David F.

As expected, the Call the Midwife finale was excellent.

Many tissues were used, obvs.

But definitely "douze points" in every aspect!

#CallTheMidwife

Also by Hannan: “the blue eyed sheiks” of Icelandic Banking will save us (2004). Brexit will be a huge success and we won’t leave the single market (2016) “Covid won’t kill you” (2020)

**Grandfather, you lived through an explosion of renewables beyond even the most optimistic forecasts. Yet fossil fuels persisted. What happened??**

**Well, grandson, you see, a very large number of people thought a sentence-generating software program had a little guy inside it. And then, **

When opinion polls suggest the majority of Israelis support this war, it takes great determination to go against the flow. You are right, of course, that Gideon Levy is not the only truthful and diligent journalist in Israel. I also follow @972mag.com for views you won't see in mainstream sources

A minor party, like, for example, Labour?

Aside from all the grift, I wonder if there really is something psychological in Blair, part messianic, part dogmatic, part self protective, that means if he admits his role in the Iraq war was a horrendous error & he is responsible for that, his entire sense of self will collapse like Jenga bricks

Just fascinating to see Blair, a man whose reputation was ruined by the Iraq war, advocate joining a war that is exponentially stupider and more chaotic. How is it possible to learn nothing from the worst mistake of your life?

Analysis: UK emissions fall 2.4% in 2025 as coal hits 400-year low - Carbon Brief The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by 2.4% in 2025 to their lowest level in...

The UK used less coal in 2025 than in 1600 when Shakespeare was writing Hamlet, according to CarbonBrief. Meanwhile Trump is taking the US in the opposite direction.

UK emissions fell by 2.4% in 2025.

🚨Independent analysis shows these changes would make NO meaningful difference to the court backlog and there is no credible evidence it will make justice swifter - WHAT IT WILL DO HOWEVER IS PLACE US ON A PATH TOWARDS AUTHORITARIAN JUSTICE

Is that what we want?

(cont.) But the level of vitriol and hatred being expressed by some people here, and the extensive use - conscious or unconscious - of antisemitic tropes is not acceptable. It doesn't help a single Iranian or Palestinian. It is performative posturing, and it is, quite frankly, frightening.

It is factually true that Starmer and other Labour and other Tory politicians have accepted donations from pro-Israel individuals and organisations.
It is not unreasonable to speculate that this may have influenced their positions on Israel's actions....(continued)

I can think of very few positives about Starmer, but being criticised by Blair for not joining in a US-led war is certainly one of them.

The No World Order Meir Kahane, Netanyahu, Trump, and the war beyond Iran.

"Trump is not the architect of the Iran war, only its vehicle."

On who's really in charge:
sarahkendzior.substack.com/p/the-no-wor...

Keir Starmer and David Lammy are taking an extraordinarily dangerous gamble with our individual liberty This week, MPs will vote on the second reading of the Courts and Tribunals Bill. Don’t let the anodyne name fool you – this is one of the most revolutionary pieces of legislation in our…

NEW BLOGPOST: Keir Starmer and David Lammy are taking an extraordinarily dangerous gamble with our individual liberty

For any MP unsure of how to vote on the government’s proposals to restrict trial by jury.

Donate to our Crowdfunder for our St Albans local election campaign!!

actionnetwork.org/fundraising/...
@greenparty.org.uk @easthertsgreens.bsky.social @easterngreenparty.bsky.social @zackpolanski.bsky.social @livvygibbs.bsky.social

I have heard very mixed reports. Haven't seen it yet.

We've just hit 215,000 members.

More than 2,000 people a day have joined us since our historic win in the Gorton and Denton by-election. Come and be a part of the movement which is making hope normal again. Join us 👇

(not on BBC Verify website yet, source x.com/BBCRosAtkins...)

Brilliant piece of explanation from @rosatkins.bsky.social for BBC Verify, cheers for sharing.
Split it in 2 because it's over 3 mins long and the punchline is amazing.

Ros Atkins: Why is America doing this? pt 1

Again, Farage, Badenoch and their fellow travellers on X are wildly out of touch with the public on Iran.

