Ali Harman

Debt-ridden Worcestershire, eyeing a £71m government bailout, is the latest Reform authority to propose council tax rises – against party pledges and plans to save by cutting “unnecessary expenditure”.

🧵1/3

UK reports record-breaking budget surplus of £30.4bn in surprise boost for Rachel Reeves Largest January total since records began in 1993 is sharp reversal from December’s £11.6bn deficit

Another green shoot. Ironic that evidence of economic recovery is starting to build just as govt’s stock is lowest - it means they’re not getting credit for something that feels like it might actually be going right (shock, horror) www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Reform UK suspends by-election campaign activist over ‘antisemitic and misogynistic’ posts EXCLUSIVE: Adam Mitula, Reform UK’s interim campaign manager in Tameside, has been assisting Matt Goodwin's Gorton and Denton by-election campaign

So it turns out Matt Goodwin's Reform campaign manager was a holocaust-denying Nazi who said he would "never touch a Jewish woman.”

When do we start seeing all the coverage of the antisemitism crisis in Reform UK?

www.jewishnews.co.uk/reform-uk-su...

Raises the question over what precisely Matt Goodwin knew about his interim campaign manager’s Holocaust denialism and antisemitic remarks and when he knew it

The so-called (by Quitters) “Project Fear“ has understated our losses. Even worse than the projections for No Deal Brexit. And it isn’t even 10 yrs since we DID Brexit. Only 5yrs.

& We’re supposed to trust ReFuk & Tory Brexit cranks with the economy? Hard Brexit Labour close behind.

What was in the manifesto?

"Labour will also remove the discriminatory age bands, so all adults are entitled to the same minimum wage."

Today the PM said "We’ve made commitments to young people in our manifesto and we will keep to those commitments."

3/3

...about how Labour MIGHT slow or stop equalising the different rates of minimum pay, despite a manifesto promise to do so.

To stop negative media about Reform and hide their true intentions, a negative story about the government is fabricated and put out there.

And not for the first time...

2/2

If you don't know how all this works now here is a perfect example....

Yesterday: Reform were asked about minimum wage and the outcome was that they will reduce it - worrying people and getting some negative press.

Today: an unsourced, anonymously briefed, speculative story is 'revealled'...

1/2

Relaxed Friday Lunchtime Concert (27 Feb 26) | London Symphony Orchestra A short concert tailored for people who have sensory and communications impairments, learning disabilities, or who are neurodiverse.

LSO St Lukes:
Relaxed Friday Lunchtime Concert | London Symphony Orchestra share.google/wwKuGdjyCLkN...

They were not charged under terrorism laws

The Guardian view on Palestine Action: banning the group was a step too far | Editorial Editorial: The high court was right to rule that ministers stretched terror laws in proscribing direct action. Protest should be policed by criminal law

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/16/the-guardian-view-on-palestine-action-banning-the-group-was-a-step-too-far

#FreeSpeech #UK #PalestineAction

Can you do bike thefts next? 🙏

Action on Cycle Theft Petition London Cycling Campaign are calling for action to be taken on cycle theft. Sign the petition to pledge your support.

I've just signed @londoncycling.bsky.social's petition calling for action on cycle theft...

40,000 bikes are stolen every year in London. This has to change. Join me in calling for action: action.lcc.org.uk/theft

Reminds me of the story about Thomas Hardy's heart being stored in a biscuit tin, until the cat got it

Postpone The Celebrations On the face of it the English High Court ruling that the Palestine Action proscription is unlawful makes the decision that the proscription remains in pl...

Craig Murray says the High Court ruling that the #PalestineAction ban is unlawful looks like a set up for the government to win at appeal.

Craig knows his stuff and let's face it, the UK government are a nest of vipers.

Let's hope Craig is mistaken this time.

www.goodreads.com/author_blog_...

"it is not trans people or immigrants causing chaos for ordinary people, but well-connected billionaires and those in power who enable them."
"People like Farage have built their careers by preaching that shadowy elites are manipulating the system – he just leaves out that he is working with them."

Sky News reporting that the government have exercised immediately their right to appeal the High Court ruling on Palestine Action and thus the ban remains in force until the result of that appeal.

atrocious that the government is trying to force the courts to accept it's totalitarian ban.

UK ban on Palestine Action unlawful, high court judges rule Protest group’s co-founder wins legal challenge against decision to proscribe it under anti-terrorism laws

What a colossal waste of time, money, people's freedom, police resources, and public goodwill

Palestine Action ban ruled unlawful:

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Jim Ratcliffe chemical firms received up to £70m of UK state aid in last four years The government is preparing a £50m bailout for Ineos’s Grangemouth plant, after Jim Ratcliffe asked for help in October

Remember this?

#JimRatcliffe
#Grangemouth

That's not UK footage. If you check the posts and replies of the person who shared it, you'll see it's being referred to as Australian

Reform UK Treasurer kept contact with Epstein after sex conviction | Searchlight Richard Tice welcomes Nick Candy to Reform UK The recent release of a further tranche of Epstein-related documents has once again dragged elite political an ...

The release of the latest set of material from the 'Epstein files' reveals that Reform UK Treasurer Nick Candy maintained contact with Jeffrey Epstein even after his conviction for soliciting prostitution & trafficking a minor.

#NeverVoteReform

And the 2 child benefit cap? I thought they wanted that reinstated to pay for cheap beer or something

Thanks to @iansample.bsky.social at the Guardian for covering the devastating funding cuts that are being proposed for UK (astro)physics, and the dire impact these would have on young researchers. Will UKRI/STFC reconsider? Will the UKGov step in?🤞👩‍🔬🧪⚛️🔭

www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

me, librarian: I think information should be organized and structured logically so that searches are high in precision and recall

tech industry, 2000: nope, keyword searching and opaque relevance rankings are what you’ll get

…

tech industry, 2026: now you’ll just get fake hallucinatory text

Penny Mordaunt says Boris Johnson's Covid WhatsApp messages went missing - BBC News MP Penny Mordaunt tells the Covid inquiry messages to Boris Johnson and Michael Gove went missing.

They're not as wily as the Tories.

Penny Mordaunt says Boris Johnson's Covid WhatsApp messages went missing - BBC News share.google/phoqGI3knRZC...

McSweeney ‘asked if Mandelson US embassy role could be pa... PM’s chief of staff sought advice on behalf of disgraced former Labour peer, senior government sources claim

This Observer article suggests it wasn't her decision share.google/Z5XwKJIieCjn...

I don't know. Did she?

What was wrong with Karen Pierce, who was doing the job before Mandelson replaced her?

Palestine Action protesters not guilty of defence firm burglary The group are cleared of aggravated burglary over the alleged raid at an Elbit Systems warehouse.

Palestine Action group cleared of Elbit burglary in the UK... wow... www.bbc.com/news/article...

‘Small mercies’: north London cafe evictions paused after legal challenge City of London Corporation accused of lack of transparency in retendering process that handed contracts to Daisy Green

Oh not a Daisy Green cafe by any chance? Theines that North Londoners are petitioning against.
www.theguardian.com/business/202...