a woman is saying do not trust her in a close up ALT: a woman is saying do not trust her in a close up

How did Regina George - without the possibility of a redemption arc - become the US president? These are genuinely the ramblings of a fictional teenage girl in a high school movie

How will this be impacted by Labour’s plans to change laws around party donations?

I think about this Tony Benn speech much more than I used to

Genuine question for interview like these - how much can we really trust what’s said given the confidential nature of his former role, and presumed confidentiality agreements still in place? Imagine this piece was on someone else’s Substack, how would you approach the information offered up?

See complaint from 27 Oct - before Trump’s legal action - and BBC’s response:

“It isn't always possible or practical to reflect all the various facts relating to a story within the space of a single report.”

Strange given this feels like the definition of journalism

Good luck with that.

"It isn't always possible or practical to reflect all the various facts relating to a story within the space of a single report."

Strange given this feels like the definition of journalism.

"It isn't always possible or practical to reflect all the various facts relating to a story within the space of a single report."

Strange given that feels like the definition of journalism

Interesting to see nearly half of Reform voters (46%) have positive Trump view - what’s the figure for everyone else (eg ‘all’ minus Reform voters)?

When I lecture to students about how the apparently thriving economy of the 1920s was really a house of cards just waiting to be knocked down, one of the points I stress is how much a small number of the very rich were essentially propping up consumer spending in unsustainable ways

What are the negative effects of high NAD+ levels and would they be worth it for interim treatment of Alzheimer’s patients with the supplements you mention? Eg boosting NAD+ rather than encouraging homeostasis as a stop-gap until drugs for the latter are available

Is there a point where topics reach such saturation levels in society that they essentially become unfashionable/tedious - especially if most people are not actually directly impacted by said topic (despite being told they are by politicians and the press)? That would be nice.

Innocent people end up in our criminal courts.

Completely, terrifyingly innocent.

And all that stands between them and losing everything is a fair trial.

Politicians would do well to remember this when they tell us that justice is all about processing “criminals” swiftly.

Are the 25 new Labour peers likely to shift the voting sufficiently?

Uncanny

a cartoon character is wearing a witch hat and holding a spider . ALT: a cartoon character is wearing a witch hat and holding a spider .

He’s giving Mayor of Halloween Town vibes (also has two faces)

92% of 2024 Reform voters still considering voting Reform. Conservatives and Greens next with 84% and 80%. Then Lib Dems at 71%.

Labour at just 57% - that's a big loss of Labour 2024 voters.

Explained by tactical 2024 voting to boot out the Tories or disillusionment of Labour's base? Prob both

Yes, there should always be debate & efforts to improve but the principle of having a BBC is a key pillar of a functioning democracy. There is a real risk of legitimising nefarious arguments to get rid of it entirely, with us the public not realising what we've lost until its gone. See: Brexit, EHRC

Chancellor confirms options always available to Chancellors

1 Nurse: It’s become a real problem in this area 2 Nurse: We’ve seen the whole community lost to addiction 3 Show a building sign posted: Westminster ‘X’ Addiction Clinic With various Westminster people or looking at their phones outside it Nurse: Ministers, Spads, Researchers… 4 Nurse: Most mornings we’ll get a call about someone acting strangely [Nurse on phone taking a call] Ok - we’ll be right over 5 Nurse: We just have a gentle chat [Nurses approach a minister –Robert Jenrick? - standing in the Palace of Westminster Minister: I understand your concerns… 6 Nurse: Are you OK love? Minister: Yes I’m just hearing legitimate concerns from real voters 7 Nurse: That’s a robot, a Nazi and a poorly-disguised Russian [Show that the people he is talking to are precisely these characters] Nurse 2: Give us your phone, love 8 Nurse: At the clinic we put them in a Grass-Touching Pod, with a real voter to talk to [We see them back at the clinic, holding the minister's head and pushing him into a glass isolation booth with a grass floor. And it is a baffled looking woman, on a chair, ready to talk to him.] 9 Minister: YOU MUST BE WORRIED ABOUT THE COMING CIVIL WAR [woman looks baffled] 10 woman: I just want a bus service Minister: LOOK AT MY FLAG [produces a St George's flag] [ends]

Nigel Farage appeared on the radio today and failed to back the scientific & medical advice given to pregnant women when it comes to taking paracetamol

He also suggested migrants were eating swans & carp

@vicderbyshire.bsky.social runs through the claims and official responses

#Newsnight

Some stonkingly beautiful news for a change

Opinion | Disney and the Decline of America’s Middle Class

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/o...

Found this depressingly interesting too re Disney's move atowards catering for the v rich. Ofc, they're not responsible for housing, healthcare, education etc - it's just a luxury, but still sad how inaccessable this cultural institution of childhood has now become

When people say they aren’t racist, the next question should be to ask them what their understanding of racism is

We escaped war and torture but now we feel unsafe in Britain Special report: Amid protests and rising aggression towards asylum seekers across the country, we spoke to those being targeted

I’ve been frustrated to see so much of the ongoing story about asylum seekers and the protests against them covered without hearing from those seeking asylum and now being met with hostility and hatred

I set out to speak to those directly affected to find out about the impact this is having 👇

New analysis from @britishelectionstudy.com highlights a critical point I made in my post about the liklihood of a Reform election win this week.

Labour's lost votes from 2024 have nearly all gone to DK/LD/Green. There is a viable anti-Farage coalition there.

samf.substack.com/p/will-refor...

I don't disagree with the first two sentences, but I think in general there's been far too much movement from 'not really noticing the problem' to 'despair'. Let's experiment with 'people and organisations try and enforce the norm' and then see if it is actually hard for it to be re-bottled.

Life’s getting a bit more crap here if you are a person from an ethnic minority 🧵

Collapse of critical Atlantic current is no longer low-likelihood, study finds Scientists say ‘shocking’ discovery shows rapid cuts in carbon emissions are needed to avoid catastrophic fallout

Shutdown would "plunge western Europe into extreme cold winters and summer droughts"

"The tipping point where the shutdown becomes inevitable is probably in the next 10-20 years. That is why we have to act really fast in cutting down emissions.”

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

It shows such a basic lack of political understanding that Labour didn't go straight on the attack over this.

Just because most people are worried about immigration being too high it doesn't mean they're psychopaths.