trusted authority figure

The sweet smell of vindication

Just @nicolelampert here casually retweeting a neo Nazi who was jailed for three years for a sustained antisemitic harassment campaign aimed at Luciana Berger. It is about time she started taking antisemitism seriously.

Be some drivel like: I want to take a moment this morning to update you on the situation in the Middle East, particularly the ongoing tensions involving Iran, and what that may mean for people here in the United Kingdom. Let me start by saying this. We are aware of the situation. We are monitoring it closely. And we are engaging with our international partners in a calm, measured, and responsible way. That is the right approach. But I also know that for many families, the immediate concern is not the detail of international developments. It is the very real, everyday pressure on the cost of living — particularly when it comes to fuel. We recognise that. People are seeing prices rise at the pump. They are seeing costs increase more broadly. And they are asking what it means for them and for their families. Those are entirely reasonable questions. Now, it is important to understand that these pressures are being driven by global factors. Movements in energy markets, supply chains, and wider instability all play a role. These are complex issues, and they do not lend themselves to simple or immediate solutions. We are keeping the situation under constant review. We are in regular discussions with industry, with international partners, and across government to ensure that we have a full picture of developments as they evolve. That work is ongoing. At this stage, there are no indications of immediate supply disruption in the United Kingdom. But I do appreciate that the pressures people are feeling are real. They are felt in household budgets, in businesses, and in communities across the country. We understand that. And it is right that we continue to listen, to assess, and to respond in a way that is proportionate and grounded in the evidence. So we will continue to monitor the situation. We will continue to engage. And we will continue to consider the appropriate steps as matters develop. In the meantime, I want to thank people for their patience and their understanding. We will keep you updated. Thank you.

@sudbinajenasa @simpledesign17 @ryangrim They have included groups like Movement for Black Lives and Party for Socialism and Liberation (who both call for end of occupation) within their coalition on protests. "From Palestine to Mexico, all the walls have got to go" was chanted at most recent protest

This is simply false and also gross.

@ClarkeMicah If only they could turn back the clock

On Sunday March 1, while many ‘right-wingers’ were urging Britain to fling itself into Trump’s war, I warned that it was an action with no clear end, which might impoverish the world. And people, as usual, called me rude names.

@louorns @balmoral_james @Cameronsmart_ @WFC_Will This is clutching at straws to degrees never seen before. Man who works backwards from his conclusion reaches new heights in avoiding reality

@balmoral_james @Cameronsmart_ @Hitheregoize @WFC_Will I don’t think assists are important tbh. Have always said that, same with clean sheets. Better to look at how creative they actually are rather than that. But have you got a long pass map of Ngakia to know if it’s switching of play/quick transitions?

It’s Louza by a landslide. We’ve normalised his performances. An average game for him is a great one for anyone else. I also must be watching a different game when it comes to Ngakia. I think he’s been fine. His performances have been overhyped because we didn’t expect it

@rhensn_ @KimleviKim @robjeffecology @LeftieStats @KirkChris @ElectionsEtc Green landslide incoming! Alhumdilillah!

@KimleviKim @robjeffecology @LeftieStats @KirkChris @ElectionsEtc According to you lot they're everywhere as we've been conquered!

‼️NEW | Projected seat change in local elections: ➡️ Ref +2,260 🟢 Grn +450 🟠 Lib +200 🔵 Con -1,010 🔴 Lab -1,900 (Source: Stephen Fisher / @ElectionsEtc)

@Cameronsmart_ @louorns @WFC_Will 6/10 - scored the winning goal... I do wonder what game Watford fans watch sometimes. Ngakia's tackles start our counter attacks so often. He played better with Baah offensively, because he got passes back for early crosses. But not top 3/5? Crazy stuff. Maamma is on that list!

@Hitheregoize @louorns @WFC_Will If he didn’t score the goal that game then it would’ve been a 1/10 performance, he was all over the place that day. Thankfully he did score, but that’s not a measure of his overall performance

@louorns @WFC_Will On higher than 6/10, maybe the last game he played where he scored the winner away at Bristol City? Has the most tackles won per game in the league, 3 goals and 4 assists which is a good return for a right back. Whoscored have him 2nd behind Louza fwiw: whoscored.com/teams/27/show/…

@WFC_Will I think it’s the opposite. Seen loads of player of the season shouts which blows my mind. Can’t remember the last really good game he had that stretched beyond a 6/10. I’d have him 5th personally. He doesn’t do enough throughout 90 to warrant top 3 shouts for me

@Geraldi31348001 @Ken_Stonger They've spent way more fighting the strike than they would've otherwise spent if they'd just paid the workers. It's about ego

@Ken_Stonger I said it was partly because of the strikes. To answer your question Labour workers rights bill is the biggest increase in workers rights for years. I have never looked into the Bin strikes in any detail but I remember reading Birmingham council saying they couldn't afford it.

I believe Unite might because Sharon Graham has a grudge against Labour which I don't believe is entirely about the Bin Strikes.

