Tom Witherow

ICYMI - here's a picture of the front page on Monday:

The Story: The Afghan leak: what next? After last week’s shocking revelations that a list of tens of thousands of Afghans who’d helped the British was leaked, has that already led to deaths - and what happens now?This podcast was br...

I've appeared on @thetimes's daily podcast The Story -

Talking about the fallout of the Afghan leak and the terrible story of the Triple soldier's brother in Monday's splash.

Big thanks to presenter Manveen Rana and producer Olivia Case for making it all happen.

Listen here: pod.fo/e/2ffc78

This long read on Liz Truss is free to read on @thetimes.com today - along with all the team's award-winning journalism 👇

Make Liz Truss Great Again: ex-PM seeks redemption from Republicans Now a political pariah in Britain, the leader outlasted by a lettuce is setting her sights on Trump’s America

She's running her American ticket with UK taxpayers' cash:

** The amount she has claimed to run her office may have hit £225,000.

** London neighbours railed against what they saw as “completely ridiculous” security of 2-3 Range Rovers + 5-6 guards.

www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Make Liz Truss Great Again: ex-PM seeks redemption from Republicans Now a political pariah in Britain, the leader outlasted by a lettuce is setting her sights on Trump’s America

In the 18 months post-Downing Street, she received £348,533 in outside earnings and £107,504 in donations and gifts.

That doesn't include the earnings made since May 2024.

But very little of that was from the UK - lots from US/elsewhere.

www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Make Liz Truss Great Again: ex-PM seeks redemption from Republicans Now a political pariah in Britain, the leader outlasted by a lettuce is setting her sights on Trump’s America

** New “free speech media network” in the UK likely to be YouTube or podcast network.

** She's hinted at something similar to Dan Wootton's 'Outspoken' project and one ally pointed to Triggernometry YouTube channel.

www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Make Liz Truss Great Again: ex-PM seeks redemption from Republicans Now a political pariah in Britain, the leader outlasted by a lettuce is setting her sights on Trump’s America

** UK friends "not with her anymore".

** Even former arch-ally Baroness Coffey: "We don’t talk about our political paths."

** She has "disappeared" from Norfolk home & even “might be selling up”, said neighbour.

www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Make Liz Truss Great Again: ex-PM seeks redemption from Republicans Now a political pariah in Britain, the leader outlasted by a lettuce is setting her sights on Trump’s America

New read - Will courting MAGA make Liz Truss great again?!

** Talks down Britain to its biggest ally as a “failed state” and preaches small government...

** All while costing UK taxpayers' £'00,000s.

** Now returning to UK with "free speech media network".

www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Cloudless by Rupert Dastur | Waterstones Buy Cloudless by Rupert Dastur from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.

Cloudless is a stunning portrait of family life on a North Wales farm as the life is disrupted by the faraway winds of the Iraq War.

I'm a couple of chapters in and am already massively invested in the characters -

Tap below to get your copy today 👇

www.waterstones.com/book/cloudle...

Huge congrats to my close friend Rupert Dastur on the release of his debut novel, Cloudless!

Waterstone's named him out as one of the most exciting new authors to watch.

He's a fantastic writer, the loveliest man and the book has been in the works for many years so it's well deserved (1/2)

Act of total self harm by the Government 👎

Any tips on how to get faster broadband speeds?

We're in central London and Vodafone (in this case) can only guarantee 6-7 Mbps.

No fibre to the house available here - so it's all BT infrastructure

Horizon IT prosecutions won’t go to trial until 2027 Officers investigating the Post Office scandal are examining potential cases of perjury and perverting the course of justice

Readers of @thetimes.com had most of this last week -

Thanks to reporting of (now Times Radio host!) @nickwallis.bsky.social and @alimitib.bsky.social:

"Horizon IT pros won’t go to trial until 2027: Officers looking at perjury & perverting the course of justice" 👇

www.thetimes.com/article/78e1...

Post Office investigation: dozens of ‘people of interest’ identified Officers are examining potential cases of perjury and perverting the course of justice but have said Horizon IT prosecutions will not go to trial until 2027

Big update on Post Office police investigation:

🚩 'Dozens' of potential suspects identified.
🚩 100 officers on the case.
🚩 Commander doesn't rule out senior execs or corporate charges.
🚩 Upbeat about chances - expects trials in 2027.

www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/art...

