Mark Rubens

@JamesEFoster @DPJHodges Burnham not being a ‘factional politician’ didn’t survive contact with reality.

@DPJHodges Let’s hope he sends more of Starmer’s lot to the backbenches. Makes sense.

Didn't see this one coming. Very brutal cull of the Starmer loyalists.

@Johnmcternan @skytv @AndyBurnhamGM @Ed_Miliband @wesstreeting How does ‘doubling down’ when other countries aren’t, achieve anything other than making the UK less competitive?

On @skytv just argued who @AndyBurnhamGM should make appoint to his top jobs: - @Ed_Miliband for Chancellor: doubling down on Net Zero is the only way out on the climate crisis burning te planet - @wesstreeting for Defence: the MoD needs a moderniser, innovator and communicator

The Tories have crowned Rishi Sunak without him saying a word about what he would do as PM. He has no mandate, no answers and no ideas. Nobody voted for this. The public deserve their say on Britain’s future through a General Election. It’s time for a fresh start with Labour.

Never forget. With unprecedented discipline, especially in the Labour Party, Starmer-McSweeney-Reeves and relatively few others brought about a landslide general election victory. The Starmer led govt clearly has its deficiencies. But it’s also a fact sections of the PLP, Burnham, out of touch left union leaders, along with Johnson backing journos have sought to undermine this enormous achievement from day one. For some permanent opposition has always been the most favourable option

A few things happening at once that people should connect. Russia is now linked to the arson attacks on the Prime Minister's house and car last year. Shocker. And we all saw what happened the moment that story broke. Our feeds flooded with a different story about who the men were and why they did it. That's the operation. The arson is one half. The disinformation campaign is the other. Flood the zone, muddy the water, get the country shouting at itself instead of asking who is behind it. And at the same time, a chunk of the accounts pushing Scottish independence on X went dark the night Israel hit Iran's nuclear sites. Ask yourself why. Why would hostile states be interested in sowing division across the country? This is exactly what I mean when I say defence is the thread underneath everything now. Again, it isn't tanks on a border. It's an arson attack on the PM's front door and state-sponsored disinformation campaigns in the replies. It's the argument about breaking up our country being run out of Tehran. This is why resilience matters. And it's bigger than just factchecking a tweet. It's energy we can rely on. Industry we actually own. Institutions that are rock solid. Communities that don't split and fracture the moment someone pushes them. A country that is built to take a punch. That's the job now.

I linked to this 16 months ago. It's still as described. RIP Sir Alex Younger.

The death of Alex Younger is a terrible loss to this country, and to all who knew this truly remarkable person. He was a superb public servant, and one of the most courageous and thoroughly decent people I’ve ever met. His sangfroid and humour after his diagnosis was extraordinary, in the true sense. Heartfelt commiserations to his family

Best thing I’ve read on Burnham

Our media fixation with Keir Starmer is becoming a literal drag on the country now. As I write this, I can already see the replies forming below, accusing me of being a Labour shill etc. but, believe it or not, I am not. Maybe it's worth setting this out — I have no party affiliation. None. I'm not 'on the right' … but that's as far as it goes. There are policies and people that I admire across the Lib Dems, Greens and Labour. Conversely, there are policies and people I am vehemently against within each of those parties as well. There are some decent Conservatives left but fewer and fewer in frontline politics and I can have excellent discussions with those moderate Tories that remain. Where my line in the sand is drawn though, as I'm sure you're all aware, is the far-right. Reform UK and Restore Britain. I have no common ground with their populism — I see through the propaganda. This doesn't mean that I think every member of Reform UK is a bad person, far from it, but I cannot rationalise their top-line bravado into credible politics. So, with all that being said, I think the witch-hunt of Keir Starmer is distracting the public from some far more serious crises. Since the very day Starmer took office, there has been an onslaught from the media; desperation to try and topple him and his principal team. This played out successfully with Angela Rayner, and they have been vicious and relentless pursuing Rachel Reeves. I listened to Paul Brand on LBC at the weekend continuously comparing Starmer to Boris Johnson in terms of sleaze. Have we collectively lost our minds? There is no other Prime Minister in history that compares to Johnson for scandal. The elephant in the room — Peter Mandelson. But is it really an elephant still? Clearly, Starmer should never have brought the Prince of Darkness into his team, that was a madness and severe failing of judgement. One for which he has accepted responsibility and apologised on multiple occasions. The vetting process appears to be, pretty much, a non-story, despite what Dan Hodges and GB News are shovelling out. So … we should be moving on. Shouldn't we? Kemi Badenoch and her famously robust judgement felt not yesterday, and spent more of her diminishing political currency by pushing Starmer with six questions at PMQs on the subject. She was met with a well briefed lawyer, that, in all honesty, made her look a bit silly for continuing her defeated line of questioning. While this continues to dominate the headlines, other far more crucial issues are being missed — we're going to run low on fuel soon, the cost of living is about to skyrocket, holidays will be cancelled imminently. But mainly ... the cost of living is about to skyrocket. We saw in yesterday's inflation rise that food is already moving upward, if Trump's ludicrous war in Iran continues, then we're all going to suffer the consequences. Surely, this is a far more pressing matter? One in which the government should be fully engaged in order to help protect the public — it's number one duty. It is very telling that Reform UK are spending very little time on the Starmer issue. They sent Lee Anderson out to raise this issue, for goodness’ sake. LEE ANDERSON. Farage is hyper focused on the local elections, safe in the knowledge that the media is obsessing over Keir Starmer, once again. He's making hay while the S*n shines on Labour. Jeez! This went on a bit, sorry, but it feels critical to me. We are being led around by the nose by the legacy media outlets. They smell blood in the water, but I really don't think the story is there. Not yet. And while the sharks circle, Reform UK are flying under the radar, ready to swoop on the local elections [sorry for the weird mixed metaphors — it's early!]. Have a lovely sunny day. 🌞

The media has convinced you that Keir Starmer is the worst Prime Minister in history. They're lying to you.

@seanhannity Define 'work' please.

BUILT DIFFERENT: Contrary to NYT, Trump Working Up to 12-Hour Days Oval Office Logs Show: Report hannity.com/media-room/bui…

A few serious corrections: 1,) The vast majority of Palestinian Arabs were NOT the indigenous population. They were people who were drawn into the land, from all surrounding countries, in search of jobs and opportunities with the Jewish industries and enterprises. 2.) Had the Arabs not decided to go to war in 1948 there would have been no refugees - neither 450,000 Arab refugees, nor some 900,000 Jewish refugees - expelled [ethnically cleansed[ from all Arab lands. 3.) Even when the Arabs did attack in 1948, the government of Israel begged the Arabs to stay put and live peacefully alongside Israel. The Arabs who did so have grown 14 X and are flourishing - the freest and perhaps happiest Arabs in the region.....

Shared with you by a Times subscriber. Enjoy this article for free. thetimes.com/comment/column…

Check out this post on Nextdoor: nextdoor.co.uk/p/3WCjqc8tNy9b…

How "The Dark Knight" Explains Trump's Appeal youtu.be/PZvFzQwpBvk?si… via @YouTube

Brilliant, brilliant Banksy

This is America’s Director of National Intelligence folks. If you think that the Oval Office outbursts or the back to front narratives about Zelensky being the ‘dictator’ who started the war is just Trump being Trump and doesn’t really mean anything cos it could all change tomorrow… think again.

A president just disrespected America in the Oval Office. It wasn’t Zelensky. kyivindependent.com/editorial-a-pr…

@garageland66 @David75234833 @owenjonesjourno This was only added later, after initial TX