The June 22 edition of The Spectator has gone to press, featuring: 🎮@William_Blake 🎮@roddreher 🎮@freyaindiaa 🎮@AllumBokhari 🎮@juliadyost 🎮@DouglasKMurray

Al Carns has also resigned as a defence minister. As a former Royal Marine, he has been ruthlessly focussed on how to modernise Britain’s defence. He and Healey have not always been as one on what modernisation means, which makes his resignation more than doubly damaging to the PM

I have explicitly asked Ofcom to discuss urgently with X and other platforms how they will comply with the Online Safety Act.

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The tributes that flowed for Alex Younger on his untimely death points to a hidden network of contacts between the state and the establishment media, sources who worked at the top flight of the British media told The National

Have you seen adverts of Nigel Farage fighting the Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey? So has The Times's James Marriott, who fears what AI is doing to our politics. "It's kind of halfway between fake news and halfway very internet trolling." @j_amesmarriott

Another important reason that we need to keep an eye on the Russians is the blue circle. NATO needs to keep that bit of sea clear as it is the main supply line between Europe and North America through which reinforcements would flow. Allegedly it’s also where our nuclear deterrent submarine hangs out (but who knows).

Great piece by @emmacduncan on the case for Palantir thetimes.com/comment/columni…

Our internal data shows Claude is accelerating AI development—a possible path to recursive self-improvement, or AI autonomously building a more capable successor. It’s happening faster than we thought, and the implications deserve greater attention. anthropic.com/institute/recu…

In an interview on Tuesday’s Newsnight about the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak, we mistakenly quoted the Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, as saying people should respond to his death with a “white, cold rage”. To be clear, Mr Farage actually said “pure, cold rage”, as had been stated earlier in the programme, and we apologise to him for this error.

Rep. McBride: “I assume you’re aware that Greenland is indeed part of Denmark?” Rubio: “For now.”

THE CASUAL COUP by @PronouncedAlva On the campaign trail with Andy Burnham: This is a campaign on several levels. Burnham has “a tough fight” against Reform, as I hear him say repeatedly while watching him door-knocking. But he’s also fighting two other implied contests: with a Labour selectorate of MPs and members, who soon may well have to decide whether to nominate or vote for him to replace Keir Starmer; and with the electorate at large, who soon could find themselves choosing between Burnham and Nigel Farage in a general election. This is a tight by-election against Farage’s Reform, but Burnham is already being scrutinised as a prospective prime minister. With three weeks to go until polling day, Burnham has allowed me to accompany him while campaigning in Makerfield, an invitation extended only to the New Statesman. He says this by-election is the last chance to stop Reform. “If I just put it in the terms of Greater Manchester, I feel we’re on the cusp. If we don’t pull it back now, I think something changes.” On Wigan Council, Labour lost all of the seats it was defending to Reform in May. “That’s a very big statement. You can’t just see that and minimise it.” When people ask him “Why this moment?” results like that are why. As one of Andy Burnham’s closest allies put it to me: “Whatever happens, this will be in the history books.” Cover photo by Niall Hodson for the New Statesman

New '60 Minutes' boss Nick Bilton storms out of staff meeting after explosive clash with Scott Pelley: 'Enjoy the bagels' trib.al/VQo90my

Eight things we learnt from the latest Mandelson files ft.trib.al/fBqkdD8

“I don’t think there’s a farmer alive who’s Labour anymore.” Jeremy Clarkson tells Times Radio there’s only one party doing very well with young farmers and it's Reform UK. @JeremyClarkson | @KateEMcCann