Libby Brooks

The Muppet Show: this thrilling return is so great I can’t even count how many times I laughed Sabrina Carpenter fangirling Miss Piggy, Beaker losing his eyes … yes, Kermit and co are back for a trip down memory lane – and it’s a perfect, saucy joy

A public service announcement for anyone needing a break from all this 👈 👇 👆 👉 ...the new Seth Rogen-produced Muppet Show is on from TODAY

www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Right putting this on blast: what we have here is a sitting MSP and cabinet minister deliberately misrepresenting the situation in their seat by pretending it hasn't a substantial boundary changes. One of many reasons not to use FPTP (and, indeed, STV) is the incentive for this bad behaviour.

Deaths of two more patients at Glasgow hospital under investigation Prosecutors say seven deaths now being looked at in connection with Queen Elizabeth university hospital

Deaths of two more patients at scandal-hit Glasgow hospital under investigation

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

Lord Wallace of Tankerness obituary Influential Liberal and Lib Dem politician who served as Scotland’s deputy first minister from the outset of devolution

Lord Wallace of Tankerness obituary

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Police plans to stop recording lower-level hate incidents in England and Wales ‘a disaster for disabled people’, campaigners warn Shabana Mahmood confirmed earlier this week that the controversial category of non-crime hate incidents would be scrapped

There’s been a lot of discussion about policing reform this week, but this seems one overlooked aspect - the impact on disabled people of the move away from recording/investigating lower level hate incidents

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

Sorry to hear that - if you email me the post code I can send it on to our data team to fix?

Starmer announces visa-free travel to China after talks with Xi in Beijing – UK politics live Downing Street gives no date for when the agreement of 30 days of visa-free travel will come into force

Anas Sarwar blasts Scottish government over hospital contaminated water scandal as he reveals "damning evidence" of cover-up - politics live

www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

How has your local high street changed since 2019? Check your postcode The makeup of Great Britain’s high streets has changed dramatically. See what the data says about where you live

Check how your local high street has changed - this is such an interesting exercise from our data team

www.theguardian.com/business/ng-...

Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland as MSPs back law Rest of UK has resisted calls to make builders install bricks that provide nesting for swifts and other endangered birds

Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland as MSPs back law that UK Labour rejected - @patrickbarkham.bsky.social reports

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘I’d been singing the wrong word for 30 years’: Deacon Blue on how they made Dignity ‘It’s become a sort of folk song. It’s played at weddings and funerals. Dundee United play it when we win. I’ve met people who’ve told me, “I was a worker for the council for 20 years” – just like the...

And if anyone's interested in how Dignity was made, this is lovely www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...

YouTube video by DeaconBlueVEVO Deacon Blue - When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring)?

Ofc the best part about this story is the excuse to listen to Raintown all day. I mean, what an album people! I always feel like When Will you (Make My Telephone Ring) doesn't get the credit it deserves
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWSi...

Deacon Blue ‘appalled’ by Reform UK’s Scottish leader quoting their song lyrics Exclusive: Band hit out at party’s ‘poisonous rhetoric’ after Malcolm Offord makes reference to Dignity during speech

NEW: I asked @deaconbluemusic.bsky.social what they thought of Reform UK's Scotland leader Malcolm Offord quoting their greatest hit, Dignity

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Reform says it would cut green policies to fund £2bn income tax cut in Scotland Party’s pitch to voters in May Holyrood elections dismissed as ‘profoundly unserious, almost comically so’ by analysts

"We need to prioritise our own people over strangers" says Reform UK's new Scottish leader, multimillionaire financier Malcolm Offord

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Setting out his “vision for Scotland”, Reform UK’s new leader north of the border quotes Deacon Blue’s classic song Dignity as encapsulating the Scottish work ethic… looking forward to Ricky Ross’s thoughts on this

‘Molly never got to hear it’: fury as denials finally end on Glasgow hospital infections Families accuse health board of ‘deceit and cowardice’ after years-long battle to prove contaminated water was linked

‘Molly never got to hear it’: fury as denials finally end on Glasgow hospital infections

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

Between the bars: theatrical gig about life after prison reveals hard truths of homecoming A Giant on the Bridge, performed by a ‘Scottish indie folk supergroup’, draws on dozens of interviews about the confines former prisoners experience on the outside

Love the sound of this 'Scottish indie folk supergroup', written up here by @arusa.bsky.social Qureshi

www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/j...

