Chris Wilkins

Big presence on the beaches of Normandy in 1944 too.

A reminder of how Mrs Thatcher's Conservative party in 1983, an era featuring much more widespread racial prejudice in the public, approached the issue of race and national identity:

Nick Gibb: The Tories Are Focusing Too Much On Culture Wars Former schools minister Sir Nick Gibb has accused the Conservatives of focusing too much on culture wars and not enough on “the real lives of peopl...

The Tories are focusing too much on culture wars, according to former long-serving Conservative MP Sir Nick Gibb

In an interview with PolHome, the former schools minister also said the UK should lead efforts to reform the ECHR, not grab at the “most immediate superficial solution" of leaving it

A demonstrator dressed in an inflatable frog costume stands infront of law enforcement officers during a protest outside of the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) headquarters in south Portland, Oregon, U.S., October 3, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

This photo from Portland by @reuters.com's Carlos Barria 👌

Thing is, you can completely hear the conversation among his team. “Lean into it Rob. It’ll be good for you. Don’t apologise. Go on the offensive.” So tiresome.

So true.

Not even a literate one. You can only say that "the whole point of a status like... indefinite leave to remain is that it is still a live conversation" if you do not know what the word indefinite means.

Funny as ever, but also totally on the money in wondering how and why the Tory Party would ever think heralding ICE as something to emulate would be a good thing. Have they all actually just given up and gone home?

Barely a fortnight has passed since Kemi Badenoch’s reflexive and incredibly OTT hostility to the government’s proposals for digital ID.

🤦‍♂️

Oh FFS. So far we’ve had 1) rowing back on climate commitments, 2) leaving the ECHR and now 3) this. ICE aren’t even popular in the US (even among most Trump supporters). Why would you use them as a model for a policy announcement here??

Yes, parties talking sh*te while being egged on by idiot papers like the Express.

Hard to disagree…

Well this is a shock - after a pointless period of prevarication the party announces its plan to do the thing it was always going to do.

😂

True. It’s a mystery why she ever wanted the job.

So sorry Rachel. One of those days on which you would hope people would think twice about broadcasting their ignorance.

Ah yes, true!

Lewis Goodall (@lewisgoodall) The consensus view was that Keir Starmer's speech was his best yet. I think it was born of a profound weakness, the seeds of which were sown long ago. My latest. https://goodallandgoodluck.substack....

This from @lewisgoodall.com is the best analysis yet of the PM’s strangely
well received conference speech. Hope they read it in No 10. Always seemed odd that the best they could do was steal a line from Biden, who was not exactly a success substack.com/@lewisgoodal...

This is very moving.
My heart goes out to Emma Barnett and to everyone affected.
And I think about my children. And about how I would feel if taking them to church meant fearing for their safety.

Well said TM.

1. "Boriswave" is an invention of the online extreme right.
2. Those people came here legally, paying huge fees to do so, to fill essential roles.
3. They won't get ILR unless they apply, jump through hoops, & pay more fees.
4. The Times is reporting on them as a criminal burden on society.

Great observation and so true. Unfortunately most political journalism has become as fundamentally unserious as our politics. This is a problem.

This is a good example of something that *could* be a line drawn between Con & Ref, where Con voters are, broadly pro-environmental measures and they are popular with the broader public. And yet...

Labour’s theory that voters they lose on their left flank will rally back to them to block Farage is misguided but at least makes *some* sense.

The Tories entirely ignoring the Lib Dems as a threat…even less so. They lost 60+ seats to them last year! They need them back! This *will not do that*!

No rank hypocrisy going on here guys

Brilliant. It’s funny because it’s true.

Probably unpopular reflection from this Labour conference - mainstream political parties including this one are no closer to being able to understand how delivery in government can lead to popularity. Just as there have been no obvious paths to growth since 2008.

tweet from Allison Pearson

Tweet from Matt Goodwin

Tweet from Richard Tice

Tweet from Zia Yusuf

Funny how suddenly so many on the right now see hurty words as a problem, and how suddenly expansive their notion of incitement has become.

The football analogy is a great one. The PM's speech was basically passable. That it's been written up so well largely reflects the quality of what's gone before.