Richard Pollins

Complete honour to edit today's @itvnews lunchtime show and keep the amazing legacy of Rob Burrow at the top of our running order. Excellent piece by my colleague @Oliviaguthrietv Let's end this disease - cc @mndassoc itv.com/watch/news/for…

This is the content Spurs fans are gagging to read about

Sharar, during your speech you asked if there was a problem with antisemitism in @TheGreenParty. I'm glad you now acknowledge there is. 1/6

President of the British Chamber of Commerce and former Chief Economist at the Bank of England, Andy Haldane, has told ITV News' @ITVJoel that the pick-up in inflation will be 'manageable'. He said the energy price shock 'calls for lower interest rates, not higher ones'.

My Iranian mother collapsed on the morning of Christmas Day. The volunteers of Hatzola were with us within five minutes: their service is literally a life-saver. The thugs who firebombed their ambulances celebrate the culture of death.

Wondering if the hearts of those frustrated by small acts of petty symbolism, by the feeling that smashed windows and graffiti on bakeries are simply not enough, are cheered by the upgrade to burning ambulances this morning.

@londonette @itvnews Absolutely…for BBC based stories!

@richpollins @itvnews BBC, always leading the way … ;)

Full disclosure, I too was on shift at BBC News 24 on ‘Guy Goma Day’ (but it wasn’t me, guv.) I don’t know a single journalist in that newsroom who didn’t say afterwards, “there but for the grace of God go I” - because in fast-paced broadcast newsrooms, people are under enormous pressure and mistakes can happen. This one just happened to be exceptionally funny. Can’t wait to read this @ElliottGotkine, congrats!

Hey White House, please remove the Tropic Thunder clip. We never gave you permission and have no interest in being a part of your propaganda machine. War is not a movie.

This is eye opening in so many ways. To see this complicated nuanced world in such a trivial way that it can be packaged up like this in the hope of bringing public opinion with you.

Purim tomorrow. Ancient Persia had Esther. Modern Iran has women who refuse to bow. If Israel or America are your excuse to abandon Iranian women, you stand with their oppressors.

Regardless of the rights and wrongs of the case, both of which are passionately held for very good reasons — I’ve always thought Assisted Dying was one of the most politically ill judged things for Labour to begin with. Just what a lugubrious, miserable thing to kick off as your first great big national conversation about change. Essentially asking the nation, to dwell on such questions as do you believe that people in such horrific end states as vomiting fecal matter deserve to pull the plug? But also who is it appealing to electorally? The only people highly motivated to vote by this at the next election are old people who are largely opposed and frightened by it. And not the young people who support it because they do not think they are going to be dying before the next election. It always felt like a mid-way second term issue for me. And that’s just politically — before the counter arguments, the cost and complexities of actually delivering it.

The whole point of kosher food, including meat, is that it's labelled. It's called a hechsher. Same is true of halal, I'm sure. A little research before calling out the practices of religious people wouldn't hurt...

Hi @KerryHopkinsTV how is she Jewish?

@KerryHopkinsTV @VeritasSola @imelizabethlane How is Erika Jewish?

@VeritasSola @imelizabethlane Erika is Jewish or rather a satanist.

