feels a world apart from the obnoxious, Trumpian bullying and grandstanding we’d get from Farage.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

#ECHR #Labour #Reform

Reform UK receives £36,000 donation from Heathrow Electoral Commission records show that on the 2nd September 2025 Reform UK accepted the donation.

🤔🤔🤔

Normally a defender of the BBC and especially BBC News, but this comma splice is unacceptable.

In fairness, that person’s position is perfectly reasonable if you just ignore the New Testament and basically all Catholic Social Teaching.

“The tyrannical soul is never satisfied.”

— Plato, Republic

History of ideas: Conscience - a short exploration Journey through the evolution of the fascinating idea of conscience over the past 2,000 years. Explore ancient and modern understandings of this universal phenomenon, drawing on insights from psycholo...

Interested in #religion, #philosophy, #ethics?

Come and join one of my @citylit.bsky.social courses! 💡

Interpreting the Bible: key skills and texts 📖
lnkd.in/e-Ksn-ez

Assisted dying: religion, ethics and the law ❔
lnkd.in/e69zApDa

Conscience: a short exploration 🤔
lnkd.in/emPaK-QV

I’ll be reflecting on the need for our deputy leader to articulate a coherent Labour philosophy and vision as I cast my vote this week. #Labour #DeputyLeader #Election

“Yet this is the problem. Debate and intellectual discourse no longer define this Labour Party.”

Bingo - this is why @hannahmerich.bsky.social and I argue that our next deputy leader needs to change that in @labourlist.bsky.social:

labourlist.org/2025/09/labo...

Plato said it best: “Either philosophers must become rulers, or the people who are now rulers become real, true philosophers”

The Labour Party needs a deputy leader who will articulate a Labour philosophy and vision, to give this government a compelling narrative and vision for Britain:

I realise the audience for this would just be "me, and also maybe other foreigners" but I would love to read something on why Brits, who are happy to live in a country where their every movement outside is filmed by CCTV, hate the idea of having ID cards, something plenty of countries happily have

I'll have more to say on Reform's proposals to scrap ILR at some point but for now I'll just note this - anyone telling you this is a popular idea doesn't know the polling. Overwhelming majority of public back giving people who work and pay taxes most or all rights after 5 years or less

There’s a big list of requirements for @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social and @lucympowell.bsky.social as Labour’s deputy leadership candidates!

@hannahmerich.bsky.social & I argue that central among them is giving this Labour govt a compelling story & vision, drawing on our rich history of ideas:

There’s a big list of requirements for @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social and @lucympowell.bsky.social as Labour’s deputy leadership candidates!

@hannahmerich.bsky.social & I argue that central among them is giving this Labour govt a compelling story & vision, drawing on our rich history of ideas:

Really enjoyed this evening’s @renewaljournal.bsky.social lecture from Anneliese Dodds.

She’s right that delivery in government is necessary but not sufficient. Labour must protect democracy and be a voice for humans in the age of AI.

#Labour #AI #democracy

“Men who look upon themselves born to reign, and others to obey, soon grow insolent; selected from the rest of mankind their minds are early poisoned by importance; ...and when they succeed to the government are frequently the most ignorant and unfit of any throughout the dominions.”

— Thomas Paine

It's maddening to me how much Covid is at the root of so many of today's crises and we just...don't talk about it?

Take the spike in children needing SEND provision. Did anything huge and traumatic happen recently that might have affected thousands of kids? No? Must be parents making it up