Steph Martin

The Green Party of England and Wales says it now has more members than the Lib Dems: 83,500 to 83,174 with "hundreds more joining daily".

Interestingly, both parties are growing while Reform and the Conservatives are shedding members.

You’re about 400 years too late.

Off to The Other Palace to see new work “Valhalla” today. Written by Kitty McDonald.

The right (and centre, obvs) is shitting itself over Mamdani because they've found an election they can't fix against the left. They tried everything, he's still winning. So the last desperate thing they're doing is using Sadiq Khan as a cautionary tale coz: both Muslim.

Lol. London's great though.

The real horror about this is the fact the US Government are blaming women for Autism

Why are the American president's claims about autism the first item on British news bulletins?

He's not our president, the advice doesn't apply here and he's not presented any evidence to support his assertions.

So why spread these claims? What make this the biggest story in the UK?

Schools Network The Smartphone Free Childhood Schools Network is a supportive community for teachers and school leaders working together to create change.

www.smartphonefreechildhood.org/schools-netw...

The Telegraph Rayner tax scandal - £40k tax dodge - Statement Angela Rayner dodges £40,000 stamp duty Deputy Prime Minister reduces tax bill for Hove flat by declaring it as her main residence [Photo: Angela Rayner pictured at the weekend in Hove, where she has just bought a flat Credit: Dan Charity/The Sun on Sunday] Robert Mendick Chief Reporter. Amy Gibbons Political Correspondent 29 August 2025 8:57am BST

The Telegraph Money > Property > Second homes How to avoid tax on your second home From stamp duty to council tax, shield your wealth from Labour's tightening net [Photo of houses around a bay - Areas such as Cornwall have added a premium to council tax bills for second homes Credit: iStockphoto] Fran Ivens Senior Money Writer 29 August 2025 1:21pm BST

On the same day in the Telegraph:

Hugh Bonneville started his live ITV London News interview on Downton Abbey by talking about Gaza.

A man on the streets of the UK is asked about the “problem of immigration” and dismantles talking points with ease.

Love to see it!

Hate to see it

An image of soil overlaid with yellow lines in a brickwork pattern. Inside one of the bricks: Theatre Deli's logo, and in another, New Diorama Theatre's logo.

Free space. Open access. Room to grow. 🌱

We've teamed up with @newdiorama.bsky.social to launch The Allotment, offering free R&D and rehearsal space in Central London to independent artists by lottery.

Applications for the 1st season are now open now! www.theatredeli.co.uk/theatre-deli...

"Offended by flags ha ha ha"

The problem isn't the flags. People put flags up when the St George's Day fete happens in my town. They go up when there's a Euros or World Cup on. You'll see them when it's a big V.E Day, Remembrance Day etc. Nobody gives a shit.

This is a bit different I reckon.

Great to visit @marlowetheatre.bsky.social for the first time and see some Bechdel-test-approved new writing. Compelling mixture of frothy wit 1930’s larky sisterhood with gut punch of political extremism and violence. And those complicit who look the other way.

We loved “Oaklore” at Kew Gardens last week. Immersive, promenade, interactive and all about the trees 🍃

Be still my beating heart ☔️

NDT providing artists with what we all need in fair and accessible way.

“Democratising access” 👏

BBC under pressure to pull Sally Rooney dramas over vow to fund Palestine Action Former anti-extremism tsar Lord Walney warns the corporation and book publisher Faber & Faber that they may have to 'break ties' with the Irish author

Hardly the most important issue or most significant factor, but something I think Sally Rooney (and in different ways Kneecap) shows us is how in Britain, successful Irish artists can be patronisingly adopted as a product of our own cultural sphere, until they're not.

inews.co.uk/news/bbc-und...

I also love working as an access support person for ACE applications and projects. Currently on hold as grantium offline. Can’t get enough of being your PA and general creative, practical, organisational support for both bids and/ or the project itself.

You can also follow me on instagram @steph_martin_ for the occasional thirst trap as I work out who on earth I am as I approach 40 and process 5 years worth of Matrescence. Plus work updates and cultural things I like.

I am on semi maternity leave at the moment as I raise two tinies and one anxiously attached miniature dachshund BUT doing bits as much as I can because I simply cannot help myself. DM’s are open

Steph Martin - Bio Site Steph Martin · Writer for Stage and Screen · Share your websites, products, social pages, and more, all in one link with Bio Sites from Unfold.

New website work in progress

bio.site/StephMartinw...

Take me back to this era of style

Just finished series 1 of White Lotus (behind the times)
Just.. the best?! The writing is exceptional.

Realise that we should be championing independent books shops but I think we should take this flickering win

Channel 5 revives BBC’s Play for Today to ‘help shape future of British drama’ Series aims to follow original in tackling ‘thornier issues’, and to support talent from lower-income backgrounds

It’s a drop in a stormy ocean (sailed by big, public-school educated ocean liners, to torture a metaphor) but this is very welcome. Nice one #channel5 #theatre #drama
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/a...

Next on my list 🍿

Lyn Gardner on underfunded home-grown shows at Edinburgh Fringe At Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the gap in financial support between overseas and home-grown companies is increasingly evident in production values, says Lyn Gardner

“Starved of investment, British theatre has been cut to the bone. On the fringe, you can see the bones, and you can see them crumbling in front of your eyes.”

Polished fringe shows from overseas shine an ugly light on UK arts funding, says Lyn Gardner 👇