PAUL HOLDEN STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO INTERVIEW WITH JOSH SIMONS ON BBC NEWSCAST Yesterday, BBC Newscast published a lengthy, forty-minute interview with former Cabinet Minister Josh Simons MP. The interview addressed how Simons, as a director of @LabourTogether, had appointed a firm called APCO Worldwide to investigate me and my colleagues. I was not told by the BBC ahead of the broadcast that the episode was being recorded or aired. I was not approached to respond to the lengthy comments made about me or the small anti-corruption organisation, @ShadowWorldInv1 , that I run with my colleague @andrewfeinstein. Andrew, who is also repeatedly mentioned, was also not approached for comment. I only found out last night, when a friend texted me, that the person who hired a major multinational reputation management firm that produced a despicable and defamatory report on me and my colleagues, and who reported me on the basis of these false and defamatory reports to the UK’s security services, was being given forty minutes to give his version of events on a major podcast published by our national broadcaster. To be clear, the BBC has NEVER - not once - approached me to comment on a story that is, ultimately, about me, my investigations, my family and my colleagues. They did not approach me when the story first broke, and they did not approach me for this episode. If the BBC had done so, I would have raised several issues with the way in which matters related to me were discussed. For example, Simons repeatedly stated in the interview that he instructed APCO to investigate whether my reporting or sourcing derived from a ‘hack’ of the Electoral Commission. The word ‘hack’ is used eight times in the interview. At no time was it acknowledged in this discussion that this allegation – that I might have received hacked materials – is entirely false, and I have repeatedly proven it to be false. Following the broadcast, I contacted the BBC to complain and to raise serious issues with the broadcast. I was contacted by the Newscast editor, Sam Bonham, to say the BBC would update the Newscast episode and further reporting to reflect some of my concerns. This has not yet happened with regards to the podcast, although I note some online reporting finally reflects a very small and limited sampling of my comments. I will wait to see if amendments and updates will follow. If they do not, I will be escalating this matter to OFCOM. In the interim, I have decided to share the full statement I provided to the BBC, which is produced below: I would like to put certain things on the record. First, my reporting on Labour Together and Morgan McSweeney was entirely factually accurate and based on impeccable, legal sourcing. My sourcing has been reviewed by multiple media outlets, who confirmed the authenticity and legal provenance of my sources. Revelations based on my book, The Fraud, has subsequently been covered widely across the mainstream media, including in multiple front-page scoops, in outlets such as The Times, Daily Mail, The Guardian, The National and ITV. The stories I produced in 2023 and 2024, and which prompted Labour Together's investigation into me, were subject to extensive editorial and legal checks. They were, I believe, entirely accurate reporting on matters of profound public interest, which included raising concerns about the character of powerful individuals like Morgan McSweeney. Considering the recent Mandelson affair, I believe I have been entirely vindicated in attempting to alert the public about McSweeney's past, including how McSweeney made use of £700,000 in funding that he unlawfully failed to declare to the Electoral Commission to procure power and influence for himself and Sir Keir Starmer. Second, Josh Simons states that he never intended for APCO Worldwide to investigate me or my journalistic colleagues. However, a copy of the contract between APCO Worldwide and Labour Together, addressed to Simons, has now been published. The contract sets out a scope of work written in plain English. It states that APCO will 'investigate the sourcing, funding, origins of a Sunday Times article as well as upcoming works by authors Paul Holden and Matt Taibbi.' The contract then states that the aim of the APCO investigation will be to 'provide a body of evidence that could be packaged up in the media in order to create narratives that would proactively undermine any future attacks on Labour Together.' The contract then sets out a range of potentially invasive investigative methods that will be used to generate this 'package', including 'financial investigations' and 'human intelligence investigations.' I provide the full text of this contract below. This contract is clear. APCO were hired to investigate me to produce materials that would 'proactively undermine' my factually accurate, public interest reporting. They would use a range of investigative techniques to do so. APCO then did exactly as was suggested in the contract, using these investigative methods to "investigate" me. This investigation has caused me and my family significant anxiety and distress. Third, Josh Simons was provided with a report called Operation Cannon. It is the result of a lengthy investigation into me and my colleagues by APCO Worldwide. I have seen a copy of this report. It makes a series of extremely defamatory and utterly false allegations against me. It identifies my home address and sets out private information about my family. I cannot express how profoundly shocking, outrageous and defamatory this report truly is. Simons may claim he never intended for APCO to investigate me, but on receipt of this despicable report, he then chose to use it. He submitted sections of the report to the National Cyber Security Centre to convince them to investigate me. The Guardian has published the email correspondence in which Simons repeated some of the substance of the allegations in the APCO reports. Fourth, multiple media freedom advocacy organisations, including the NUJ, have strongly criticised the APCO investigation and these related matters. They have all, to my mind correctly, strongly criticised Labour Together and APCO for investigating journalists producing factually accurate reporting in the public interest. Finally, I am still reviewing the Newscast interview. I will be responding in due course and I hope that the BBC will, this time, give me the platform to set out what really happened and why. Text of Contract Between Labour Together and APCO Worldwide, addressed to Josh Simons Dear Mr Simons We are pleased that you have selected APCO Worldwide Limited (“APCO”) to provide the following scope of work (“services”) during Term: APCO will devise a concise strategy to aid Labour Together. APCO will investigate the sourcing, funding and origins of a Sunday Times article about Labour Together, as well as upcoming works by authors Paul Holden and Matt Taibbi – to establish who and what are behind the coordinated attacks on Labour Together. The approach should provide a body of evidence that could be packaged up for use in the media in order to create narratives that would proactively undermine any future attacks on Labour Together. The material can also inform any future legal strategy that Labour Together might wish to pursue against any of these parties. The work will include: • Open Source Investigations (OSINT): Recovery and Preservation of Evidence • Human Intelligence Investigation (HUMINT): Recovery and Preservation of Evidence • Financial Investigation: Forensic Accounting Focus • Digital Forensics Investigation: Recovery and Preservation of Evidence • Stakeholder Outreach • Media Packaging and Dissemination

