Nichola Harrison @222Harrison

This is a wonderful idea- please will you consider it @RoyalFamily? London needs more accessible open spaces. Could be part time public use.

Londonist @Londonist

2 days ago

Here's an intriguing idea from Reddit. Charles and Camilla say they won't be living in Buckingham Palace... so maybe they could gift part of the gardens to the public, by knocking down the wall and extending Green Park. Thoughts? tinyurl.com/58tpuzp9

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Chris, there are rare occasions when an author dismantles his own argument before the reader has progressed beyond the opening paragraphs. This is one of them. You readily concede that much of your reporting over recent months rested upon anonymous briefings, unnamed sources, private conversations and opinions offered only on condition that they could never be subjected to public scrutiny. You then ask your audience to accept that such material provides an accurate account of events. With respect, that is not evidence in any meaningful sense. It is an interpretation of events, constructed from assertions that the reader has no means of testing, verifying or challenging. No serious observer disputes that confidential sources have a legitimate place in political journalism. They always have, and they always will. But there is a profound distinction between using anonymous sources to illuminate established facts and using them to construct an entire political narrative over many months. The former is responsible journalism; the latter risks becoming an exercise in reinforcing assumptions until they acquire the appearance of fact simply through constant repetition. Indeed, your own article inadvertently exposes that very process. It repeatedly invites readers to accept what unnamed MPs supposedly believed, what unidentified advisers were allegedly saying, and what anonymous insiders privately thought. Such accounts may well have reflected genuine conversations, but they remain assertions rather than verifiable facts. There is an important distinction, and one that ought never to be blurred. More striking still is the omission at the heart of your analysis. You devote thousands of words to explaining how Westminster concluded that Sir Keir Starmer's premiership had become untenable, yet you devote scarcely a sentence to examining whether the relentless stream of anonymous briefings and speculative commentary from sections of the political media played any part in creating that very outcome. That question surely deserves examination. Nor do you grapple with the constitutional consequence of what follows. The British people elected a Government led by Sir Keir Starmer. Should he be replaced by another individual through internal parliamentary manoeuvring alone, the process may be constitutionally lawful, but that does not automatically confer political legitimacy in the eyes of the electorate. Those are two entirely different questions. Many of those now defending such a transition were previously among the most vocal critics of Rishi Sunak for assuming office without seeking his own mandate from the country. Constitutional principles cannot be invoked when politically convenient and quietly abandoned when they become inconvenient. History has a habit of punishing such inconsistency. If Andy Burnham were to become Prime Minister in these circumstances, I believe the pressure upon him to seek his own mandate from the British people would become irresistible. In my view, he would have little practical choice but to call a General Election within six to eight months. Whether Labour would survive such a contest is, of course, for the electorate to determine. My own judgement is that they would face a severe electoral reckoning, with the country returning either a Reform UK-led government or a hung Parliament. Journalism should chronicle events, not become so intertwined with Westminster's internal conversations that it begins to mistake the mood of the political class for the settled will of the British people. That, in my view, is the fundamental weakness running through your analysis. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

@urbanponds101 But has it got any wildlife value. We should only plants things that do.

📈 3,008 more teachers in secondaries & special schools 📈1,646 more teachers in colleges 📈Trainee teachers up 13% 📈 Teacher pay up 9.5% 📈 Record investment in schools If standing up for state schools makes me a spiteful class warrior, I’ll wear it with pride. #PMQs

A statment from us.

Samantha Niblett MP says: “I would encourage people to support the Hold the Line campaign, email their MP, and tell them they want them to continue to back this Prime Minister so we can continue to deliver"

Tell Labour MPs: Hold the line. — add your name. via @LabHoldtheline holdtheline.org.uk/petition

Me too… don’t allow it to happen @Keir_Starmer I know a contest would take an even greater personal toll but I voted for Labour under your leadership and an untested Coronation will fail this Country.. I want to know what Andy Burnham means by “ better” because so far it lacks a great deal of substance.

Selina Bastable @BastableSelina

a week ago

If Andy Burnham had the integrity and principles worthy of being PM he would insist on a leadership contest. He would tell supporters to stop bullying Sir Keir Starmer and announce his intention to stand. To fail to do so smacks of cowardice. For me he has failed the first test.

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@Keir_Starmer please fight. Please don't give up.

@10DowningStreet Prime Minister, please please don't give up. Please fight. This country needs you.

Just saying @JDVance

@TheSolarShed Hi Kevin, I read your posts with interest. Pls could you advise - for a 1 bed flat with electric water & space heating (solar & heat pump not possible) is it possible/a good idea to have a battery to take cheap elec from the grid at night for use during the day?

Tony Blair might not like my plan, but he's wrong: it's changing Britain for the better. keirstarmer.substack.com/p/tony-blair-m…

@DanNeidle Oh thanks Dan, I see it now. Thank you!

@wesstreeting please don't do it. Please get on with your job & let the PM do his. The list of this government's achievements is long & contains several of your own important achievements. The answer is to go on working hard, all of you together under Kier Starmer's leadership.

@francisjfarrell Very glad to have read your excellent article, thank you. I try to keep up with news of this dreadful war, praying every day that Ukraine will prevail. I'm glad to read a detailed and balanced assessment of the facts - the good and the not-so-good. Slava Ukraini

Whatever complaints MPs have about Keir Starmer, they are now descending into the kind of headless chickenry that - whatever and whoever the outcome - will make the situation even worse for Labour. If there is a grand plan starring Catherine West and a few PPSs, then it doesn’t feel terribly thought through. A period of calm would do none of them any harm. The general election is a fair way off. The next legislative programme is about to be unveiled. There are better ways to reach such an important decision and better times too. You are MPs not commentators who exist to feed a frenzy.

A very special delivery for David Attenborough, beloved by people (and animals) everywhere 💚 To honour Sir David’s 100th birthday, His Majesty The King is supported by a cast of stars from British nature to relay his handwritten message in time for the celebration at the Royal Albert Hall. Watch David Attenborough’s 100 Years on Planet Earth on @BBCiPlayer. youtu.be/I1D9YF0YapQ?si…

@JackWDart I just did the same as you. Painful but necessary!