Secondly, I’d say MoD is the dept where perception of performance and the reality are most separated. Doing good photoshoots can seemingly hide what the annual reports say

Agree with this. Iirc, this is the third (?) straight year where the MoD has urgently had to search for in-year budget cuts despite an overall increasing budget.

Pretty astonishing detail in today's feature on Patrick Radden Keefe's new book.

thefence.substack.com/p/off-the-fe...

Ed is one of the most interesting and creative people in journalism, and is full of ideas about how to reinvigorate reporting as traditional forms of distribution die.

Can’t wait to see what he gets up to!

www.youtube.com/embed/FrPOuB...

Brian Leishman: 'We’re Miles Off Where A Labour Party Should Be' After a life in golf and football, Brian Leishman finds himself at the sharp end of the new government’s whipping operation. He speaks to Ben Garts...

"What the Greens were saying about redistribution of wealth, improvement of public services – that’s basically Labour Party stuff"

Labour MP and ex-goalkeeper Brian Leishman talks to @bengartside.bsky.social about playing snooker with Stephen Flynn and his party being "miles off" where it should be

Brian Leishman: 'We’re Miles Off Where A Labour Party Should Be' After a life in golf and football, Brian Leishman finds himself at the sharp end of the new government’s whipping operation. He speaks to Ben Garts...

New: I spent the morning with Brian Leishman, the former pro golfer, academy football player and firebrand Labour MP.

We talk about life as a rebel, playing snooker with Stephen Flynn and how Zack Polanski is winning with "[basic] Labour Party stuff".

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

Back at work after a lovely couple weeks in Japan.

Any tips/coffee requests/intros give me a shout!

In other news, Japan is a great place. Honoured to be the first man in his late 20s with a BA to discover this, but someone had to do it

Staying in a Buddhist monastery in Japan and a bunch of American high schoolers are watching TikTok’s on full volume at breakfast. Incredible stuff

How The Defence Industry And MoD Ended Up At Loggerheads Over 'Britishness' When the Ministry of Defence launched a string of reforms targeted at improving its work with small business, they did not stint on the rhetoric.

Exc: Inside the MoD’s battle over Britishness

- Any firm deemed British if they have a UK postcode

- MoD’s new Office for Small Business Growth (OfSBG) is a target for ire

- Govt scrapped final meeting after backlash

- OfSBG’s boss quits after only 90 days

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

How The Defence Industry And MoD Ended Up At Loggerheads Over 'Britishness' When the Ministry of Defence launched a string of reforms targeted at improving its work with small business, they did not stint on the rhetoric.

Exc: Inside the MoD’s battle over Britishness

- Any firm deemed British if they have a UK postcode

- MoD’s new Office for Small Business Growth (OfSBG) is a target for ire

- Govt scrapped final meeting after backlash

- OfSBG’s boss quits after only 90 days

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

Announcing the 2026 Tenacious Journalist Award winners PINF and Changing Ideas are delighted to announce this year’s cohort of tenacious journalists!

Delighted to announce I'm one of the PINF's Tenacious Journalists cohort. Honoured to have been selected alongside such great colleagues, I can't wait to get started on some really interesting investigations!

www.publicinterestnews.org.uk/blog/announc...

Announcing the 2026 Tenacious Journalist Award winners PINF and Changing Ideas are delighted to announce this year’s cohort of tenacious journalists!

Delighted to announce I'm one of the PINF's Tenacious Journalists cohort. Honoured to have been selected alongside such great colleagues, I can't wait to get started on some really interesting investigations!

www.publicinterestnews.org.uk/blog/announc...

Looking for some recommendations for non fiction books (ideally journalistic, holiday inspiration etc) to read on my travels next week. Please send over any suggestions!

I know it's easy to hate on reporters but I'm going to defend him here. I think this is a great question. Succinct, direct, gets a clear, unequivocal and interesting response from her. And I don't think the premise is unfair. Lots of athletes would say 'gold or bust'.

