I’m sleepless, angry and anxious over this - and I know I'm not alone Editor-at-large Alastair Campbell on the reaction to the Mandelson affair, the calls for Starmer to go, and what happens to this government - and the United Kingdom - next

I know anything he says and does is infra dig as far as many are concerned, but I thought this was very good, actually.

McSweeney going is excellent news. It doesn't fix any problems by itself, but it is the precondition for fixing those problems.

Nothing makes one prouder to be British than someone resigning in disgrace because we still understand both those words

Always the first piece we turned to in the Observer! Loved the last book, already ordered the next. Thanks and good luck !

Lord Newby on the damage Brexit has caused:

"Brexit will reduce GDP by 4% over a 15-year period."

"UK-EU trade will fall by 15%."

"Brexit has already had a negative impact on the public finances to the tune of over £40 billion over the period to 2024."

England and Wales can learn from Scotland’s success with STV It is now 15 years since Scotland abandoned First Past the Post for local government elections and adopted the Single Transferable Vote form of proportional representation. What many w

England and Wales can learn from Scotland’s success with STV electoral-reform.org.uk/england-and-... Electoral Reform Society – ERS

What did UK and China get out of Starmer's reset visit? Sir Keir Starmer's visit to China brought agreements on visas, services, healthcare, green tech and finance.

Healthcare, visas and whisky: Compared to the EU/India trade deal and compared to what joining the EU Single Market/Customs Union would deliver, this really is pathetic stuff…
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The Kennet & Avon Canal in Bath should be a place everyone can enjoy.

That's why I’m calling on the Government to work with the Canal & River Trust to ensure that proportionate powers are given to enforcement agencies, alongside proper safeguards for boaters so our waterways are welcoming for all.

First-of-a-kind technologies like Bath-based Drift Energy are struggling to access investment & grant funding.

Drift is a ground-breaking renewable energy firm that could boost UK energy independence.

If the Government doesn't back technologies like this, we will lose our home grown innovators.

Rejoining the EU is the only way to stop Trump It is time to return home

Full EU membership should be put to the public at the next election. It's time to return home.

inews.co.uk/opinion/rejo...

India's prime minister says it has reached a free trade deal with the EU Prime Minister Narendra Modi says India and the European Union have reached a free trade agreement to deepen their economic and strategic ties.

The EU, India trade deal represents 25% of the global GDP and one-third of global trade. It will increase trade to about $200 billion by 2030. This dwarfs the previously announced UK, India trade deal. #Brexit
apnews.com/article/indi...

The Guardian view on Europe’s payments problem: sovereignty starts at the till | Editorial Editorial: Donald Trump’s leverage over Visa and Mastercard highlights a blind spot in Europe’s ‘independence’ strategy. Emulating India’s response might help

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Morgan McSweeney’s 0% Strategy The plot to block Andy Burnham's return to Westminster tells you everything you need to know about how Keir Starmer's Government got itself into this mess

How Morgan McSweeney's '0% strategy' failed to win over Reform voters while haemorrhaging Labour's own support base to the Greens

www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/morgan-mcs...

A policy that has attracted zero voters from Reform but has alienated those who thought we might see change under Labour. Time for McSweeney to bow out now.

Has a comms strategy anywhere failed as badly as McSweeney’s?

I live in the constituency and can't go more than fifty yards without seeing flags, flying from lampposts. Be very wary of the vote from people who get their news and politics from Facebook and social media.

Supersized illegal waste dumps hidden across English countryside A BBC investigation uncovers how criminals are operating huge illegal rubbish tips across the country.

BBC News - Supersized illegal waste dumps hidden across English countryside - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

457 UK armed forces personnel died in Afghanistan during the 20-year deployment.
This is a fucking hideous thing to say. Even by his non-existent standards.

BUY MORE LEGO

Death toll in Afghanistan when NATO answered the US’s call:
- 453 Britons
- 158 Canadians
- 89 French
- 59 Germans
- 53 Italians
- 44 Danes
- 17 Spaniards
“Stayed a little back, off the front lines “!
No one in the media will call him out over this lie or any of the others he spouts.

HS2:'Other costs were added to protect another endangered species: Tory voters. Billions were spent digging 16km of tunnels through the Chiltern Hills. A huge obligation—vast infrastructure for purely aesthetic reasons—was signed off by a Conservative government whose project was deficit reduction.'

Your irregular reminder that Trump does not (yet) control Venezuela. He did a kidnapping and dropped some bombs, but Venezuela is still run by the same government as before, minus its leader.

“We’ve invented a magic computer. It uses all of the earth’s resources, we’ve spent trillions on it and it’s the sole growth area of the US economy.”

“What does it do?”

“We were hoping you could tell us.”

I have volunteered to deliver leaflets, stuff envelopes, make cakes etc. for local election canvassing. Anything to fight against Reform gaining traction. That is direct action that I can take. We must not, in all conscience, follow the US into fascism.

24% of people who voted Labour at the last general election now plan to
vote Green or Lib Dem.

0% of those who voted Reform at the last election now plan to vote Labour.

Two conclusions from the amazing Trump turnaround on Greenland:
1. If you're firm, and have sufficient power, he will back down.
2. The most powerful man in the world is visibly losing his marbles. And we have up to 3 more years of this to survive…

Read Mark Carney's full speech on middle powers navigating a rapidly changing world | CBC News Read the full text of Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech about a shakeup of the global order and role of middle powers at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Text transcript of Mark Carney's address to Davos courtesy of The CBC. If anyone doubts the weight of this moment in history... www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

Canada joining the EU...?

The EU needs Britain's arms industry. And Britain needs the EU economic and security blanket. The UK's armed forces are small and impoverished, with their chiefs saying they face a £28bn funding shortfall. According to a recent report by the Centre for Economic Policy: "By 2025, we estimate that UK GDP per capita was 6-8 per cent lower than it would have been without Brexit. Investment was 12-18 per cent lower, employment 3-4 per cent lower, and productivity 3- 4 per cent lower." Other estimates put Britain's losses at lower levels, but there can be no doubt that Brexit has been a strategic economic failure.

"Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity. If Greenland's security is at risk, we can address this inside Nato," she added. The EU needs help from the UK to do that. Britain has much to give the EU: its armed forces and military industries would accelerate and improve the bloc's security. Trump's attacks on the very existence of Nato, his contempt for Europe in general, and his continuing support for Putin's land grabs mean that the UK could negotiate better terms for re-entering the EU now than it would have done before the US president tore up international law and turned on the US's oldest friends. The Greenland crisis is Britain's best opportunity.

“…if the crisis caused by Trump is seized as an opportunity for Britain to rejoin the EU on terms that bind the UK to the mainland. This would make both parties safer – and stop Putin from dancing a happy jig around the Kremlin”

Time to fix stupid.
app.independent.co.uk/2026/01/19/2...