Scottish health board admits hospital water system linked to fatal infections NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde makes last-minute U-turn in submission to hospitals inquiry

Anas Sarwar calls for government ministers to be held accountable as Glasgow health board admits hospital water system linked to fatal infections in dramatic u-turn

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

‘I love that there’s this big gay thing in the middle of Scotland’: Ian McKellen and Graham Norton join Alan Cumming for Out in the Hills New LGBTQ+ festival included McKellen in a fiery monologue and Norton in conversation, as well as a queer ceilidh and ‘kilted yoga’

‘I love that there’s this big gay thing in the middle of Scotland’: Ian McKellen and Graham Norton join Alan Cumming for Out in the Hills

www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/j...

‘The response is a beautiful thing’: how Glasgow is squaring up to Reform In the face of Nigel Farage, flag-waving and a longstanding housing crisis, some Glaswegians are taking on anti-immigration rhetoric

With Nigel Farage in Scotland today, I’m re-upping my report on how Glasgow is squaring up to Reform’s ongoing attacks on the city

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

‘The response is a beautiful thing’: how Glasgow is squaring up to Reform In the face of Nigel Farage, flag-waving and a longstanding housing crisis, some Glaswegians are taking on anti-immigration rhetoric

I asked bilingual high schoolers in Glasgow what they made of Nigel Farage's criticism of their language skills...
“Speaking another language definitely improved my cognitive skills and my memory", 16 year old Maria told me. "And it opens doors for jobs.”

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

‘The response is a beautiful thing’: how Glasgow is squaring up to Reform In the face of Nigel Farage, flag-waving and a longstanding housing crisis, some Glaswegians are taking on anti-immigration rhetoric

Reform UK has launched repeated attacks on Glasgow - over asylum policy, housing, schools - I spoke to those working at the front line about the realities of a city under pressure

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

UK LGBTQ+ charities are in ‘hostile environment’ amid falling donations, experts warn Stonewall’s corporate funding halves against backdrop of US attacks on DEI and freezing of aid for LGBTQ+ causes

UK LGBTQ+ charities are in ‘hostile environment’ amid falling donations, experts warn

www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Swinney insisted that his strategy “couldn’t be clearer” that a second referendum “flows from” a SNP Holyrood majority - it’s a “fundamental democratic principle” with a precedent in 2011 - but still no answer to what happens when UK government still says no

John Swinney is the first of three party leaders speaking to supporters this morning as Scottish politics gets set for Holyrood elections in May, which will be a measure of how successful Reform has been in building support in Scotland and a likely test of Kier Starmer’s leadership

Racial and religious hate crime on UK public transport is growing, data shows Anti-racism groups warn some people are avoiding public transport or limiting their use of it for fear of abuse

I spoke to Courtney, who live-streamed her racist abuse on a Glasgow train, as data shows hate on public transport is rising

www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Campaigner turned down MBE over ‘scapegoating’ of people with disabilities Exclusive: In letter declining proposed award, Tressa Burke, CEO of Glasgow Disability Alliance, accused government of ‘fuelling hatred’

NEW Tressa Burke of Glasgow Disability Alliance turned down MBE over ‘scapegoating’ of people with disabilities

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

Hi Katie, no I spoke to more trans people but they didn’t all want to be quoted. In context, it’s appropriate to speak to lawmakers and other interested parties regardless of their gender identity

‘For the first time, she could tell people who she was’: Ireland’s gender recognition decade Ireland’s 2015 Gender Recognition Act was born in an era of optimism and consensus, but as gender-critical activism grows so does debate whether it can hold

‘For the first time, she could tell people who she was’: Ireland’s gender recognition decade

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Parents of sextortion victim sue Meta for alleged wrongful death Exclusive: Lawsuit is the first UK case of its kind, with Ros and Mark Dowey accusing Meta of ‘putting profit before our young people’

I first met the Doweys in April last year and remain in awe of their courage and tenacity. Now they are taking on the multimedia hiant Meta over the death of their son Murray

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Parents of sextortion victim sue Meta for alleged wrongful death Exclusive: Lawsuit is the first UK case of its kind, with Ros and Mark Dowey accusing Meta of ‘putting profit before our young people’

NEW Parents of Murray Dowey, the Dunblane teenager who took his life after being blackmailed on Instagram, sue Meta for alleged wrongful death www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...