Duncan Campbell

I’m Keir for you: The PM is visiting a community center in London to discuss the impact. Expect a pooled interview with broadcasters mid-morning. There’s one quote on rising bills in his words trailed overnight that warrants chasing up: “I will always be guided by what is best for the British public. And no matter the headwinds, supporting working people and their families with the cost of living is always top of my mind.”

I mean, this just isn't true, is it? If Starmer was focused on the cost of living crisis he wouldn't insist on no customs union and no single market? Nor would he embrace the negative economic consequences of his anti-migrant policy?

Like everything else about Starmer, this is empty rhetoric.

Sunday thought: We will prevail Finding courage in a dark time

open.substack.com/pub/robertre...
Great quick read from Robert Reich. The one thing we must all do, is that after tRump is gone, we have to get rid of every sycophant that enabled him. That is every MAGA Congressperson and staff member from every department. They all must go
#BlueCrew

It's actually profoundly similar to the way that eugenicist anti vaccine organisations worked to disrupt messaging around COVID (and previously MMR)

They’ve shut down their “Scottish” subsidiary.

Must be seeing the writing on the wall.

#NoPasarán

Oh, just the business vehicle of Nigel Farage masquerading as a political party breaching its obligations at Companies House.

The greens are finally coming under serious scrutiny+ and they're rattled

Telegraph acknowledges Green Party has won a "seismic byelection."

And then there have been two polls this week showing us way in front of Labour and closing in on Reform?

Rattled? We're growing rapidly!

Join.greenparty.org.uk

Not invited to Morgan McSweeney's leaving drinks. My stock must be falling

Caroline Lucas: Scotland, we need to talk about how we can take on the far right I’ll be discussing what I learned while campaigning in the Gorton and Denton by-election, and how we can take on the far right together

If Scotland were to design a modern democratic constitution &, with it, return to the EU, then perhaps England would find a way to follow. My piece for @scotnational.bsky.social ahead of public meetings in Edinburgh & Glasgow next week - makehopepossible.org/tickets

My piece with Sir Graham Watson in The Scotsman, today.

Welcome to ‘Byline Times Substack’ Byline Supplement is evolving. Byline Times Editor-in-Chief, Hardeep Matharu explains how and why

Now, imho, the best and most important journalism source in the UK - and have often provided critical reports months or even years before anyone else picked that it really, really matters

‘Byline Times Substack’ open.substack.com/pub/bylineti...

I have been denied entry to the SIS Building, Porton Down & GCHQ by the UK government.

What bothers me most is not whether Starmer was right or wrong to sign the original Chagos Deal, on which views may vary, in good faith; but, that he’s such a puppet to Trump that he vacillates this way and that, in a desperate and ultimately vain attempt to appease the orange monster.

This, so much this!!!!⬇️

The superb @ecetemelkuran.bsky.social said this

Reform is soft on Russia. And it's stuff like this which explains why 👇🏻

Putin murdered Alexei Navalny in the most disgusting and performative way.

He's a psychopath and a monster.

Now look at politicians in Britain, Europe, and America who are either looking the other way - or engaging in abject whataboutery.

A short note to Kristi Noem To a current Cabinet secretary from a former one

The New York Times reports that the Department of Homeland Security has sent Google, Meta, and other media corporations subpoenas for the names on accounts that criticize ICE enforcement. The department wants to identify Americans who oppose what it’s doing. I’ll save them time.

"There is no decency to be detected in this political project."

Investigative journalist Paul Holden breaks down the downfall of the Labour Party in the UK — from Peter Mandelson’s link to Jeffrey Epstein to labeling Palestine Action as a terror group.

Read now: zeteo.com/p/lies-and-d...

An utter tragedy. Science solved this problem, but a bunch of charlatans fucked everything up and brought it back

Russell Tovey joins the Green Party after being 'let down' by Labour government (EXCLUSIVE) Russell Tovey spoke highly of Green Party leader Zack Polanski at the 2026 Attitude 101 charity lunch, admitting the UK deserves better.

Love this from Russell Tovey.

"I’m really following what the Green Party are doing, and I think we should all get behind them. As a community, they’re a party that we can really look to, to represent us.”

www.attitude.co.uk/culture/russ...

Democracy is when voters choose their leaders. Autocracy is when leaders choose their voters.

A generation of European leaders cannot admit that they have failed. The world they assumed was permanent, was not. Instead of admitting their failure, they desperately pretend that things are not changing beneath their feet. They would rather risk catastrophe open.substack.com/pub/phillips...

I get why Matt posts this nonsense every day, outrage pays.
None of this is on the current government.
Open borders? Brexit.
Soft-on-crime chaos? Tories.
Highest taxes since the 1940s? Tories.
Shafted pensioners? Tories.
Farmers driven to despair? Brexit.
Hotels for migrants? Brexit + Tory failure.

Simon McDonald may have had his faults, but I never remember him as sexist. This is same man who brought down Boris Johnson, by revealing Johnson knew about MP Pincher’s misconduct. It’s legit to ask if he’s right to speak out again now - but it suggests his concerns are genuine and substantive.

Honestly, the list of things that a Culture Secretary could get involved in, if we had one, is *HUGE*.

I suggest PM would be wise not to rush to appoint a new Cabinet Secretary, let alone one with a reputation for self-promotion and flamboyance. The job requires someone willing to work hard, quietly, professionally, behind the scenes, with experience and good relationships across Whitehall.

Toddler hospitalized with respiratory failure was returned to ICE detention and denied prescribed medication, lawsuit says The 18-month-old was sent back to a South Texas facility after days in intensive care with severe respiratory distress,

The so-called "pro-life," "pro-family" party is perfectly fine with an 18-month-old child almost dying because of the deplorable conditions at this detention center. Hello?
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/toddler-hospitalized-dilley-ice-detention-rcna257912

Something magnificent about Kemi Badenoch's self-confidence, and her claim that the Mandelson affair is entirely down to her asking questions at PMQs. Like a toddler who thinks their plastic steering wheel is controlling the car.

‘Absolute hell’: Irishman with valid US work permit held by Ice since September Seamus Culleton has been in a detention facility in Texas for nearly five months despite having no criminal record

This is absolutely insane. The sort of Kafka-esque nightmare you would find in a Philip K Dick book set far in the dystopian future. A window on America tumbling into autocracy.

www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...

China urges banks to curb US Treasuries exposure, Bloomberg News reports Chinese regulators have advised financial institutions to curb holdings of U.S. Treasuries due to concern over concentration risk and market volatility, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

China urges banks to curb US Treasuries exposure, Bloomberg News reports reut.rs/4bEO9Ty