Josh Halliday

DWP permanent secretary to step down after carer’s allowance scandal Peter Schofield tells staff he will leave the department for personal reasons The government’s top welfare official is to step down after his department’s handling of a longstanding benefits failure that plunged thousands into debt and became known as the carer’s allowance scandal. Sir Peter Schofield, the permanent secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions, announced to staff on Monday that he is to step down in July for personal reasons. Continue reading...

DWP permanent secretary to step down after carer’s allowance scandal

‘You’d be ashamed to bring someone here’: The struggling billionaire-owned high street that shows Reform’s road to No 10 Newton Aycliffe was meant to be a model town for a fairer postwar Britain. But unaffordable rents on a high street amounting to 0.12% of its property tycoon owner’s holdings have made it a symbol of d...

Britain's high streets will be one of the key electoral battlegrounds for months and years to come. Reform UK are making big advances in towns suffering the greatest high street decline.

Big piece from one multibillionaire-owned town centre in County Durham:

www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i...

‘A pollster’s nightmare’: stakes are high in three-way fight for Gorton and Denton Labour faces a battle to hold on to its 13,000 majority, with the Greens the bookies’ favourite and Reform hoping to gain from split vote on left

My piece on the Gorton and Denton byelection after a week tailing the Greens, Labour and Reform in one of the most unpredictable contests in years

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

‘You’d be ashamed to bring someone here’: The struggling billionaire-owned high street that shows Reform’s road to No 10 Newton Aycliffe was meant to be a model town for a fairer postwar Britain. But unaffordable rents on a high street amounting to 0.12% of its property tycoon owner’s holdings have made it a symbol of d...

You’d be ashamed to bring someone here’: The struggling billionaire-owned high street that shows Reform’s road to No 10

Read @joshhalliday.bsky.social’s incredible interactive tale of Newton Aycliffe. From postwar New Jerusalem to boarded-up shopping desert:

www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i...

Gah sorry both!! Still getting used to this Bluesky haven.

Labour risks election wipeout unless it improves Britain’s high streets, study finds Decay of town centres a top issue among voters especially Reform UK supporters and is fuelling resentment against Westminster

Labour will be “washed away in a tide of discontent” at the next general election unless it tackles the decline of Britain’s high streets, a study by @willjennings.bsky.social and others has warned.

See our expert analysis by @michaelgoodier.bsky.social here:

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

‘You’d be ashamed to bring someone here’: The struggling billionaire-owned high street that shows Reform’s road to No 10 Newton Aycliffe was meant to be a model town for a fairer postwar Britain. But unaffordable rents on a high street amounting to 0.12% of its property tycoon owner’s holdings have made it a symbol of d...

Britain's high streets will be one of the key electoral battlegrounds for months and years to come. Reform UK are making big advances in towns suffering the greatest high street decline.

Big piece from one multibillionaire-owned town centre in County Durham:

www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i...

Labour risks election wipeout unless it improves Britain’s high streets, study finds Decay of town centres a top issue among voters especially Reform UK supporters and is fuelling resentment against Westminster * How has your local high street changed since 2019? Check your postcode * The struggling billionaire-owned high street that shows Reform’s road to No 10 Labour will be “washed away in a tide of discontent” at the next general election unless it tackles the decline of Britain’s high streets, a study has warned, as Guardian analysis lays bare the changing face of town centres. Research by the University of Southampton found people feel high streets have declined more than any other part of their local area over the past decade, as household brands collapsed and shoplifting rose. Continue reading...

Labour risks election wipeout unless it improves Britain’s high streets, study finds

Exactly that! I liked the ‘Human Made’ logo too. And you’re based in the Eden Valley?! It’s made me really want to revisit. Have you noticed any increase in visitors since Helm came out?

Since precisely no one has asked, my book of the year is Helm by Sarah Hall.

For a novel about the wind - or a specific type of wind in a specific part of Cumbria - it's absolutely brilliant, amazing sweeping storytelling spanning hundreds of years. Perfect for cold, dark winter nights.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a shocker - these briefings are a really important opportunity to hold the government to account.

A wrong Grok post making up a white guy who stopped the Australian mass shooting.

BBC 'Hero' who wrestled gun from Bondi shooter named as Ahmed al Ahmed Emily Atkinson Sun, December 14, 2025 at 1:06 p.m. CST 2 min read A "hero" bystander who was filmed wrestling a gun from one of the Bondi Beach attackers has been named as 43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed. Video verified by the BBC showed Mr Ahmed run at the gunman and seize his weapon, before turning the gun round on him, forcing his retreat. Mr Ahmed, a fruit shop owner and father of two, remains in hospital, where he has undergone surgery for bullet wounds to his arm and hand, his family told 7News Australia.

