Sarah Ingham

@BBCWorld A paedophile culture of abusing very young girls. But the adult men are treated as victims. More misogyny from the taxpayer-funded broadcaster, which until recently was happy to put women in prison. As if the trans capture weren’t bad enough …

Selling children to survive: Afghan fathers forced to make impossible choices bbc.in/49UQzLU

I am taking my complaint against the BBC over David Olusoga’s Empire to the next stage. Its latest response is not merely inadequate. The BBC now says, in effect, that it need not clearly signal the controversial character of Olusoga’s interpretation, and that Britain’s imperial history is not contentious enough to require a properly balanced range of views. That is not impartiality. It is the Corporation relaxing its own standards when they become inconvenient. Read my thoughts at The Biggar Picture: nigelbiggar.co.uk/p/i-continue-t…

@DanielJHannan @Keir_Starmer @Nigel_Farage Imagine if the Conservative Party had overcome its prejudices and given Nigel Farage a peerage in late 2019, early 2020. Far more deserving than Baroness Mone and scores of others now squatting in the Lords for decades to come.

@BenObeseJecty @GregHammond66 Explains why Simons was keen to bequeath Burnham his seat, like something out of rotten boroughs’ era/Trollope’s Palliser novels. Salary?

Surprise, surprise. Josh Simons to get a plum job advising Andy Burnham in No.10. There was always a question of what he’d been promised in order to make stepping down worth his while. The arrogance is breathtaking. Different leader, same chumocracy.

Meet Dr Keith Wolverton, a genial British GP working in urgent care. During a consultation at a walk-in centre in Staffordshire, he asked a Muslim woman to remove her niqab because he had difficulty hearing her explain her young daughter’s symptoms. He cited issues with her English and the need to see her mouth movements for clear communication and proper diagnosis. She initially refused on religious grounds but eventually complied. After her daughter received treatment and recovered, the thankless woman filed a complained that she felt “victimised and racially discriminated against.” CONSEQUENCES: A Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service hearing found the doctor guilty of misconduct. He was initially suspended for 9 months. In 2026, Dr Wolverton was struck off the medical register (effectively sacked/banned from practising). All because he was concerned about the health of a child.

THREAD (1/4): Britain gets the politics it deserves My article for @FinancialTimes: Few MPs combine policy nous, real-world experience and the ability to sell a vision and convey hard truths.... as.ft.com/r/04ac50de-58d… (Chart via @Samfr)

@Steven_Swinford Bring back Isambard Kingdom Brunel

EXCLUSIVE: Britain’s flagship high-speed rail line has gone “disastrously wrong” because of the decision to “gold plate” the project and political pressure to “keep things moving” despite spiralling costs, an official review has found Sir Stephen Lovegrove, a former national security adviser, said that the “original sins” of the project included a decision to focus on the “highest possible speeds” in an attempt to make it the “world’s best railway” The government opted to “begin construction at the hardest points of the route”, the first phase between London and the West Midlands He concluded that there was also particular confusion over “the changing objectives and political priorities”, with a conflict between the “mission” of ushering in a “new age of high speed rail” and the task of delivering “within time and budget” On Tuesday Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, is expected to confirm that the speed for the line will be reduced to 320km/h to reduce costs, while delivery of the project will be further delayed from previous plans to get trains running by 2033 The first trains between London and Birmingham are expected to run from 2035 at the earliest HS2 was originally designed to run between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds It will now run only as far north as Birmingham on new tracks, at which point HS2 trains will connect to the West Coast Main Line. Latest estimates suggest that this line alone could cost as much as £100 billion, the equivalent of £1 billion a mile thetimes.com/article/2940e8…

@ChelseaHistFest @NAM_London One of the best weeks of the year in SW3: Chelsea in Bloom, whisper it, beats the Flower Show.

Something is blooming at Chelsea Heritage Quarter next week… A little unexpected. A little beautiful. Maybe even slightly out of this world. Keep an eye on the Quarter from 18–24 May. More soon. #ChelseaInBloom #ChelseaHeritageQuarter #ThingsToDoInChelsea #LondonEvents

All PMs who come into No.10 off the subs’ bench/from the dugout would do well to stick to the mandate on which their party was elected. Even with his stonking majority, Starmer is in this mess partly because he went off-piste.

