I wonder if the BBC could do an explainer on how Select Committees work and why they don’t usually have Reform members. They could point out that it’s because they barely have any MPs.

It's going to be even worse the next time they appoint Peter Mandelson

The idea that being *a member of the House of Lords* in any way means you can be trusted with Top Secret/STRAP material without proper vetting is so beyond absurd that this must surely be a joke?

OMFG I had to go and check that this ACTUALLY happened.

Since when does the BBC ever do chyrons with a political party's branding, rather than their own? Not to mention this is during a pre-election campaign purdah.

(h/t @iainsol.bsky.social)

Ha - yes!

I want to thank the Scottish Family Party for sending me this useful educational prop. I showed it to my 12-year-old and asked her to tell me what she thought. I’m proud to say she spotted the subtext beneath every single line of propaganda and told me not to vote for you.

Yes, pretty much agree with all that. BBC World Service, though, is a different matter.

The only effect of such prioritisation will be to increase hostility to refugees across the board and if the editors don’t know that they’re idiots

With all that’s going on in the world, the BBC online headlines for the last couple of days bring to mind a rather pathetic little puppy desperately seeking praise from its owner for what it just produced.

Yes, but he won’t and probably can’t. Another reason why Labour need to replace him soon.

I am genuinely thrilled to see this, and if it feels like no big deal to you, I would refer you to five years ago, when people in Westminster hyped the Turing scheme& argued that Erasmus was pointless anyway since British students did not like to go abroad.

I don’t disagree!

I’m not defending Labour’s many awful Reform-light policies, I’ve written several articles expressing my disgust at them. If you think Labour are worse, or even as bad as, an actual Reform government would be, I strongly disagree.

Of course it’s big, if that specific allegation is true (and it’s certainly plausible). All I’m saying is the scale, nature and threat of Reform’s actual, verifiable racism is bigger still. Racism is a bigger danger than hypocrisy or lack of principle.

This is the "cumulative disruption" measure in the crime and policing bill.

As I said last week, the police are primed to see all protest as disruptive. I mean, it's kind of the point of protest.

This really should be a much bigger deal.

I don’t have much time for Sarwar, but I think a bigger issue than what Offord is alleging and which we have no means of verifying either way is that Offord himself openly represents a racist party with racist policies and yet tries to pretend that he doesn’t.

Alf Dubs: Labour Is Weakening Refugee Rights – I Had More Success Under The Tories As Lord Dubs leads the charge against the government’s immigration changes, he talks to Sienna Rodgers about his disappointment in Labour, his hope...

Alf still one of Britain’s most inspiring humanists!

“Populism can be a very tough business to fight against. But in the end, we have to approach human rights issues with certain principles. We have to say something is right, and we stick by what is right.”

www.politicshome.com/news/article...

I know nothing about Hungarian politics, but surely much of the analysis pointing out that Magyar is far from being a lefty liberal misses the point? When democracy is at stake, the test isn't what your politics are. It's whether you believe in pursuing them without resorting to authoritarianism.

Hungary: Incoming Prime Minister Peter Magyar calls anyone pressuring Ukraine to stop fighting to liberate her land and people occupied by Russia a traitor.

Incoming Hungarian PM Péter Magyar calls for the UK to rejoin the European Union:

"I remember when I was a diplomat in Brussels... We were able to influence decisions. At the time, the Brits were also part of the EU. Let's hope they will rejoin."

This is spot on. So visceral is Scottish Labour's loathing of the SNP that they seem to find it inconceivable that even those voters who have deserted them don't feel the same way. So, it seems to me, they only manage to speak to an ever-shrinking echo chamber.

Maybe he’ll put the result down to ‘family voting’.

Allow me to dream that at least one Hungarian decided to cast their vote for Magyar after listening to Vance’s intervention. The sheer, bristling, deluded arrogance of this man is almost an art form.

This from @edwardluce.bsky.social also fundamental, whether in the US (overwhelmingly important for us all) or Scotland.

Harder to pin corruption on people who haven’t been in power. But not impossible. Especially when they are corrupt, and have been in power elsewhere.

bsky.app/profile/edwa...

Scotland now has three and a half weeks to reflect on what the Hungary result means for the far right, and avoid electing a bunch of comedy has-been Fascists as official opposition for the next five years.

Now that Hungary’s rejoined the EU, maybe it’s time for us to have a think about doing the same.

What happens to Britain's radical right if Orbán loses? Inside the money, power and patronage connecting Hungary and the British right

Time to read this

democracyforsale.substack.com/p/orbans-brits

My congratulations to Péter Magyar on his resounding election win in Hungary against Viktor Orbán. A powerful moment for Hungary and for democratic values in Europe.

Everyone in Europe now hoping for JD Vance campaign trail supporting Reform, AfD, RN etc 🙃

#NextStopMidterms

If Hungary can free itself from the rule of a corrupt Russian agent, the USA can too.