Rob Blackie

Crowds in the Iranian town of Galleh Dar toppled a monument dedicated to the Islamic Republic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, as flames rose from the roundabout and onlookers cheered.

The death of Khamenei has exposed a deep fault line in a country: reut.rs/4r4GYYK

Clichéd calls from a government minister who likes to repeat the most boring phrase in politics.

"Let Starmer be Starmer" said a minister who can only speak in clichés...

The incredible chutzpah of Putin accusing anybody of cynical murder!

Homes for Lambeth loans stand at £36.7m as consultants appointed to review future Lambeth Council’s outstanding loans to its wholly owned development company Homes for Lambeth (HfL) stood at approximately £36.7 million as of 31 December 2025, according to the council’s 2026/27 b…

www.brixtonbuzz.com/2026/02/home...

Female officers condemn failures on police abuse as ‘insu... Women on the force find that, despite reforms, allegations of male colleagues’ sexual offences are still not being pursued

Five years ago this week, Sarah Everard was murdered by a serving police officer, sparking protests & promises of change

But now, woman officers abused by colleagues tell me reforms have victimised them more instead of protecting them

For @theobserveruk.bsky.social:

observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

"Under a Reform UK government, only British citizens will be able to vote".

Nigel Farage has proposed this morning made a call which obvs entails disenfranchising Irish nationals as well as Commonwealth nationals. I have asked him if that is his intention and his policy now.
x.com/Nigel_Farage...

I believe they are blood cells >> stem cells >> brain cells!

Photo of people holding golden diamon signs representing the Lib Dems - caption being "Winning here"

Great campaign today in Clapham Common and Abbevile with Lib Dem leader Ed Davey!

Hundreds of conversations had - we are in this to win it!

You may wish to talk to Karl Friston about this - his work inspired Cortical Labs.

This point is so often neglected in discussions about elections. Even in fairly normal elections loads of people make up their minds at the last moment, let alone elections like this!

The UK can't be dragged into another protracted Middle Eastern war by a US President. Keir Starmer needs to rule out the use of UK bases for any future unilateral US strikes.

Very clear that for Starmer, 'sectarian voting' is when British Muslims don't vote Labour, and for many others, it is just when British Muslims vote.

Thanks very helpful. But still true that more competition is a big part of the answer.

If you make more friction then things are more expensive and slower.... That's not very controversial.

Yes but that's likely a symptom of regulation isn't it?

Ie if you have to comply with a lot complex set of regulations that advantages bigger builders.

This is brilliant.

@iandunt.bsky.social Thought you might like this.

I'm aware of no evidence of that - though obviously if there was it would be an excellent idea to break that cartel.

And the easiest way to break a cartel is more competition - and the current system makes it much harder for small / medium builders who won't be able to navigate the system.

* Alternatively if they have their own money, it could be in the bank earning interest. Over 5 years at 4% interest that's 20% of your principal.

Given that they have a very strong financial incentive to build housing - because they have to borrow money to buy land* - it's worth considering the possibility that they aren't idiots.

I'm sure they aren't perfect - but I'm also entirely sure they haven't got much worse since 2015.

@jonnelledge.bsky.social I thought you might be interested in Reform's inability to read a map.

Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats: For a Fair Deal

Only the Liberal Democrats stand up to their extreme policies day after day.

If you’d like to help us fight Reform, and build a better Britain, sign up at www.libdems.org.uk

The International Civilian Aviation organisation is very clear that you can't fly to Sudan. Unless you are fighting in that war - so who knows with a Reform government?

The International Civilian Aviation organisation says it’s too dangerous to fly to Sudan.

So that’s one country where Reform haven’t done even the most basic checks that their policy works.

We can do better than this.

Only the Liberal Democrats regularly beat Reform in elections.

Foreign Office advice is not to go to Sudan. Anywhere at all except a small bit occupied by Egypt.

In fact the British government’s advice is that it is too dangerous for anybody British to go there. So it’s hard to see who is going to pilot the planes or to act as guards on the planes. And nobody would insure civilian planes.

Map of the Sudanese civil war from https://sudan.liveuamap.com/

Nigel Farage's deportation policy is literally impossible - because he promised this week to send people to Sudan by plane.

The problem is that you can't fly to Sudan.

There’s been a huge civil war since 2023 which has split the country in two.

Data from Paul Smith / Searchland - showing that since 2015 the wait for planning permission for developments of 10 or more homes has increased from 23 weeks to almost 45 weeks.

Rents are high because we don't build enough housing.

And that's because we make it almost impossible to build houses:

Builders now need to wait almost a year (314 days) to just get planning permission now.

This is a national crisis - and if we don't solve it, rents will keep on rocketing.

This 'correction' from @lewisgoodall.com regarding accusations from Reform and the Conservatives that the Greens engaged in sectarianism, deserves to be widely read.

#c4news

Mr Nobody Against Putin review – a teacher fights back in a powerful documentary A primary school teacher in Russia pushes back on cruel nationalist propaganda in a fascinating and daring look at everyday encroachment

We just finished this extraordinary Oscar-nominated documentary which is currently on iPlayer - a truly unique insight into the life of young Russians made only possible by the bravery of one teacher

www.theguardian.com/film/2025/ja...

It's unbelievable 26 years into the 21st century how so many political commentators treat Muslims voters as some sort of unthinking herd, rather than people who are consciously making a political decision.

This is both terrible and hilarious.