Advice for scholars: next time you lecture on Kant and revolutions at “Downing” (Darwin College) Cambridge, make sure your hair is neatly tied and that you’re not blonde. Or else your research impact will be on the The Spectator libido section.

#RwandaBill ping pong latest: victory for Lord Hope’s monitoring amendment by 245-208: majority of 37 as against yesterday’s 39. Normally margins reduce as the Bill proceeds: this is a big one.

Good to see Robert Buckland⁩ standing up for what he believes. Next round of ping pong starts soon in ⁦House of Lords⁩, with likely votes on monitoring and Afghans, though double insistence does not seem to be in our repertoire of shots this time around.

This is so cringe 🫣

“I asked the police to investigate certain matters that were in the public domain regarding um um… certain things”.

'Because of the action we've taken alongside The Bank of England...inflation is now down' - Chief Sec to the Treasury Laura Trott

'But when inflation was going up you said it was nothing to do with you, now it's coming down it's everything to do with the PM' - Kay Burley

For anyone who has been interested in my lawsuit against the Sun, the news is that  I’ve had to settle my claim out of court before it gets to trial. A 🧵…

Brutal Hugo Rifkind on Liz Truss

“Less a deep state, then. More a government as shallow as a puddle.”

thetimes.co.uk/article/ac0f61…

'I'm really pleased. The bill passed on Conservative numbers. It's great news for the PM's top priority.'

Umm. 106 Tory MPs abstained and 69 voted against their own PM's 'top priority'. That's nearly four times his majority. The bill did NOT 'pass on Conservative numbers'. ~AA

'Don't say you weren't warned.'

In one of the most important segments I've ever made, & using Trump & Trump aides' *own* words & pledges, I lay out, for #MehdiUnfiltered , what a Trump first 100 days could look like in 2025. How bad, fascistic it would be.
zeteo.com

This, from the same government that just introduced the Public Order Act, which gives the police powers to proactively break up any gathering and prevent dissent if it's noisy. 🤔~AA

Jenny Jones, 'The #RwandaBill is an absolutely vile bill.. The Tory government is actually abusing not just human rights and the rule of law, but also democracy itself'

'What is the point of the House of Lords if it can simply be ignored by the government?'

'If you think the…

Four more ⁦House of Lords⁩ defeats for the government tonight on #RwandaBill , by margins of 17 to 57 votes. This speech by Lord Hope, ex-Deputy President of ⁦⁦UK Supreme Court⁩, well expresses the idiocy of what we are being asked to do hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2024-04-…. /1

Truly shambolic state of Tories’ Rwanda/asylum policies revealed today

No plan for 40,000+ asylum perma-backlog

Costs of alternative asylum accommodation soaring

More people arrived yesterday alone than will be sent to Rwanda in a yr

Tory gimmicks instead of getting a grip

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Britain's network of offshore tax havens must open public registers of beneficial ownership.

It's high time that we follow the dirty money flowing into these havens. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

thetimes.co.uk/article/4f44c4…

Please read this twice.

'The #CassReport identified multiple problems with gender identity services, he said. “Underfunding, staff overwhelmed,...mental health services in need of massive improvement. But I also think you can see the fingerprints of #transphobia on the report.”'
theguardian.com/society/2024/a…

#CassReport identified multiple problems with gender identity services,“Underfunding, staff overwhelmed, ...mental health services in need of massive improvement. But I also think you can see the fingerprints of transphobia on the report.” theguardian.com/society/2024/a…

New public opinion survey from Office for National Statistics (ONS) on the most important issues facing the UK today.

Seems incredible Sunak's Tories are still pumping money into the needlessly cruel and extortionately expensive Rwanda scheme when THIS is what people actually care about.

What an awful world we’ve managed to make it. To live in peace seems utterly beyond us. So dreadfully sad.

This is a very dangerous moment.

Iran often presents its activities as in response to a humiliation, in this case the bombing of its consulate.

Usually its response is limited to a singular activity they believe to be proportionate to the slight suffered, but this feels…