If Britain starts restricting VPNs, we'll be joining an exclusive club that includes China, Russia and Iran. How did the country that gave the world the magna carta end up aligning our internet controls with authoritarian states?

Here’s my question to Wales’ First Minister which has generated so much controversy. I asked it for everyone who’s suffered harm at the hands of so-called asylum seekers. You have a voice in Reform.

Tomorrow in the Senedd Reform will hold a debate on ending international spending by the Welsh Government. We believe that the Welsh taxpayers’ money should be spent in Wales. I look forward to opening the debate.

And on that bombshell…

A large tree trunk has been uncovered beneath a glacier in the Alps, dated to around 6,000 years ago. The species is Swiss stone pine. Today, trees of that type cannot grow at that altitude because it is far too cold. 6,000 years ago aligns with the Holocene climate optimum, a time when temperatures were far higher than now, even with far less atmospheric CO2. Earth's climate is cyclical and Mother Nature self-regulates. Narratives of doom serve political aims, not reality.

Honestly this is embarrassing.

Top Reform source says they will “hang every single thing Burnham does to f— up the country around Restore’s neck. They will own him.” Internal party maths shows 8% nationally would leave Restore seatless but deprive Reform of up to 75, derailing any hopes of a majority. Others around Farage are more bullish, insisting it's more likely Restore will lose their deposit on Thursday than reach a double digit breakthrough

🇯🇵 Terminó el partido contra Holanda y los japoneses se quedaron para limpiar todo el estadio. La verdadera superioridad cultural.

Nunca dejes que las burlas de los demás detengan tus metas. Cuando propuse que el Hospital Rosales, que en ese momento era el peor hospital del país, se convirtiera en el mejor de Centroamérica, hasta mis propios ministros se rieron. Imaginen lo que decían la oposición y los incrédulos. Pero yo sabía que, con esfuerzo, disciplina y sin mirar hacia atrás ni hacia los lados, se podía lograr. Y lo logramos. Hoy, el Hospital Rosales es el mejor hospital de Centroamérica, público o privado. Cuenta con todas las especialidades médicas, el equipamiento más avanzado del mundo, 200 especialistas extranjeros y 3,000 salvadoreños listos para atender cualquier enfermedad de forma gratuita. El siguiente paso es que más hospitales de nuestro país alcancen ese nivel. Pronto tendremos otra sorpresa. Primero Dios.

Ed Miliband’s expensive mad dash to net zero has close to zero impact on climate change. So small as to be unmeasurable.

“The Deal with Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete. Congratulations to all!” President Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸

THE MUSIC CHART QUIZ ❤️❤️! What year ?? Please repost so others can play ! A nice UK chart .what year is it from Try to do it without using google or Grok . . #music #popchart #monday

🚨 Jürgen Klopp has launched a scathing attack on the cooling breaks being used during this World Cup. 👊 "Football is being held hostage by executives sitting in air-conditioned offices. These breaks are being presented as a shield for player welfare, a noble weapon against the heat. In reality, they are nothing more than a golden cage built for sponsors. When I saw players standing around during cooling breaks while television timeouts dictated the rhythm of the match, I couldn't help but ask myself: who is the World Cup really serving? The supporters? The players? Or the advertisers? A World Cup match should flow like a river. Instead, we are building dams in the middle of it so commercials can be shown. It's dangerous for the spirit of the game. Football used to be the main event, but it now risks becoming background music for an advertising show." He didn't hold back. 👏👏

It’s amazing isn’t it. The party that shouted from the rooftops about negotiating such a wonderful budget deal with Welsh Labour now discovers that they will have to make cuts or raise taxes. Watch the meaningless waffle increase over the next few weeks as they attempt to justify it.

People keep attacking the triple lock but nobody ever seems to mention gold plated civil service pensions. It’s those that will bankrupt the country.