I’m going to be blunt. I’ve reached the point where I find Erika Kirk deeply disturbing, not because of rumors or gossip, but because of consistent, observable patterns of behavior. To be clear, everything I say in this post is my opinion, I’m not claiming this is a fact I’m saying this is what I think Erica Kirk is. I come from the world of acting and modeling. I’ve spent years around social climbers, opportunists, image-curators, and people who treat relationships as ladders, that is why I left that world. Most of these people are shallow and harmless. A few are dangerous. Erika falls into the latter category not because she is just ambitious, but because of how calculated and performative her ambition appears to be. I believe she maybe a psychopath. What stands out immediately is the reaction she provokes in people, which is very common with psychopaths. Across the board including from people who support her publicly, the private reaction is the same: “I can’t watch her.” Not criticism, just physical discomfort. People turn off interviews because the presentation feels artificial to the point of being unbearable. let me explain: That kind of response does not happen accidentally, and it does not happen often. Research in psychology shows that humans are highly sensitive to emotional incongruence, mismatches between facial expression, tone, and content. When affect appears simulated rather than genuine, the brain registers it as a threat signal. This activates discomfort and avoidance, even if the person cannot consciously explain why. So many of us felt this way but we could not explain why we could not watch her. Studies on psychopathy, particularly those building on the work of psychologists like Robert Hare, describe traits such as rehearsed emotional display, and shallow affect. These traits can create what observers experience as an “uncanny” interpersonal dynamic. The discomfort arises and people want to shut it off because most people rarely encounter extreme affective mimicry in everyday life, so the brain struggles to categorize what it is detecting. (Comment below if this is what you felt like when watching her.) Erica is attractive enough, and she had every tool in her position to sell this organically except for one thing - emotion. The entire story of what happened could have helped her sell this fully, she really would have been the last person on earth to be a suspect, if not for the FBI’s terrible mistakes, TPUSA’s lies, and her very fake performance. Plenty of attractive, ambitious women move through media spaces without triggering that response, even though we know what they are. This is about something else, an extreme disconnect between presentation she puts out and perceived authenticity. Erica is not the archetype of a model/actress seeking money and fame and then settling into a quiet life with a wealthy good looking husband. She’s the wolf type. Who wants to be in the place of that husband.She is not born for a supporting role, she’s a decision-maker type. She appears to pursue proximity to power, moving fluidly between television, nonprofits, branding opportunities, and ideological spaces that maximize exposure. Her previous partners are guys women like her would date, muscular, jacked, good-looking. Even though they are not people with huge potential, they are all somewhat established. They are good stepping stones until the right person shows up. Now, looking at her previous partners, I’d say Charlie probably was not her type visually, but he was exactly what she was looking for in a man - potential to be a great power. What Erica was looking for is the same thing Hillary Clinton was looking for when she met Bill. She recognized that Bill Clinton was her ticket to power, the power she could control and she was right. She realized she could create a great brand out of him and herself, and they still are a brand. The Clintons. No one in this world can say they love each other. They are a brand that works. This is why she’s sticking around despite Epstein and Lewinsky. Also, if you think Bill is the decision-maker there, you must have never been in close proximity to the Clintons. She moves the game, she is the decision-maker. Erica saw a brand with Charlie. She also saw that Charlie could one day become President of the United States if he wanted to. Charlie had the ear of the most powerful segment of any society - students! He was going to be a very important player in politics, and she was not missing that ride. What’s striking is how completely her public identity reshapes itself after that relationship begins. The aesthetic, the tone, the values, the presentation all change. Overnight, the persona shifts into the role that best fits Charlie’s world, devoted Christian, modest, supportive housewife. That kind of rapid adaptation is quite impressive for a usual person but not for a psychopath, they do it all the time. In my head story goes like this: For a moment, it works. She becomes the wife of a rising political figure with access to donors, institutions, and national platforms. At that point, the ceiling isn’t social media influence, it’s empire-building, foundations, global reach, a legacy brand - Kirks! It’s obvious that Charlie listens to her, whether it’s about donors or the trajectory of TPUSA. The most influential figure in any mentally healthy man’s life is his wife. She is going to be the biggest influence, and that’s just how it is. That is why you need to pick you partner wisely! Everything was going well until Charlie makes decisions based on conscience rather than expansion and money. He turns down money. He refuses to play dirty politics. I’m assuming someone like Erica who married into this because she had a vision for this brand would not be very happy that. The life she appears to have signed up for - power couple, expanding influence, historical relevance, was collapsing into something else entirely, domesticity, housewife kids and now Charlie's refusing to accept the money that can make him a global power. A supporting role instead of center stage is not her thing. Her husband died a few days ago, and she walks onto the stage as if she were born there. It comes naturally to her, she knows it, and she wants it. Just days after her husband’s death, she was already laying out ambitious plans for the company over Zoom. It’s obvious she was always deeply involved in the business and knew exactly where to pick up when her turn came. What people struggle to watch, what makes the screen unbearable, is not grief. It’s the absence of emotional continuity. Performances can be learned, trust me, as a former actress I can speak to that, but emotion can’t be improvised or mimicked if you’ve never experienced it. That’s why I think we are dealing with a psychopath who has never really experienced these emotions and does not know how to play them. And audiences feel it instantly. It’s fake. Again just my opinion. This isn’t an accusation of crime, I’m not claiming this is what happened and it's a fact. It’s an analysis I made after watching her long enough. And quite honestly I am sick of this shit.

Hamas has launched a campaign against Doctors Without Borders (MFS) after the organization withdrew from operations at Nasser Hospital, citing the presence of armed Hamas members and weapons inside the facility. Hamas condemned the decision, calling MSF’s allegations “false, unsubstantiated, and misleading,” and claimed the statement endangered a protected civilian medical facility. Hamas has chosen to attack a medical organization that has operated under extreme conditions to treat civilians. Hamas’s strategy is simple: deny, deflect, and accuse others, while refusing to take responsibility for actions that endanger civilians and undermine the protection of medical spaces.

A career highlight for many, especially @harry_horton and @JimSummersNews. If I’d known sad news about @DiploMog we would have covered on the programme too. Congratulations @Number10cat on a great political innings.

For all those who asked, here is a clip of @havivrettiggur responding to masked protesters interrupting his lecture at Haverford College on February 1, 2026. Enjoy and learn.

Today I took forward a Bill to stop the two-tier sentencing rules that come into force in just 18 days. While Nigel Farage swanned off to Cheltenham to forget his troubles. We will keep fighting for the British people against Two-Tier Keir.

If anyone has seen Nigel Farage/Roger Helmer, pls ask them to clear up their derelict campaign shop in Newark

@CharlotteHawkns @mndassoc Brilliant @CharlotteHawkns! HNY

Still can’t quite believe it!! 🏆😂 So pleased to have won Celebrity Mastermind and been able to raise money for @mndassoc 🙌