This is fucking grim. Somebody invented a white guy, an "IT professional" named Edward Crabtree, who stopped the Bondi shooting and spread it all over the internet, which was picked up by AI agents and slop aggregation sites.

The real hero is a fruit stand owner named Ahmed el Ahmed.

Labour’s Andrew Gwynne says he has no plans to give up seat for Andy Burnham Exclusive: MP dismisses as ‘idle speculation’ reports he could resign as part of ‘coup’ against Keir Starmer

Excl: Andrew Gwynne says he has no intention of stepping down as he dismisses "idle speculation" he will give up his Greater Manchester seat for Andy Burnham

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

Sure. Am following. Feel free to email either: Josh.Halliday@theguardian.com - thanks

Senior DWP civil servant blames victims for carer’s allowance scandal Neil Couling said failings by individual claimants ‘at the heart’ of crisis, despite a report finding DWP shortcomings ‘unacceptable’

shocking tale of peak British officialdom from @patrickjbutler.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Broadcaster targeted with racist slurs accuses Farage of emboldening ‘toxic environment’ online Farage is responsible for ‘dangerous’ culture shift, says broadcaster subject to alleged posts from Reform councillor

Nigel Farage is “emboldening” abuse of people of colour, says broadcaster @sangitamyska.bsky.social, after a Reform UK council leader was expelled from the party for alleged racial slurs against her and others:

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

Reform council leader accused of racism after alleged remarks about Sadiq Khan Ian Cooper allegedly called Khan ‘narcissistic Pakistani’ and made comments about lawyer Shola Mos-Shogbamimu

A Reform UK council leader has been accused of racism after allegedly describing Sadiq Khan as a “narcissistic Pakistani” and saying a black British lawyer should have “F’d off back to Nigeria”.

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

Leaked report reveals culture of bullying and harassment at scandal-hit NHS hospital Exclusive: report into Blackpool Victoria hospital by Royal College of Physicians finds systemic failings have affected patient safety A culture of systemic bullying and harassment has been allowed to flourish among staff at one England’s most scandal-hit hospitals, a damning leaked report reveals. The safety of patients at Blackpool Victoria hospital was affected as a result of the failings, the report by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) found. Continue reading...

Leaked report reveals culture of bullying and harassment at scandal-hit NHS hospital

Yep

Mine were Pink Pony Club (closely pipping the Frozen banger, Let It Go) and Today in Focus. Also giving centrist dad, but I made the mistake of letting my four year old play Spotify at home.

Premature e-publication 👏

Three more ex-pupils at school with Nigel Farage reject ‘banter’ claims Exclusive: Dulwich college contemporaries ‘rubbish’ Reform UK leader’s suggestion alleged racist taunts not intended to hurt

New: Three new ex-pupils come forward, on the record, to say Farage's racism as a teenager was targeted, persistent and nasty. Farage has denied targeting any individuals - but two of the men tell us they recall Farage abusing Peter Ettedgui.

w/ Dan Boffey, @drblacklock.bsky.social

Big Carer’s Allowance moment coming tomorrow…

‘Too little, too late’: damning report condemns UK’s Covid response Report on handling of pandemic contains stinging criticism of ‘toxic and chaotic’ culture inside Boris Johnson’s No 10

My story from a day reading the very long and very damning report by the official Covid inquiry into the actions of government during the pandemic.

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

👏👏👏👏

Inside the Rudakubana house where parents let 'evil go unchecked' SPECIAL REPORT: The ECHO lifts the lid on what life was like in the Rudakubana household after listening to every minute of the family's inquiry evidence

This is top-tier reporting from @paddyedrich.bsky.social into the disturbing world inside Southport killer Axel Rudakubana’s home and the terrifying signs of what was to come

Parents, multiple authorities, X and Amazon, loads of failures.

Not just more holes than a sieve, it was like a hole with bits of loose string over it.

Parental failure and gaps in the law: why the Southport atrocity was preventable After nine weeks of inquiry evidence, a picture has emerged of systemic breakdown and poor information sharing

After nine weeks of evidence and more than 100 witnesses, my big read on how the Southport atrocity could - and should - have been prevented:

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

Parental failure and gaps in the law: why the Southport atrocity was preventable After nine weeks of inquiry evidence, a picture has emerged of systemic breakdown and poor information sharing

Over nine weeks and more than 100 witnesses, the Southport inquiry heard in shocking detail how the atrocity was completely preventable.

Testimony from the families was the most harrowing and heartbreaking I’ve heard in 15 years of reporting.

Full story 👇

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

Just wanted to say that this, like pretty much everything you do, was a bloody masterpiece. Bravo! He sounds excellent.