Even the majority of Reform supporters oppose their position.

I would host that party.

tbh, my biggest annoyance is that the manufacturers of LLMs have convinced us that their products are "AI", and that taints all AI.

Home | Matt Owen | Freelance Writer | Speech Writer I offer a broad and diverse range of writing services. Get in touch!

My husband @mjowen174.bsky.social is very down and it’s difficult to see.
He had a thriving writing business until AI came along but now he’s struggling to find work.
Please repost this far and wide in the hope that he can find some writing work.
www.mathew-owen.co.uk

During the Second Reading of the Representation of the People Bill, MP after MP got up to point out what's missing from it: fixing the voting system.

The problems with FPTP can no longer be ignored - and neither can the growing calls for PR. 📣

Here are just a few highlights:

Graphic from JCPA (Jewish Council for Public Affairs) with a blue background and a faint image of civil rights marchers holding protest signs. White text reads: “While we know Secretary Noem directly oversaw so many of the dangerous policies coming out of DHS, we should be clear: this transition does not actually address the fundamental issues at hand. The Department has militarized immigration enforcement, rooted in dehumanizing and dangerous conspiracy theories and leading to the killing of innocent civilians and the repeated violation of our laws. It has held up vital security funding for synagogues and other institutions via the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP), while politicizing the program through unrelated conditions that force communities to choose between their safety and their values. The list goes on. No matter who leads DHS, Congress has a fundamental responsibility to use its funding and oversight authorities to ensure real accountability and transparency.”

Our statement on Kristi Noem’s departure from the Department of Homeland Security:

Dear Shabana, I notice today that you referred to me in your speech on immigration at the IPPR think tank. You said: “A party leader should not be on the beaches of France encouraging people to make a perilous crossing on small boats.” I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised especially after the hateful Labour campaign in Gorton and Denton, but this is just the latest in a string of lies peddled by a discredited Government who intentionally fan the flames of racism and division. When I went to Calais, I was not there to encourage people to travel to the UK. I was there to see at first hand the suffering your Government and successive Governments have done in demonising migrants in a pathetic bid to pander to the base instincts of Reform and the flawed strategy of Morgan McSweeney. As you will know, if you even bothered to research my visit instead of taking Reform talking points, I was there to witness the brutality of families living in tents in freezing temperatures. I filled water tanks and picked up litter. What that visit did do is confirm my belief that if we are to smash the boat gangs and stop the boats, we need to offer safer and managed routes for migrants to come to this country. Showing compassion as a politician is not a crime. In fact, we need to see much more of it. It reminded me of a young MP who in October 2015 spent three days in Lesbos helping migrants fleeing war-torn Syria. She posted videos on X, talked about handing out water and croissants to refugees and food parcels. When she returned to the UK, she wrote a very moving piece in the New Statesman. She said “we have to work with our European partners and create new, safe, and legal routes for refugees to get to Europe. We cannot abandon them to their fate, left as prey for smugglers whilst risking death on the seas.” She said “maybe we can make ourselves feel better by saying no-one is making them get on the boats. And again, the Home Secretary is not entirely wrong when …

Dear Shabana,

Let's clear some things up around migration and remember we're talking about people's lives.

Screenshot from the Green Party website. Text reads "Thank you for joining. Today you have joined a growing movement of people working together to create a fairer, greener future."

As a descendant of a refugee who arrived here on the Kindertransport, the Labour Party's policies on immigration and asylum seekers repulse and frighten me.

I reject the politics of fear and hatred.

I want equality, fairness, hope and humanity.

So I've joined @greenparty.org.uk 💚

“According to YouGov the Greens are now the most popular party in all age categories under 50. Are you ignoring what voters are telling you about your reforms on immigration?”

The Daily Mail has said it obtained "internal documents" revealing the Green Party's migration policy.

As a long-term Green Party activist, I'm very familiar with the actual policy. And what the Mail describes and what the document says are two very different things.

A thread 🧵

That was 'I hate Manchester anyway' by Matt Goodwin and the White Supremes, from his Bitter Loser album.

Sent to me by one of my brothers