Gill

@jurgen_nauditt @atimeofcrisis 🤣 does he read Chinese

Remember the huge media fanfare when Farage launched a crowdfunder in March 2025 for his “independent grooming gangs inquiry”? The Crowdfunder page showed c.£788k raised. A year later: no inquiry, no published accounts, no explanation of where the money went, and no refunds.

@SmithZoe22704 @Citizen_Smith56 Yes

A nationwide general strike was organized in more than 75 cities across Italy, demanding a complete boycott of Israel and the severance of all ties. Do u support this??? YES👍__OR__NO👎

@labourlewis @tshep42 Why should anyone want to talk to Labour? (I am a member). We had a massive majority and you are squandering it. I like Burnham but do you really believe it's OK to swan in and become PM? You are so out of touch

I know the news Andy Burnham has a route back to Westminster will divide opinion. So, before anything else, I want to speak plainly – to Labour members and voters, to those who have left us, and to anyone on the centre-left, whether you vote Green, Lib Dem, or are simply looking for a politics that hasn't given up on you. Last week's local election results were, for many of us, existential. Not disappointing. Not a setback. Existential. Look across Europe and beyond at what happens to social democratic parties that refuse to step outside the economic orthodoxy of the last forty years – the one that hollowed out our public services, privatised what was ours, drove inequality to indecent levels, and cleared the ground for the authoritarian right to march into. That is the path we are on. Keir Starmer has refused to see it, and the country cannot afford another general election spent finding out the hard way. So let me be direct. The Prime Minister should set out a timeline for an orderly transition. I have said this before. I say it again now because the stakes have changed. Reform is not a protest – it is a project. And it will not be beaten by a Labour Party that mistakes managerial caution for strategy. As regards Andy, I want to set down here that I do not see him as some kind of messiah. Far from it. As someone who has been around frontline politics for more than twenty years, he has made his fair share of mistakes. But for the last ten years he has been a serious, grounded, and effective Mayor of Greater Manchester. The party and the country need their strongest players on the pitch, and he has a great deal to offer at a moment when the national stage has rarely mattered more. I hope the NEC will listen to the overwhelming view of the Cabinet, the PLP, the membership, and the unions, and let Andy stand. And I hope and believe the people of Makerfield will send him back to Parliament. But that is not a given. We know Reform will throw everything at this by-election. We must do the same and then some. Reform have spent a year being told they are inevitable. Makerfield is where we find out whether that is true. Every advance has a limit. This is where we set it. Millions of people, including my constituents in Norwich South, need this government to succeed. They need housing, working public services, secure jobs, water and energy that serves them rather than extracts from them. That work is not finished. But the honest truth is that stopping Reform and rebuilding the country is bigger than any one party. It will take a progressive politics willing to listen, willing to cooperate where the public interest demands it, and willing to drop the tribal habits that got us here. The country is ahead of us on this. It is time we caught up. Makerfield is one of many places where Labour has lost trust. It is an area Andy knows and has lived in for many years. If selected, he will work hard to win that trust back and make the case for a Labour Party worth voting for again. That case has to be made not only to people who once voted Labour, but to everyone who believes the answer to Reform is a serious, democratic, social alternative – not a paler imitation of the politics that created the problem. This by-election is not about one seat. It is a test of whether Labour understands the moment we are in. No single party is going to stop Reform on its own. The progressive majority in this country is real – but it is scattered across Labour, the Greens, the Lib Dems, nationalists, independents, and millions of people who have stopped voting altogether. Our job is not to demand they all come back to us. It is to earn the right to work with them, on shared ground, for a shared future. To former Labour voters: come and talk to us again. To Green and Lib Dem voters: we are not enemies. To Labour members and MPs: this is the fight. Let's get on with it. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

Same street Israel did this.

@ShadowofEzra @PeteWri71368222 They really think we are stupid, although I guess some idiots would believe it

The President of the Zionist Organization of America says he has discovered “new evidence” that links Iran directly to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, so the war must now continue. He says if nothing is done about Iran, a major American city could get nuked. “Iran was behind 9/11.” “This is the most important war to protect America, the West, and Israel since World War II.”

@chrisamdorble @PhilipOConnor5 @TedUrchin @cymrawes @labourlewis @Mrs_V_6047 It's been appalling and sickening. I wish I could turn off but the criticism and pettiness has been relentless

@TedUrchin @cymrawes @labourlewis @Mrs_V_6047 I’ve asked myself why I find the hounding of Keir Starmer so deeply unpleasant to witness… it’s the injustice, the lack of honesty & credit for his achievements, the lack of decency & loyalty from Labour MPs. It’s surprised & saddened me. God knows how he & his family feels.

It’s pretty clear this chaos only stops when Andy Burnham is allowed back into Parliament. It’s what most Labour members, MPs and voters want and the NEC/powers that be should just get on and make it happen asap. The alternative is Farage in No 10.

Are you a bit thick? Can you not see the obvious and monumental risks here? As a @UKLabour member, I am horrified and saddened by this ridiculously naive thinking which will likely only benefit Reform. I’m afraid to say when this goes wrong, and it will, we lose Keir Starmer and our great chance is gone after 14 fucking years, then so am I gone - my membership cancelled. I don’t think I’ll be the only one either. And all because a few spineless wankers couldn’t hold the party line. How dare you do this to your members? How dare you?!

