10 years ago my wife, the mum of our kids & the MP for Batley&Spen was killed by a far right extremist. At anniversaries I try to be optimistic about the future. But not this time. In the ten years since she was killed we have gone backwards & I fear our democracy is now at risk

Alice Powell and Abbi Pulling will be the BBC Sports commentators at this weekend's Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, the duo will be the BBC's first ever all-female commentary team for an F1 race, you can listen to their coverage on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

🚨 NEW: The second Makerfield by-election poll 🔴 LAB - 49% ( 6) ➡️ REF - 39% (-1) 🟣 RES - 8% ( 1) 🟢 GRN - 2% (-1) 🟠 LD - 1% (-3) 🔵 CON - 1% (-1) ⚪ OTHER - 1% (=) Via Survation, 518 sample, 26 May - 1 June

This is not just any Piss Off & Winde Your Neck In , this is a Marks & Spencer Piss Off & Winde Your Neck In

This is what entitlement looks like! 🤬 There are nesting waterbirds on this pond on Hampstead Heath... there are also big 'No Swimming' signs, all being totally ignored! 🤬 Pure selfishness... 😒🤬🤬 (Shared from Instagr*m with permission from 'swansofhampsteadheath')

isso aqui podia tranquilamente ser um trecho de the office x.com/racing_vids/status/205…

Stop looking for Burnhamism - in six years, I’ve never found it manchestermill.co.uk/stop-lo…

Everyone is going on about Burnham, but why is @YvetteCooperMP not considered a front runner? @UKLabour spectator.com/article/letter…

Why has @pocketcasts started login me out automatically every day? Its a podcatcher, not banking app. If its not fixed soon, I will have to jump to a competitor.

NEW - YouGov Labour members polling If there is a leadership contest, your first preference: Burnham 47% Starmer 31% Rayner 8% Streeting 4% Miliband 3% Cooper 3% Mahmood 1% Carns 0% Head to heads: Burnham 59% v Starmer 37% Burnham 80% v Streeting 10% Miliband 58% v Streeting 28% Rayner 70% v Streeting 19% On Keir Starmer, should he: Take party into next election 28% Remain as leader until closer to GE 33% Step down no / in months 33% YouGov polled 706 Labour members, May 14-18

A Labour source texts: “Cannot wait to be walking round Makerfield telling everyone to vote Labour to stop Starmer.”

🚨 BREAKING: The Makerfield by-election will take place on Thursday 18 June

The Safer Nicotine Revolution report sets Australia and New Zealand side by side. Australia banned over-the-counter vapes, New Zealand regulated and promoted them. Today nine in ten Australian vapers buy on the black market while New Zealand's smoking rate has halved. Read more: smokefreesweden.org/safer-ni…

I'm a Green Party member and will be campaigning for a council by-election candidate this weekend. But, if I was in Manchester, I would be campaigning for Burnham. Stopping Reform matters far more than party politics.

To clarify re Burnham (re 5 Live interview earlier): He remains Mayor of Gtr Man until/if he is elected MP for Makerfield. At that point he would legally forfeit his mayoral position and a GM Mayoral by-election process begins. If he loses in Makerfield he could continue as mayor

Makerfield By-Election Winner Odds (And Implied % Chance): LAB: 8/13 (53%) RFM: 5/4 (38%) RES: 16/1 (5%) GRN: 33/1 (2%) CON: 66/1 (1%) LDM: 200/1 (0%) Via @Ladbrokes, 14/05 @ 20:30.

BREAKING Sir Keir Starmer will have no choice but to allow Andy Burnham to stand in the Makerfield by-election, a senior government source has said. Both the Cabinet and Number 10 aides are clear that Starmer will not be able to block Burnham this time because his authority has been so severely weakened Josh Simons has stood down as the Labour MP for Makerfield to make way for Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester. Burnham is expected to challenge Starmer if he wins the by-election. In January Starmer used his majority on the National Executive Committee, Labour's ruling body, to block Burnham from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election. Labour subsequently finished third behind the Greens and Reform. A senior government source said that there is "no way" that Starmer can stop Burnham from standing now given that his authority has been so severely damaged. They said the view is shared by both the Cabinet and Number 10 aides. "It's all about Andy now," they said.

An ally of Andy Burnham says he is intentionally going for a Reform-facing seat to show he can win and beat them in a general election

I can confirm that I will be requesting the permission of the NEC to stand in the Makerfield by-election. I grew up in this area and have lived here for 25 years. I care deeply about it and its people. I know they have been let down by national politics. Ten years ago, I decided to leave Westminster. Why? Because, after 16 years, I came to the conclusion that our national political system does not work for areas like ours. I learnt this fighting its failure to invest in the Wigan borough, for justice for the Hillsborough families and against its treatment of Greater Manchester during the pandemic. Over the last decade, I have been challenging this failure from the outside and building a new and better way of doing politics. We have built Greater Manchester into the fastest-growing city-region in the UK and put buses back under public control, introducing a £2 fare cap to help people with cost-of-living pressures. However, there is only so much that can be done from Greater Manchester. Much bigger change is needed at a national level if everyday life is to be made more affordable again. This is why I now seek people’s support to return to Parliament: to bring the change we have brought to Greater Manchester to the whole of the UK and make politics work properly for people. Millions are struggling and they need the Labour Government to succeed. It has already made changes to make life better for them in its first two years. After this week, we owe it to people to come back together as a Labour movement, giving the Prime Minister and the Government the space and stability they need as the by-election takes place. I want to recognise the difficult decision taken by Josh Simons and the sacrifice he and his family are making. I have worked closely with him as Mayor on issues like flooding and illegal waste dumping and have seen first-hand how effective he has been. He has put the communities of Makerfield first, made a real difference for them and should take great pride in that. Finally, I truly do not take a single vote for granted and will work hard to regain the trust of people in the Makerfield constituency, many of whom have long supported our party but lost faith in recent times. We will change Labour for the better and make it a party you can believe in again. ENDS

When politics was better! You got the feeling that even John Major enjoyed the brilliance of John Smith’s wit.