Color Scheme

Liz Webster: Polly Mackenzie nails it on Newsnight…

✅ Polly Mackenzie nails it on Newsnight: If you want to give Starmer’s failing government a bloody nose, vote for @AndyBurnhamGM in Makerfield. “Vote Labour, get rid of Starmer because the point is actually Andy Burnham can get rid of Keir Starmer by September rather than Nigel Farage, who's gonna take years to do it.” “I don't understand why he's not campaigning on that, to be honest, because to me it's the slam dunk victory in Makerfield.” #AndyForMakerfield #SaveBritishFarming

Deborah Haynes: We feel like window…

“We feel like window dressing for a government that doesn’t actually care” - that’s the verdict of one defence industry source after about 20 companies were invited by the Ministry of Defence to showcase their kit at the launch of a vast drone-testing centre in Swindon. At a minimum, those who attended had hoped to meet the new defence secretary. Instead, many were left disappointed as Dan Jarvis rushed in, gave a short speech, looked at a few stalls and then sped off. “I don’t know why we bothered” said another source.⬇️

Andrew Bridgen: THE "ELON" FACTOR…

🚨🇬🇧THE "ELON" FACTOR: Starmer’s Censorship Hits the Wall as US Tech Giants Intervene! The emergency legal injunction from No. 10 didn't just fail—it backfired on a global scale. As Keir Starmer’s team worked through the night to "scrub" the Katie Hopkins video from UK servers, a massive response came from across the ocean. Late last night, a major US tech platform (X) officially declined to comply with the British "D-Notice," citing First Amendment protections. Within hours, the banned footage was "pinned" to the top of every feed, rendering the UK censorship order completely useless. Katie Hopkins appeared on a massive US news broadcast, laughing at the attempt to silence her: "Keir, you forgot one thing—the internet doesn't have a border, and freedom of speech is a global currency." While Starmer faces a diplomatic nightmare with Washington over "Digital Sovereignty," Nigel Farage has landed in Parliament Square, welcoming the first wave of protesters. The "Digital Iron Curtain" that Starmer tried to build has been torn down by a single click from Silicon Valley. The Saturday rally isn't just about Katie anymore—it’s now a global movement for the right to speak. @ScaryEurope

Carl Benjamin: The coping and seething that Reform folds…

The coping and seething that Reform folds to the slightest competition is the real embarrassment. You have no energy, no vision, and a party leader who keeps getting pictured with his head in his hands. Worst of all, you did this to yourselves. You don't get to decide if we engage in politics or not, and when you are losing because of it, you don't get to whine like an entitled baby that we didn't vote for you. No more fell for it again awards. No more stabs in the back from the literal ministers of the Boriswave. No more bitch politics from insecure party leaders lying to the cops and smearing peoples' reputations. We have had enough of business as usual. No excuses. No surrender.

Alex Wickham: NEW: Bloomberg Saturday read…

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.

Liz Webster: Britain’s decision to Brexit…

Britain’s decision to Brexit has already imposed a significant economic and practical cost for far fewer gains than were promised. But Brexit isn’t done hurting us. In a world of trade wars, energy shocks and geopolitical instability, choosing to erect barriers with our largest market has made Britain more exposed, less resilient and less able to absorb global shocks. The cruel irony is that Brexit was sold as a route to prosperity and control. Instead, it has left Britain facing the very thing economists fear most: stagflation - higher prices, weaker growth and falling living standards.

Moazzam Begg: The pogroms in #Belfast aren’t anti-migrant…

The pogroms in #Belfast aren’t anti-migrant. They’re unabashedly racist. The rioters descend from English migrant families. That’s why you’ll see Union Jacks and St. George’s in their areas, even though they’re on the island of Ireland and speak with strong Irish accents. You’ll never hear them attack America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Israel, nations literally built upon illegal European immigration. That’s because their own relatives and forebears are illegal migrants to these lands. These racists love illegal immigration so much you’ll find Israeli flags flying outside loyalist homes, above their own Ulster Banners. They loved apartheid in South Africa by white settlers against indigenous blacks. They revel in the genocide and ethnic cleansing of indigenous Palestinians by migrant Europeans. But, somehow, they can’t stomach a few Africans and Asians in their own areas. In addition to being racists, the street thugs and their enablers @RupertLowe10 , @Nigel_Farage , @TRobinsonNewEra , @GBNEWS et al are also hypocrites extraordinaire.

Liz Webster: Newsnight @gilliantett…

🚨 Newsnight @gilliantett cut to the chase: “This clearly is a mess of Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves’ making, bc they should’ve seen it.” She said Healey and Cairns have “played a masterstroke” by detonating a political landmine. But while Westminster fights internal battles and obsesses over fiscal rules and defence budgets, British 🇬🇧 farming is being allowed to decline. This government came in treating farming as an industry it could afford to neglect, repeating the mistake of treating a strategic sector as expendable. 🔥 Food is not just another industry. 🔥 Food is part of defence. The 1947 Agriculture Act understood this lesson after WW2: a country that cannot feed itself is vulnerable to war, blockades, climate shocks and hostile powers controlling supply chains. Food production is as fundamental to national resilience as energy, infrastructure and defence capability. We need to restore the principles of the 1947 Agriculture Act: treating food production as a public good and a national security priority. Food security is national security.
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