🐎 STOLEN £1500 REWARD It’s now been seven months since beloved Dori was STOLEN. Missing since 6 October 2025 from #ROCHDALE #OL16 greater Manchester. Please share and make her too hot to handle. Someone must know her whereabouts!

@Peston The soap opera written and created by our wonderful media 🤨

I think we can safely assume that the next truly compelling episode in Labour’s real-time soap opera, entitled “Get Starmer”, will be the by-election in Makerfield. Subject to Labour’s ruling NEC allowing Andy Burnham to stand there - and Downing St says the prime minister has dropped his objections, so permission will be given - Burnham’s sotto voce campaign slogan will be unusual. It will be “Vote Burnham to sack Starmer.” This is both Burnham and Starmer genuinely rolling the dice. That’s not just because Burnham is way more popular than Starmer among Labour members and trade union leaders, and probably more popular among MPs too. It’s because Burnham and his fans characterise him as the answer to Farage and Reform. And on the basis of last week’s local election results, Makerfield is now a Reform heartland, having previously been part of the Labour Red Wall. So if Burnham loses, maybe he’s not the answer to all Labour’s woes, and Starmer survives - possibly even to fight the next election (though his critics believe Streeting and Rayner would precipitate a leadership election even after a Burnham defeat). But if Burnham wins, Starmer should book the removal vans as soon as the Makerfield count is over. Because those members, MPs and trade union leaders would carry Burnham shoulder-high into Number 10, and Starmer would be binned. So Starmer seems to be in the uncomfortable position of being a bystander in the events that will shape his own destiny. And as for the country, there are weeks more of destabilising uncertainty about who is really in charge, or will be running this place just weeks from now. Makerfield will make history, one way or another.

@PeterStefanovi2 Only if he wins the by-election

Andy Burnham now odds on to become the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom racingpost.com/sport/special-…

@Midge1415 @atrupar @OriginalBillo 😳

@atrupar @OriginalBillo Bet he was

Trump to Xi: "I was particularly impressed by those children. They were happy, they were beautiful. Those children were amazing."

@David90shaw @tzanninis Civil war? Jog on, sensationalism at its worse 🙄

🚨 BREAKING: The Labour Party civil war has officially erupted. Keir Starmer’s own grassroots base is now openly organizing a rebellion to strip his allies of all their power. A major activist network just published a desperate memo admitting his leadership is a total disaster and that voters think his government is actively making the country worse. 🧵👇

@Peston 🤣 now you've moved to "less partisan government sources" nice try

Those close to Streeting say he has more than 81 nominations and could trigger a leadership contest. But they believe Streeting’s announcement could be pre-empted by the PM announcing a timetable for his departure, even today. This could all be feverish wishful thinking. But I have been told by less partisan government sources that we are “in the end game”. The alleged background is that some signatories of the “I back Keir letter” are telling him privately his time is up, that assorted cabinet ministers are set to tell him the same, and that one of those who works closest to the PM has been briefing such to backbench MPs. BUT Downing Street is saying the ball is in Streeting’s court and there is no chance of the PM announcing a departure timetable today. And that if Streeting wants a leadership contest, he will have to trigger it. It is quite the game of chicken, with the future of the government at stake

@moonrakerteach @RedGrizzler @RosMcM Nor mine, thinking of his career, ignoring the country

@RosMcM Spot on! Streeting will walk into his Portilllo moment today unless he regains his senses. He is coming across as a man whose personal ego is stronger than his political acumen. Wes Streeting will not get my vote in a 2026 leadership contest.

Every single person I have spoken to this week (admittedly all professional types, but not politically active) say the same thing - “dreadful behaviour, the only grown-up is Starmer.” Himself (never a fan before) says he’s going up in his estimation the longer it goes on.

So let me get this right. - UK economy outperformed expectations, growing in March despite Iran. - Unemployment down from 5.1 to 4.9%. - Waiting lists coming down - Progress finally being made on restoring ties with Europe. @wesstreeting @Ed_Miliband why derail this now.

@reformexposed @in_the_wood_fay @drdavidbull @McivorJaymey The Reform party should pay

Every time a new Reform UK councillor resigns or is sacked, remember it’s £35k of taxpayers money that could have been avoided if Reform UK vetted properly. That’s on @drdavidbull and @McivorJaymey. £35k every time.

@digitalsunshine @annemflfc And anonymous sources 🤣

Charlie Stayt: "Chris Mason, can you give us an insight into the current mind set in no 10 Downing Street?" Chris Mason: "No, not really. But I'll happily make something up, based on conjecture, speculation and completely made up rumours." #BBCBreakfast #R4Today

“In wrenching interviews, Palestinians have recounted to me a pattern of widespread Israeli sexual violence against men, women and even children,” our columnist Nicholas Kristof writes. nyti.ms/4ue9mtV

Imagine if all medical professionals in the world empathised with their Palestinian colleagues unlawfully detained by Apartheid Israel, and rose,with one voice, for their liberation. The possibility to turn this genocide into a victory for humanity lies in small, replicated steps