Paul Clarke

The case for implementing a form of PR, all wrapped up neatly in one map.

France will deploy anti-missile and anti-drone systems in Cyprus, and will also send a frigate to the island to enhance the country's defense capabilities - Cyprus News Agency.

Feeling the same. Two main problems for me - 1) immigration/asylum policies are dreadful, and 2) despite point 1, there's so much good stuff Labour are doing, yet their primary messaging point is *still* immigration/asylum.

Greens on the rise, Reform support declining, yet this is the approach?!

My Labour membership is stretched to breaking point.

This author's LLM definitely hasn't.

Got to love a leading question. You could ask Trump if Starmer's policy is the result of wicked elves climbing down the No10 chimneys and get this answer.

It's all so avoidable! My soon to be sister in law and her fiancé just got free solar panels installed by their Labour council, funded by a Labour government - they're very pleased and this should be the sort of thing that gets us loyalty! But it can't because we insist on chatting bullshit!

Em dashes galore, breaking up word soup, screams "I've used AI and not bothered to proof read".

Rayner's HMRC investigation is still ongoing, so could be problematic. Streeting has the problem of...errrm...being Wes Streeting, which will spark endless outrage.

The timing may work for change, but that brings us back to the same question - change to who?

Labour's immigration/asylum policy is doubly ridiculous.

On the one hand, it flies in the face of Labour values by any measure. On the other hand, it's being done to try and attract Reform voters, and Reform's support has been declining for a while now.

Government needs to open their eyes here.

YouGov arent find out now - while theyre a major outlier presently theyre entirely credible. This should be treated as such, not dismissed.

Still, I'm sure Labour being mean to asylum seekers again will solve the problem.

Starmer’s position on Iran pleases no one, but that is because there are no good options | Rafael Behr None of the prime minister’s critics engages with the hard strategic dilemmas arising from Britain’s perilous dependency on US power, says Guardian columnist Rafael Behr

#Nutshell

If there's one thing I love about this platform, it's the constant embarrassing display from Americans, where we get to see all your "hot takes" about what Europeans are doing wrong, presented without a hint of irony as Trump's boot pushes harder on your necks, while you do nothing but talk big.

Starmer says UK will not join ‘regime change from the skies’ on Iran PM defends use of UK bases for defensive action but says Britain has learned lessons from Iraq on need for ‘thought-through plan’

Keir Starmer has issued his strongest rebuke yet of Donald Trump’s action in Iran, saying the UK did not believe in “regime change from the skies”.

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

Nigel Farage's Long History of Crying ‘Fraud’ Whenever His Party Loses Elections The Reform UK leader has a long record of blaming his own party's election defeats on "cheating" by ethnic minorities, yet no evidence of it can ever be found

Every time Nigel Farage's parties have lost an election he has blamed it on "cheating" by ethnic minorities and every time he receives huge amounts of media attention for doing so.

The only problem? No evidence of cheating is ever found
bylinetimes.com/2026/03/02/n...

Graph from NetBlocks showing network connectivity in Iran from February 24, 2026, to March 2, 2026. The y-axis represents normalized connectivity, ranging from 0% to 100%, and the x-axis represents the dates. The green line representing Iran's connectivity normal most of the time period, with a sharp drop on the morning of February 28. The drop in connectivity aligns with nation-scale internet blackout imposed during joint military strikes by the US and Israel. The minimum and current connectivity levels are indicated as 1% and 1%, respectively. The chart has a dark background with a red horizontal arrow labeled 'SHUTDOWN', indicates the period of disruption and includes the NetBlocks logo in the lower left corner.

⚠️ Update: #Iran's internet blackout has now passed the 60-hour mark.

The incident leaves the people cut off from the world without access to sources of information vital for safety and situational awareness, and out of touch with loved ones abroad as the conflict escalates.

That's a lot of peers needed to overtake Tories...

Conservative: 280
Labour: 230
Crossbenchers: 178
LDs: 76
Non-affiliated: 45
Bishops: 24
DUP: 6
UUP: 3
Greens: 2
Plaid Cymru: 2
Conservative Ind: 1
Lord Speaker: 1

(The absolute state of it!)

Which didn't stop the BBC immediately announcing the Israeli/US attacks as "preemptive strikes".
Grow some balls BBC. He can't even remember what he had for breakfast, let alone that he was going to sue you for your stupid audio stitch up.

A significant number of the old FBPE crowd on Twitter are now delusional and misguided on the rejoin debate. Many of them are still trotting out arguments from 10 years ago, that failed then, and aren't even relevant now.

Brexit broke a lot of people, whether on the political right, left or centre.

PM says the drone that hit RAF Akrotiri was launched before any announcement to lend UK bases to the US.

He also says the US is not currently using Akrotiri.

NEW: Keir Starmer responds to Trump criticism:

"President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved with the initial strikes.

But it is my duty to judge what is in Britain's national interest. That is what I have done. And I stand by it."

Starmer:

"President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved in the initial strikes. But it is my duty to judge what is in Britain's national interest. That is what I've done, and I stand by it."

France, Germany, UK ready to take 'defensive action' against Iran France, Germany and the UK said Sunday they were ready to defend their interests and those of its allies in the Gulf if necessary by taking "defensive action" against Iran.

Aligned with E3 position from what I've seen:

www.france24.com/en/live-news...

There we go, France will increase its nuclear arsenal, intensify nuclear weapons cooperation with the UK, develop share frameworks with Germany and other EU partners.

Same as they were when Farage declared working from home as the root of all evil at a previous rally.

🇮🇷 After the #US and #Israel launched an air strike campaign on #Iran this past weekend, #Tehran retaliated with attacks on American, French and British military bases in the region.

🔴 For updates, follow our live blog here ➡️ https://go.france24.com/8Ro

We're not. Reform's base are and will believe it.

Ministry of Defence News Directorate of morale guidance Doha - Qatar 02 March 2026 The Ministry of Defense of the State of Qatar announces that the State of Qatar was attacked by two drones launched from the Republic of Iran. One drone targeted a water tank belonging to a power plant in Mesaieed, and the other targeted an energy facility in Ras Laffan Industrial City, belonging to Qatar Energy, without reporting any human casualties. All damages and losses resulting from the attack will be assessed by the relevant authorities, and an official statement will be issued later. The Ministry also urges citizens, residents, and visitors to remain calm, adhere to official instructions issued by the security authorities, avoid rumors, and rely solely on information released through official channels May Allah protect Qatar, its Amir, its people, and all those residing on its land.

Qatar’s Defence Ministry says two Iranian drones targeted energy infrastructure — striking a water tank at a power plant in Mesaieed and an energy facility in Ras Laffan Industrial City. No casualties were reported.

QatarEnergy has temporarily halted LNG production as a precaution.

Bloomberg terminal showing the spike in natural gas prices

JFC. European gas prices just surged 50%.