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Liz Webster: Well, this escalated quickly...

🚨 Well, this escalated quickly. On Sunday Nigel Farage told Laura Kuenssberg: “We live in a complainant society.” He claimed the repeated scrutiny of Reform’s finances was a deliberate attempt to “sully the name of the party”. Three days later, the Metropolitan Police have announced an investigation into allegations that donations to Reform UK may have broken electoral law. Reform denies the allegations and an investigation is not a finding of guilt. But this is precisely why political parties are scrutinised. Democracy requires elections AND accountability. Being asked where the money came from and whether electoral law was followed isn’t persecution. It’s democracy doing its job 👏

David Frost: Miliband cared nothing about our energy...

Miliband cared nothing about our energy security in his last job. Now he cares nothing about our national security. But this amateur diplomat has bitten off more than he can chew by taking on the Israelis. His immoral and shameful policy has turned a close ally, with a strong security and intelligence relationship, into an adversary (let us hope not for ever) for nakedly domestic electoral reasons. Today's announcement allows Labour to preen and posture, which is what they are best at, but will do nothing for peace in the Middle East, and damages our own national security into the bargain. Miliband is simply not up to the job.

Liz Webster: This is how political violence becomes...

‼️🚨 This is how political violence becomes normalised. Climate activists interrupted Nigel Farage’s Reform conference speech to question him about an alleged £5 million gift from crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne. Members of the crowd dragged, punched and kicked them. One activist was struck with a crutch; another had her hair pulled out. 🔥 How did Reform’s leading figures respond? Lee Anderson joked about holding a whip-round to replace the attacker’s walking stick. Robert Jenrick said protesters “take their chances”. Farage dismissed criticism of the violence as “utter nonsense”. First, opponents are branded “far-left” enemies, then attacking them is excused. Next, it becomes something politicians joke about. Eventually, intimidation becomes part of the movement’s culture. Most revealingly, the crowd used violence to shield a powerful politician from questions about billionaire money. The violence was not separate from the issue, it demonstrated it: concentrated wealth, political power and mob intimidation combining to silence democratic scrutiny. This is authoritarianism learning to walk.

June Slater: You couldn't make it up...

You couldn't make it up! 😂 Labour MPs accusing their own Home Secretary of lying! >Shabana Mahmood promised to push permanent residency from 5 years to 10 years. Hundreds of thousands were about to get full status, benefits, housing, NHS as settled. Then boom 💥 💥 New Home Office rules are out and — surprise! — that promise has vanished. Now her own lot are saying she's gone back on her word. Well, if you're like me and think immigration has been a bit too much too fast, that's actually good news for once. Let's see if she sticks to it‼️ The heat is on Labour calling Labour liars, what took them so lon 😜🥳

Ben Judah: What we are seeing with Miliband’s...

What we are seeing with Miliband’s sanctions package is the deepening of the post-American turn in British by foreign policy that began under Keir Starmer. Whereas previously London had been defined by a deferential Atlanticism, which prized access to Washington and looked for it to leadership on issues like European security and Israel-Palestine, Labour has brought a new approach to the Foreign Office in response to Donald Trump. First on Ukraine and progressively on Israel-Palestine, the UK has together with France taken the lead in building non-US led activist coalitions of Western states to push Washington or the international community in a certain direction. Each time this has been in response to the US dramatically abandoning old collective allied understandings and approaches to either European security or the Middle East. We saw this first emerge under Keir Starmer with the Foreign Office assembling of the Coalition of the Willing on Ukraine, then building an action coalition to put sanctions on extremist Israeli ministers and then moving to recognise Palestine as a state when David Lammy was Foreign Secretary. It has been customary to mock Britain’s declining influence with Dean Acheson’s famous old barb that the country “had lost an Empire but failed to find a role.” But those claiming the UK has no influence are actually missing what’s happening — the UK has found a role and an influential one, partially as a consequence of America abandoning hers. What that role is constitutes pulling together CANZUK countries (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK) with European Union members and their associates into these issue coalitions of non-US led Westerners. This move against the Israeli settlement project to attempt to protect the possibility of a two state solution from an extremist Israeli government is a continuation of this geopolitics.

Pouria Zeraati: The regime has decided to ramp...

Important/ The regime has decided to ramp up tensions in Yemen to compensate for losing control of the Strait of Hormuz. This won't lead anywhere either because even Lavrov has strongly condemned the attacks on Saudi Arabia. Pakistan and Turkey too. The Houthis carried out one of their largest attacks against Saudi Arabia in recent years last night. Targets included Abha International Airport, Aramco facilities in Abha, King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait, the Aramco oil refinery in Jizan, and Aramco facilities in Najran. Saudi officials confirmed the attacks and said 73 people, including several women and children, were injured. The UAE and Saudi Arabia, with US and Israeli support, have set a major trap for the mullahs and the IRGC :)
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