Keir Starmer and I disagree on many things, but good people across the political spectrum will welcome today’s verdicts, condemn these appalling attacks which seem to have been sponsored by Russia, and wish the PM and his family well. Whatever our political differences, no one should face intimidation, threats or attacks because they hold public office. Democracy is settled at the ballot box, not through fear or violence and definitely not through foreign interference from hostile countries.

On the contrary, the lack of immigration enforcement undermines trust in public services, and the government.

They spelled "Your tax money" wrong.

RT @antoniabance: Absolutely infuriating that one of my colleagues has decided that what Parliament should focus on in the coming months -…

The next war won't be won by armies, navies or air forces alone. It'll be won by the country whose 19 year olds can code, whose factories can build drones in weeks not years, and whose grid stays on when someone tries to switch it off. Industry. Society. Economy. That's the fight now. We're not ready. And we're not being honest about what getting ready will cost.

You do not need to cut schools and hospitals to pay for defence. To suggest so is disingenuous. Politics is about taking difficult decisions but some are easier than others. Nearly 1,000 people a day are signing on to health and disability benefits that, for many, will make their lives worse. Before the pandemic, 2.8 million working-age people claimed these benefits. It’s now 4.5 million. Through secondary legislation, government could pull an emergency handbrake on welfare spending today, reducing the bill (and investing in support that actually helps people) and ultimately freeing up resources for what should be its number one priority: keeping our country safe.

Atherton and Hussain during a rain delay just talking is life at its very best. I don’t ever want those clouds to shift. Hook it to my veins.

Tory fundraising team putting in a shift. Party reports £6 million in donations for the first quarter of 2026 – an increase of 25% on the same period in Q1 of 2025.

This is Kemi Badenoch at her best. Hits precisely the right tone here.

Interesting mobile data from @virginmedia show some Londoners staying away due to #tubestrike : •The City is down by 16% •King's Cross is down by 8% •The West End is down by 6% •Westminster is down by 11%

We’ve reached peak Guardian blog

If there's no evidence people left the country after their visa expired, the ONS just *assumes* they left. Via FOI I have found out that this assumption now accounts for a *fifth* of all non-EU emigration - and rising rapidly. The govt must get a grip on who is in this country.

Ok cool, but why is Emmanuel Macron taking a photo of it?

Unemployment is now 5% and only half of under-25s are in paid employment. Every Labour leadership contender should have a coherent answer to how we can reverse these trends and avoid creating a lost generation of young people. Today's @thetimes column👇 thetimes.com/comment/columni…

Reform won all 8 Makerfield Wards - as assigned by ONS - at last week’s elections: Reform: 50.4% Labour: 22.7% Green: 10.9% Conservative: 9.9% Lib Dem: 3.8% Other: 2.2%

A fitting day for Labour Together to be renamed

Today feels like a good day to ask: what actually is Manchesterism? That's the question @b_judah & I try to answer in our latest piece for @ArguablyMag. Manchesterism as attractive as it is protean. In a Labour Party desperate for a rallying philosophy, Manchesterism evokes solidity, grounded in the concreteness of a city, while remaining open to interpretation. Manchester is a rare modern British success story. Since 2015, the city’s GDP growth has averaged 3.1 per cent each year, double the UK average, and outpacing the US over the same period. But people disagree about the causes of Manchester’s success. There are several competing stories: 🌽 the free trade one: Manchester Liberalism opposed the Corn Laws and advocated free trade. More recently, the city has courted Gulf investors and leased public land to private developers. 🚰 the municipal socialism one: which points to Manchester's early success in centrally controlling key utilities 🏗️ the YIMBY one: Manchester has shown a willingness & ability to build far more than other UK cities, not just homes, but also transport. 🗺️ the devo one: almost everyone agrees that devolution has been good for Manchester. But what's the mechanism here, and can it be replicated elsewhere? There is truth in all of these stories. Manchester’s economic and political history embodies contradictions that do not lend themselves to a single overarching political philosophy. If there is one unifying theme, it is dynamism: Manchester has repeatedly adjusted and reinvented itself and made the most of its autonomy. What can the rest of the country learn from Manchester's success? Read the full piece here: arguably.uk/p/what-can-westm…

The Red Lion kerb tomorrow is going to be immense.

All Labour MPs should be looking at this very carefully. Potential leadership contenders who reckon that more borrowing and/or (even more) growth unfriendly policies on tax, spend and regulation are the way forward should reflect on it even more carefully.