Syrian Bafta winner: End of cowardly Assad is our happy ending Waad Al-Kateab, who documented her life in Aleppo during five years of uprising in For Sama calls for foreign powers to leave after Assad’s collapse

New: I spoke to the inspirational Waad Al-Kateab who won a Bafta for her film "For Sama" -

It documented the now London-based journalist's life in Aleppo during five years of uprising and war.

An amazing woman - End of Assad is "our happy ending" 👇

www.thetimes.com/article/a873...

You can follow @thetimes.com journalists here -

All listed on the starter pack below:

go.bsky.app/NqDPCtV

Fewer than 2% of dads take shared parental leave Fewer than 2% of new dads have benefitted from shared parental leave in the 10 years since it began, according to new research.

Fewer than 2% of new dads have benefitted from shared parental leave.

It's 10 years since it began:

www.personneltoday.com/hr/shared-pa...

Therapy dogs having 'phenomenal' effect on Hull hospital patients Pets as Therapy dogs have won praise for helping seriously ill people and putting smiles on faces.

We're fulfilling a dream of getting our own border terrier in the New Year:

Stevie is going to be trained as a therapy dog to work with my psychotherapist partner...

So this article/pic of Brian (longest serving therapy dog!) with a patient is a complete joy!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

They’ll destroy family farming, say influencers driving protest The demonstration, galvanised by social media personalities including Gareth Wyn Jones and Rebecca Wilson, is expected to overshadow an official farmers’ union event

New: ‘My family have farmed here for 375 years’

Meet the farming influencers driving this morning's protest in Whitehall including the "accidental influencer" Olly Harrison, pictured below.

See you down there if you're going 👇

www.thetimes.com/article/fc07...

Starter pack: Investigative journalists working for major UK titles and broadcasters.

Follow them below - and if you've been missed off drop me a DM.

go.bsky.app/ScQ3Y5s

Didn't go for Glastonbury tix this year - but thought the dreaded queue seemed like a decent/possibly fairer idea than the old tech scramble.

But pals claimed who tried claimed you could keep buying sets of 5 tix once you were in!

Why is it so hard for Glasto find a fair way of selling tickets...

A tentative entry into the world of starter packs with a list of -

Investigative journalists working for major UK titles and broadcasters.

Small list for now. Follow them below and if you've been missed off drop me a DM.

go.bsky.app/ScQ3Y5s

Great bit of work on the Post Office's ongoing investigation into its "internal police force".

Daniel finds that Project Phoenix has resulted in two referrals to the Met Police - but those staffers are still working on full pay.

Watch below 👇

Just over 530 final settlements have been processed in the last ten months.

At that rate it will take until 2029 to process the remaining claims - suggesting we're only about half way.

That can't be acceptable to the government.

Headlines:

🚩 As of October 31, 2,765 out of about 5,700 possible victims had received full compensation, totalling £438 million.

🚩 That's just a quarter of the £1.8bn put aside.

🚩 Political delays, complex schemes, legal wrangling and bureaucracy have been blamed for slow progress

Post Office scandal: why is it taking so long to pay victims compensation? Five years after the Horizon IT scandal was revealed, only half of the victims have received their money — what is taking so long?

New: Deep dive into Post Office compensation -

Analysis: How many people have been paid - and why is it taking so long to pay victims compensation?

Most in-depth and up to date thing I've written on the state of redress for 👇

www.thetimes.com/uk/society/a...

There are still tix for Eng v India at Edgbaston on July 2 - for £95 to £125.

Seems more like it...

Tickets to the Lords tests next year have gone up a crazy amount.

The same seat I sat in this year for £120 will be £175 for England v India in July 2025 - up almost a third.

That would be over £1,000 for the same group of family to go. Madness.

Follow some of my excellent colleagues at @thetimes.com go.bsky.app/NqDPCtV

Going to do a quick thread of my fellow @thetimes.com reporters who are on BlueSky and why you should follow them 👇