Whitehall’s Whispers: Inside The Antonia Romeo Row As the Prime Minister prepares to appoint Antonia Romeo as Cabinet Secretary, Ben Gartside looks at the fierce battles to block her appointment

EXC: Lord McDonald has attempted to block Antonia Romeo from promotions three times previously.

In anonymised sections of his memoir, McDonald describes Romeo as “self-promoter”, and the 2017 investigation findings as “catastrophic and damning”.

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

Whitehall’s Whispers: Inside The Antonia Romeo Row As the Prime Minister prepares to appoint Antonia Romeo as Cabinet Secretary, Ben Gartside looks at the fierce battles to block her appointment

- In 2017, McDonald says his investigation should have paused or cancelled Romeo’s promotion to Perm Sec.

- In 2019, he appears to block Romeo from the US ambo job

- In 2024, he privately pushed against Romeo during Cab Sec I/vs.

- In 2025, intervenes via C4

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

Whitehall’s Whispers: Inside The Antonia Romeo Row As the Prime Minister prepares to appoint Antonia Romeo as Cabinet Secretary, Ben Gartside looks at the fierce battles to block her appointment

EXC: Lord McDonald has attempted to block Antonia Romeo from promotions three times previously.

In anonymised sections of his memoir, McDonald describes Romeo as “self-promoter”, and the 2017 investigation findings as “catastrophic and damning”.

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

Whitehall’s Whispers: Inside The Antonia Romeo Row As the Prime Minister prepares to appoint Antonia Romeo as Cabinet Secretary, Ben Gartside looks at the fierce battles to block her appointment

“At all levels of the civil service, there's a feeling of sheer outrage that a retired civil servant could launch an attack on an existing one..."

The PM's plan to make Antonia Romeo the new Cabinet Secretary has provoked an extraordinary row among senior civil servants

Ben Gartside looks at why

Octopus Energy Founder Greg Jackson: “I Don’t Believe In Party Politics” Charming and well-connected, Octopus founder Greg Jackson is one of the most influential businesspeople in this Labour government’s orbit. Ben Gart...

For @thehousemag.bsky.social I’ve profiled Greg Jackson, the Octopus boss who has quickly become one of the most influential corporate voices in Westminster.

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

Happy to say I’ll be helping out the great team at The House over the next couple months. If you’re in Westminster and fancy a drink/coffee/lunch, give me a shout!

Octopus Energy Founder Greg Jackson: “I Don’t Believe In Party Politics” Charming and well-connected, Octopus founder Greg Jackson is one of the most influential businesspeople in this Labour government’s orbit. Ben Gart...

For @thehousemag.bsky.social I’ve profiled Greg Jackson, the Octopus boss who has quickly become one of the most influential corporate voices in Westminster.

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

Palestine Action: The Truth Behind the Ban Why did the government ban the protest group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation?

Pleased to have worked on this documentary as a researcher. You can watch it here: www.channel4.com/programmes/p...

Thank you Steph!

Delighted to be shortlisted for the 2026 Tenacious Journalist Awards, alongside some great colleagues.

www.publicinterestnews.org.uk/blog/announc...

Has changing a PM’s Chief of staff/senior advisor/comms director ever had a sustained impact on their fortunes?

Nice to be reminded that it's almost a year to the day since Peter Mandelson texted me to tell me to "stop bothering" him with "ridiculous nonsense"

spectator.com/article/welc...

Welcome to XL bully death row ‘There’s no way of finding out what’s really happening in there,’ says Aaron Rainey, an XL bully expert who advises police forces and dog owners across the UK. ‘Nobody knows where the kennels are – th...

Police taken off the front line. Kennels operating a ‘one in, one out’ rule. Teenage volunteers quitting when faced with a dog heavier than them. Magistrates giving dogs a stay of execution, owners refusing to take them back.

Welcome to XL bully death row

spectator.com/article/welc...