@PolitlcsUK GMP asset Charlie Veitch in state of disarray

🚨 NEW: Greater Manchester Police say they have found "no evidence" of family voting in the Gorton and Denton by-election

@MistakenEntity @GreatKingPilaf @PlayoffsArena @ShamsCharania Would a first-round losing team really be in need of a geriatric health specialist?

@GreatKingPilaf @PlayoffsArena @ShamsCharania Naw they need LeBron going to a team that lost in the first round and to leave Cleveland in perpetual poverty.

The NBA presented three comprehensive anti-tanking concepts to its Board of Governors on Wednesday, with modifications expected to each before a formal vote in May, per ESPN sources. 1. 18 teams in draft lottery (seeds 7-15 in each conference) – flattened odds, with bottom 10 teams having an 8% chance, the remaining 20% odds distributed in decreasing order for 11 through 18, and and a lottery drawing for all 18 picks. 2) 22 teams in lottery using 2-year record (seeds 7-15, plus the four playoff first round exits in both conferences). Lottery teams would reach a minimum win total floor in each season, such as 25 wins. If a team falls short of the floor, it gets slotted to meet the floor. Top 4 drawn as part of lottery, as is currently. 3) 18 teams in a "5 by 5" lottery – bottom 5 teams have equal odds for the top pick, with lottery formed for picks 1-5. Bottom 5 teams have a floor at 10; those that fall out of top 5 get sorted in a separate drawing.

@GreenKail1 @Dcrease13 @LeftieStats @YouGov What year do they want to go back to exactly? Immigration controls only ever existed when Christianity was on the decline

@Dcrease13 @LeftieStats @YouGov Absolute AI generated cringe of a rose tinted past that never existed.

‼️POLL | #GE2029 if Londoners vote for who they actually want to win (no tactical voting)* 🟢 Grn: 36% (+26) 🔴 Lab: 22% (-21) ➡️ Ref: 20% (+11) 🟠 Lib: 11% (=) 🔵 Con: 11% (-10) Poll: @YouGov, 15-16 Mar (+/- vs GE2024) --- *Voters asked to state true first preference.

@Nelson011983 @JoeStephenson96 Even if you are a fan of the films - £58.50 to look at some props?

@JoeStephenson96 Being made to drive to Watford and have to walk round the studios for hours with the missus means I hate everything about this little twat.

@watford_gm @BaitVic @WatfordSupBoard I'd imagine the selling team wouldn't want to dissuade the buyers from re-selling, with sell-on clauses & the player's interests to be considered

@BaitVic @WatfordSupBoard Suggest the current squad purchase fees are less than £10m so these must mostly relate to players already sold (surprised we don’t have to settle up with the previous team when the asset has been sold on)

The financial statements of The Watford Association Football Club Limited for the year ended 30th June 2025 have today been filed at Companies House. Our initial observations on these accounts can be found in the link below. watfordsupportersboard.co.uk/app/uploads/20… #watfordfc

@gilescoren @hamid @martinshawx @thetimes Bit weird you wrongly assumed the dog gimmick would be a sex thing but even weirder that you didn't deny being a paedophile.

@Carlwfc @James_Warren7 I'm the grass Went. You're next. Watch yourself

Watford football club are turning into a fucking disgrace. Utter woke nonsense. Won’t have any fans left at this rate. #watfordfc

@ProperFootball8 Looking forward to getting my camera out, videoing the eejits and grassing them up tomorrow

Watford FC are threatening their own fans with banning orders and being ejected for saying the G word at the end of a song they sing. They are also encouraging fellow fans to GRASS UP other fans for singing it. What is the world coming to? And what are clubs like Watford playing at. The word in question is G Y P O which is said at the end of a Watford / Luton song sung for many years. And ironically the song in question, is one many clubs sing about their rivals "wash your mouth out son" you know the rest and will probably know the next sentence. So it is ok to sing that but not sing the G word. Encouraging grassing on fellow fans and threatening banning orders and ejections is simply disgraceful and a little bit disturbing. This all comes 1 day after fans recieved messages about renewing season tickets, funny that. Modern day football clubs doing all they can to p*ss fans off. Watford FC 👎🏻 #Watford #Watfordfc #WFC #Football #EFL

NEW: The 5 Green party MPs and 2 Lords have written to Keir Starmer demanding answers on the UK's involvement in the Iran war.