🚨 WHEN FORMER SPY CHIEFS MI6 START WARNING THE COUNTRY, PEOPLE LISTEN Sir Richard Dearlove did not mince his words. Britain, he says, is being governed by a "bunch of students" who fail to grasp the dangers facing the world. His concern is not party politics. It is national security. And when a former head of MI6 openly questions whether the government understands the scale of the threats ahead, that should concern everyone. Because intelligence chiefs rarely speak this bluntly unless they believe something has gone badly wrong. @TVKev

One hell of a letter in The Times today from General Sir Nick Carter, a former head of the armed forces He warns that Britain risks becoming ‘Belgium with nuclear weapons’ unless it spends more on defence ‘Successive governments have hollowed our armed forces out to such a degree that if we do not spend what is needed now to arrest that decline, and transform them for the modern world, we risk becoming Belgium with nuclear weapons. And our enemies are watching’ Times letters: Britain’s slide down the Nato league table thetimes.com/article/5c37102…

I live in a country where the energy secretary and his climate committee commissars are promising to ban or severely restrict: Petrol and diesel cars Oil and gas drilling Gas heating Underfloor heating Tumble driers Fertiliser Air travel and Cattle They plan to forbid their way to prosperity. Please somebody explain to them why that won't work.

If this (god forbid) happens, I expect Miliband to start championing Thomas Piketty’s global “justice” proposals, which aim to enforce degrowth and redistribute resources. He will justify all of this in the language of climate justice / equality and call it Climate Justice Leadership. This is why Net Zero matters so much to him politically. It does not just describe an emissions problem to be solved. He believes it provides the moral authority for a much wider remaking of social and economic relations. That is what Margaret Thatcher was getting at when she warned that the global climate agenda “provides a marvellous excuse for worldwide, supra-national socialism.” There is an irony here. The left often blames Callaghan and Healey after 1976 for preparing the ground for Thatcherism / neo-liberalism by accepting the logic of monetarism. Yet in the 2000s and 2010s it was David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson who helped unwind Thatcher’s legacy by laying the foundations for Milibandism by accepting the logic of the climate agenda.

NEW: Bloomberg Saturday read — Andy Burnham is planning to move quickly after Makerfield to secure a coronation. His supporters think John Healey’s resignation kills off Keir Starmer’s chances of survival. They think Wes Streeting and Al Carns don’t have the numbers, and that Burnham can quickly get 250 Labour MPs and most of the cabinet to back him. — Starmer insists he’ll fight, but the question is what the cabinet does. Burnham’s supporters want them to tell the PM to agree a handover. Before Healey resigned, Starmer’s allies hoped he could battle on because most of the cabinet would back him to stay. Aides suggest the calculus is changing and Healey’s brutal exit makes it more likely they tell Starmer it’s over. — Even Starmer loyalists are very critical of the PM. They wish he’d been bolder, found the defence money from welfare, net zero or elsewhere, and sacked Ed Miliband. Several allies say they can’t believe Miliband and Shabana Mahmood (who they say privately plotted with Burnham and Miliband to oust Starmer) are still in the cabinet, but Healey isn’t. One says that’s the final evidence of his lack of authority, political judgment and decision-making ability. — Starmer’s relationship with Rachel Reeves has been tested to the limit. Her resistance led Starmer to renege on his Munich speech and overrule Healey and Jonathan Powell. She effectively buried his survival strategy of focusing on security. Reeves allies argue it’s her job to make the numbers add up and if Starmer wanted more money for defence he could have imposed more departmental cuts but was unwilling. — Burnham will not keep Reeves on as his chancellor, despite her allies pitching her to stay. Reappointing her would not be the change he’s promising, one Burnham supporter says. They say they spoke to Reeves around the locals and came away believing she would help them persuade Starmer to go, but she didn’t follow through. — The turmoil is rattling UK allies. European diplomats contacted British counterparts in recent days complaining about the uncertainty over the UK’s defence spending plans, the slow pace of the uplift and Healey’s departure. They’ve also asked for information about Burnham’s plans for foreign policy and defence but got no answer. — If Burnham does become PM he’ll face the same problems. His critics say he’s never uttered a word of substance on defence or foreign policy, shows no interest in it and has no plan. It is not impossible that in the next few months the British PM has to join negotiations with Putin over Ukraine. “Can you imagine Burnham doing that?” asks one official, especially with Powell likely to leave with Starmer. — Starmer’s chaos also distracted from what might otherwise have been a bad week for Burnham. He got away with his WASPI gaffe thanks to Healey. Labour MPs are also critical of his plans on immigration. One aide said his proposal to end asylum hotel contracts and move responsibility for housing migrants to local authorities is amateurish and toxic. — It all leaves Labour MPs in a state of total despair. Starmer looks finished but Burnham has no obvious plan and keeps making basic mistakes that foreshadow another troubled premiership, one said. If Burnham loses Makerfield, Labour appears to have no other options. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…