In case you missed it ...

No trade deals will replace the vast losses of Brexit. It just won't happen, and meanwhile, Brits just have to suck it up because, you know, a vote built on lies, xenophobia and misinformation must be adhered to for some reason.

Rachel Reeves' admission of the "severe" economic damage of Brexit is welcome.

Now it's time for the government to stop making it even worse

bylinetimes.com/2025/10/15/k...

Some politicians and commentators continue to denigrate London and talk our great city down, but the facts show a very different picture.

The number of homicides in London in the first nine months of 2025 was lower than in any year since monthly records began 22 years ago.

When I see announcements like this, I have to ask - how many of the people out there who are so vehemently anti-migrant would actually pass English at an A-Level standard?

Honestly, what's the point of saying they have to do this to prevent Reform, when outcome is effectively mass deportations by the back door and removal of rights anyway. More people becoming undocumented, which Labour's policies guarantee, lead, because of Labour's policies, to more deportations. 4/

In practice, and even before today's changes, Labour has gone further on anti-immigration policies than any government in decades. The outcome being more families ripped apart, more people forced to become undocumented, fewer jobs for everyone and a crashed economy. 3/

Some changes to immigration rules today, not just increasing English language requirements, mean migrants looking to live and work in UK will have to meet far far higher standards than British nationals, while paying vast sums to be allowed to do so. That isn't a system based on "fairness". 1/

Keep the UK in the ECHR. Please sign.
www.europeanmovement.co.uk/keep_uk_in_e...

DSIT understood that the key to the uptake of digital ID was trust. Labelling it as a tool to find cheats and evaders destroys that trust.

P.S. I’ve been on a DSIT working group about this for a number of years, and we told them this from the start. The ‘Trust Framework’ in the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 was built from this, and directly opposite to the way the government is now selling it.

This is a fundamental mistake, particularly in the current political climate, and is highly likely to scupper the whole scheme. A political misjudgment on a monumental scale. 4/4

…that this isn’t what they do. Secondly, and more importantly, it portrays digital ID as something used for enforcement and control, not empowerment. It makes it look like a ‘papers please’ approach, a tool of Big Brother, when digital ID could and should be a positive tool in a modern society. 3/4

There are a number of problems with this approach, but two stand out above all. Firstly, it *won’t* do what they claim. It will make negligible difference to illegal working and none at all to illegal immigration. Look at all the comparisons they use - most recently India’s Aadhaar - and see… 2/4

I’m seeing pieces and posts today about how useful digital ID could be in navigating bureaucracy etc. Yes. It would. That, however, is *not* how the government tried to sell it to us. Instead, they portrayed it as a tool to stop illegal working and curb illegal immigration. 1/4

Red Squirrels always looking like they're about to politely interrupt

“I’m old enough to remember when mainstream British politicians, who should know better, stirred up racial hatred as a path to power. You’re old enough to remember too because it was last Tuesday. And it was Robert Jenrick”

Cathartic anger at flag-flying racism.

www.thenerve.news/p/stewart-le...

❤️

Not that long…

"Both in opposition and in Government, the Labour frontbench has, in my view, with its language and policies, directly contributed to the resurgence of authoritarian politics in this country."

An excellent interview by @peterjukes.bsky.social and @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social

They’re cheaper on Amazon.

if you’ve ever watched the apprentice, that’s the world without arts or humanities degrees

“You described Reform and other parties across Europe today as among the 'right wing equivalents of the fascists in the 1930s'. Why?”

“Because that’s what they are.”

Victoria Derbyshire asks Lord Heseltine about remarks he made at Conservative Party Conference.

No lies detected.