The Guardian has, this morning, run a 2,400-word front-page piece arguing that British hill flocks are "sheep-wrecking" the uplands. The accused is a six-year-old Texel ewe named Doris, who has, by her own internal accounting, no idea what a Guardian is. 6.15am. Doris ate grass. The grass, in her absence, would have grown to knee height by August, the bracken would have moved in, and the open fell that 22 million annual Lake District visitors come specifically to see would, by every continental study, be closed scrub within a generation. 6.50am. Doris nibbled the corner of a yellow rattle plant she has, by long preference, classified as "the one to the left of the rock." The rattle to the right of the rock is, by her assessment, not yet ready. 7.40am. Doris walked her line to the wall. The line is the path on page 4 of the Lake District tourist brochure. The photographer did not know it was the working route of one extremely small sheep. 9.00am. Doris adjusted her route, as she has every spring for four years, to avoid the lapwing nest. She did this without being asked. The lapwing is, in any case, on the cover of the RSPB calendar this year. 10.30am. Doris paused to scratch her ear with her hind leg. The manoeuvre took several attempts. 11.30am. A walker photographed Doris in profile against the lower ridge. Doris was looking into the wind with the patient expression of a sheep who considers it her best angle. The Instagram caption will praise the landscape Doris maintains. 2.00pm. Doris stared, with quiet intensity, at a butterfly. The butterfly left. Doris won. The cottages, the calendars, the postcards, the brochures, the songs, the paintings, the 22 million visitors a year: none of it is a landscape that exists by accident. It is a landscape that exists because Doris, and 750,000 hefted sheep like her, are still on it. The fell is Britain. Doris is the fell. Doris, in summary, is Britain. The article is not.

“It has taken Keir Starmer fearing he could lose the premiership for him to put more money into defence.” Starmer didn't act after previous defence “shocks”, but now his leadership rivals are stressing their commitment to defence, he is following suit, says General Lord Dannatt.

A thread on the 50 best fortifications to go and visit in the world according to me. They are all fun for at least one in the family. They are listed in reverse rank order as determined by how much fun, unique and awesome they are.

At a time when Prime Minister Starmer is talking about division and hate, it’s worth remembering that bringing the extremist Alaa Abd el-Fattah into the UK was one of Starmer’s self-professed ‘top priorities’ as PM. spectator.com/article/alaa-a…

@CharlotteCGill Style tips from Boris Johnson.

If I was going to be “seen running”, I would be Ozempicking/ getting abs like mad! Is this a purposeful “man of the people” aesthetic?

A councillor’s Lamborghini is the Green Party’s Agent Orange, toxic to its credibility. And, aptly, the Party’s growing sectarianism is being greenwashed. For @ConHome conservativehome.com/2026/05/15/sar…

This is a brutal situation for Starmer. It’s like his Mrs has said it’s over, but he can stay until he gets a place. Meanwhile another bloke is already creosoting the fence.

@JamesCleverly The need to stitch up Andy B by bouncing him into an unwinnable seat?

What has changed since the Labour NEC blocked Burnham from standing in the Gorton & Denton by-election?

Prince Harry and Meghan did more to divide our kingdom than almost anyone else in recent years. They weaponised race to smear good people and cause maximum damage to our monarchy - which does more than any institution in the country to bring us all together. It doesn’t matter what he has to say on anti-semitism, Islamophobia, societal divisions or on anything else to do with our country for that matter

A heartwarming story to end this evening. In 1948, a young British sailor named George Hickinbottom discovered a starving black-and-white kitten wandering the docks of Hong Kong and secretly brought him aboard the HMS Amethyst. The crew named the cat Simon, and he quickly became beloved throughout the ship. More than just a mascot, Simon proved useful by hunting rats that threatened the ship’s food supplies and equipment. He charmed both sailors and officers alike, especially the captain, often sleeping in his cabin and bringing comfort and companionship to the crew during long days at sea. Everything changed in April 1949 when the HMS Amethyst came under heavy attack while traveling along China’s Yangtze River during the Chinese Civil War. The ship was severely damaged, dozens of sailors were killed or wounded, and Simon himself was badly injured by shrapnel and burns. Despite his wounds, Simon survived and soon returned to roaming the ship, visiting injured sailors in the sick bay and continuing to hunt rats while the crew remained trapped for more than 100 days under constant fear and dwindling supplies. His determination and resilience became a powerful source of hope and morale for the exhausted crew. When the HMS Amethyst finally escaped and returned home, Simon was celebrated across Britain as a national hero. He received the Dickin Medal, the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross, becoming the only cat ever awarded the honor, and was officially promoted to Able Seaman Simon. However, the injuries he suffered during the attack left him weakened, and he died only weeks later in quarantine before reuniting fully with the crew. The sailors mourned him deeply and buried him with full naval honors, remembering him not simply as a ship’s cat, but as a brave companion who shared their suffering and courage during one of the darkest moments of their lives. Have you seen the film?

Facial recognition for Tommy Robinson rally this Saturday. But not for the pro Palestinian march. Same city, same day, same Met Police. If the law doesn’t apply equally, it isn’t the law - it’s politics. thetimes.com/article/071cd9…