In the early hours of this morning, I directed our Armed Forces to intercept a shadow fleet oil tanker attempting to pass through the English Channel. This successful operation delivers yet another blow to Russia and reminds those fueling Putin's war in Ukraine that we will not let them hide. I want to thank those involved, including our Armed Forces and law enforcement officers who keep this country safe 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Well, it’s a Restore event, a lot of people are wearing Restore hats and t-shirts, they’re queuing to pick up Restore leaflets, and they’re being organised into Restore canvassing teams. But apart from that, I’m just guessing…

Dan Jarvis MBE MP @DanJarvisMBE has been appointed as Secretary of State for Defence @DefenceHQ.

Who will be the next poisoned chalice Defence Sec?

Chief Treasury Secretary Lucy Rigby has defended the Government’s decision to not reduce interest rates on student loans, saying the money is being used to fund benefit schemes including ‘free breakfast clubs’ and lifting the two child benefit cap. Trapping graduates in a lifetime of debt in order to fund breakfasts for children whose parents should be feeding them at home is not beneficial to anyone - children, families or young adults starting out in life.

fund the defence investment plan school walkout

Exclusive: A secret camera has been discovered in a sensitive Whitehall building, sparking fears of espionage, The i Paper has learned. Security officials working at Marsham Street in Victoria, central London – a vast suite of offices that houses the Home Office and the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) – found a hidden camera in a ceiling panel. A source familiar with the incident, which occurred in the last two months, said the Security Services had been informed. How the camera came to be placed in such a sensitive location, and how long it was there, is unknown. The electronic device had been discovered in a communal area of a shared building used by multiple civil servants, rather than in or near ministerial offices. One of the most high-profile decisions taken in the Marsham Street building in recent months was the approval of China’s plans for a huge new embassy in central London – despite opponents warning that the site could be used as a base for spying and posed security risks.

EXCL: Britain must end "cancel culture" of hostile states like China, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper says. thesun.co.uk/news/39344770/b…

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer says tech firms must stop children sending or receiving sexually explicit images or face new legislation - follow live bbc.in/49L2Gvh

Big practical problems here (aside from the fact that it's utterly stupid and superfluous when marriage exists) How are you going to differentiate people who are an "unmarried couple" and who are flatmates? Maybe some sort of... registration? What happens if a couple splits up and one person just denies they were actually a couple? What happens if your flatmate of 3 years gets hit by a bus and cops it- do you just get all their stuff by default?

3.5 million unmarried couples living together in the UK stand to gain stronger protections under Labour. Too many couples have limited rights if their relationship ends or their partner dies - even after years together or raising children. Labour is consulting on reforms to improve financial security, strengthen protections for survivors of domestic abuse and create a fairer system that reflects modern relationships.

🚨 BREAKING: Keir Starmer will announce a social media ban for under-16s in the UK in the next two weeks

STILL COUNTING: California primary results remain undecided days after the election as critics rip the state's vote system. Republican Steve Hilton leads the governor's race at 28%, while Spencer Pratt holds second in the LA mayor's race — but no one knows when final results will land.

🚨 JUST IN: Nithya Raman is STRONGLY GAINING on Spencer Pratt in the late LA mayoral mail-in drops nearly 24 hours after poll close If this keeps going, it will KEEP GETTING *MUCH* CLOSER. In one drop, she closed ~3,000 votes, now trailing by 37,000. 322,000 votes remain. Raman WON 31.2% of the recent drop, Pratt got 20.8% These drops do NOT yet indicate Pratt is on track to lose! But she can't start performing better, or it will get even tighter.

I am ashamed Sikh community leaders felt the need to do this. When a Christian commits murder, the Archbishop of Canterbury doesn't feel the need to say it wasn't a Christian act. Yet we're in a country where brown people of alternate faiths have to formally announce they're not all criminals. And ofc, if they hadn't done this, innocent Sikhs would suffer. That's why they did it. But come on, Britain, we're better than this.

I’ve said this for ages. The Tory Party is just a gay dating club for posh social liberals. It’ll win in Richmond and Kensington but that’s about it.

PAT MCFADDEN: EVERY MEETING I HAVE IS "WHO CAN WE TAX IN ORDER TO PAY BENEFITS TO OTHERS"