Adam Schwarz

A reminder that if we ensure Ukraine remains sovereign and free - Ukraine will become Europe’s security guarantee against the Russian war machine.

Boris Johnson's inept handling of Covid demonstrates why electorates living in normal times should vote for governments as if they were living in times of emergency.

Never presume you can vote for unserious people on the assumption that they will never have to make serious decisions.

UK Covid Inquiry concludes: 23,000 deaths could've been prevented if the March 2020 lockdown had been imposed just a week earlier.

No mistake by any prime minister in living memory has caused so many deaths in the UK.

The tragic and catastrophic price of Boris Johnson's incompetence & negligence.

No Reform UK MPs have turned up for the Home Secretary's statement on migrant settlement policy.

Yep, the Saudis already have Typhoons. F-35s are totally unnecessary and will be geopolitically destabilising. Not that the State/Def depts could care less under Trump.

The West's lifetime cost for the development, procurement and operation of F-35s is expected to be around $2 trillion.

$2 trillion of Western public taxpayer cash to maintain vital Western military superiority... only for Trump to just casually throw away.

Trump is a Western security threat.

Trump brags that the process to approve selling F-35s to Saudi Arabia will take just 24 hours.

This is the most advanced military capability in Western inventories being fast-tracked to a dictatorship that has deepening ties with the West's primary adversaries Russia and China.

Pence rebukes Trump for his comments on Khashoggi's murder:

"I would not have made that statement... I think it's very important that we never cast aside our deep commitment to freedom, to freedom of the press. Had I been given the opportunity... that meeting would have gone a little different."

Once again, Trump publicly rebukes US intelligence to protect a foreign dictator.

Strong echoes of Trump's Helsinki summit in 2018 when he favoured Putin's denial of interfering in US elections over the opinion of US intelligence services.

Trump defends Mohammed bin Salman over the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi:

"A lot of people didn't like that gentleman... Things happen... He knew nothing about it."

A US intelligence report concluded that bin Salman personally "approved an operation" to "kill or capture" Khashoggi.

Farage dictated government policy under the Conservatives.

Now he's dictating government policy under Labour.

When will the UK get a political leader with the courage to stand up to this aristo-populist demagogue?

Lib Dem Leader @eddavey.libdems.org.uk:

"A great British institution is under attack from a foreign government. President Trump is trying to destroy our BBC... Trump has undermined press freedom in America. Now he's trying to do the same here, disgracefully egged on by the leader of Reform."

This was so enjoyable to watch.

Trump is deteriorating physically and cognitively so rapidly during his second presidency.

He increasingly looks exhausted, falls asleep in public, repeats himself & appears confused/disorientated.

Biden's aging in office had nothing on this. I can't see Trump sustaining another 3+ years of this.

In the same press conference, Trump claimed to lower drug prices by a mathematically impossible "1200%" - up from his usual 200-300% claim.

I'm always watching, so far in vain, in the hope that a courageous reporter will ask, "Mr President, please explain how any price could fall more than 100%."

Trump says the US is collecting "hundreds of trillions of dollars" in tariff revenue.

The size of the entire world's economy is around $110 trillion.

Well I wasn't far off... He's just got one of his corrupt mates to do it instead.

There have been 263 UK prisoners released in error over the last year, but apparently it's only newsworthy when they happen to be a non-UK national.

Offenders are not more dangerous by virtue of being 'foreign'.

Media outlets need to stop helping the far-right poison our discourse with xenophobia.

This is a prime example of the xenophobia that right-wing forces are fueling for political gain - with the support of much of the British press.

The obessive hyper-focus on and exhibiting of non-UK national offenders is simply an attempt to demonise all migrants and asylum seekers.

James Cartlidge devotes his entire #PMQs stint to pressing David Lammy over whether any "asylum seeking offender" has been accidentally released from prison since Kebatu.

He did not ask whether any UK nationals, who account for 88% of offenders, have been accidentally released.

David Lammy hammers Farage and Reform UK for Sarah Pochin's comments on black and asian people appearing on TV adverts:

"The disgraceful racist language that we heard from a Reform UK MP last week belongs in the Dark Ages."

The online baying mob shouting "Vote Reform" after Saturday's train stabbing attack may wish to note that not a single Reform MP has turned up for the Home Secretary's statement on the incident.

Our little *checks notes* President of the United States is growing up so fast!

This should be a seminal moment for global efforts to stop male sexual violence against women and girls. Perhaps would-be abusers will think twice when even the most powerful and privileged men like Andrew are exposed & held accountable.

But that will only happen if we support survivors & families.

Powerful and moving interview with Virginia Giuffre's brother Sky and sister-in-law Amanda:

"He's just Andrew. He's no longer a prince... This normal girl, from a normal family, has taken down a prince. We are so proud of her."

"She was extraordinary. She did the extraordinary."

At every stage, the Monarchy took the minimum sanctions against Andrew that they thought they could get away with.

They had to be reluctantly dragged over several years into taking what should have been the obvious action against him - causing further pain to victims.

It's just wrong and shameful.

I'm already sick of hearing how "difficult" this decision must have been for the Royals.

Wanting to protect a relative is no excuse for years-long reluctance to remove Andrew's titles after credible allegations of abhorrent abuse were revealed.

This should've been an obvious & immediate decision.

She never lived to see this moment, but today's victory of accountability belongs to Virginia Giuffre.

It's thanks to her moral courage, perseverance through trauma and willingness to confront power that Andrew has finally been fully stripped of royalty.

Justice must now follow accountability.

This is obviously the correct decision from King Charles, but one that took far too long to make.

It's been 10+ years since Virginia Giuffre first made allegations against Andrew. She tragically took her own life last April and never got to see this moment.

Justice must now follow accountability.

Buckingham Palace has announced that it is removing all remaining styles, titles and honours of Prince Andrew:

"Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor."

He is also being evicted from his accommodation at Royal Lodge.

Correct action, but it should never have taken this long.