Laura Phillips
@lauraphillips.bsky.social
Campaigner to support the BBC, (not a BBC employee).It’s affected by savage UK govt cuts: c40% 2010-2024. BBC costs <48 pence/around 62 US cents a day per UK household. It’s a national public service broadcaster, respected worldwide for accurate reporting.
I will miss Fergal Keane’s unique voice. His sense of compassion and empathy is notable and allows audiences an understanding of the victims of war that emphasises their individuality and humanity. Good luck for the future. Look forward to reading his fiction and to his long form work for the BBC.
Fergal Keane to leave the BBC after 37 years
During his time at the BBC, Fergal has become one of the most recognisable and respected voices in world affairs
www.bbc.co.uk
February 13, 2026 at 12:40 PM
I will miss Fergal Keane’s unique voice. His sense of compassion and empathy is notable and allows audiences an understanding of the victims of war that emphasises their individuality and humanity. Good luck for the future. Look forward to reading his fiction and to his long form work for the BBC.
Source for the above:
Nigel Farage’s popularity dips as Reform UK surges in polls
YouGov figures point to challenges ahead for populist party’s leader as he seeks to win backing from more voters
www.ft.com
February 13, 2026 at 12:29 PM
Source for the above:
Nigel Farage’s popularity has dipped in recent months even as Reform UK has surged ahead of Labour and the Conservatives in opinion polls, signalling challenges ahead as he seeks to convince voters his insurgent party is fit to govern.
February 13, 2026 at 12:27 PM
Nigel Farage’s popularity has dipped in recent months even as Reform UK has surged ahead of Labour and the Conservatives in opinion polls, signalling challenges ahead as he seeks to convince voters his insurgent party is fit to govern.
Reposted by Laura Phillips
We’re not in Kansas anymore latest:
Green + Reform 57%
Labour + Conservative 38.6%
In 2024 (18 months ago!) Lab + Con was 81.6%
Green + Reform 57%
Labour + Conservative 38.6%
In 2024 (18 months ago!) Lab + Con was 81.6%
Fletton & Woodston (Peterborough) Council By-Election Result:
➡️ RFM: 29.4% (New)
🌍 GRN: 27.6% (+16.2)
🌳 CON: 21.8% (-11.8)
🌹 LAB: 16.8% (-31.2)
🔶 LDM: 4.4% (-0.7)
No TUSC (-1.9) as previous.
Reform GAIN from Labour.
Changes w/ 2024.
➡️ RFM: 29.4% (New)
🌍 GRN: 27.6% (+16.2)
🌳 CON: 21.8% (-11.8)
🌹 LAB: 16.8% (-31.2)
🔶 LDM: 4.4% (-0.7)
No TUSC (-1.9) as previous.
Reform GAIN from Labour.
Changes w/ 2024.
February 13, 2026 at 7:37 AM
We’re not in Kansas anymore latest:
Green + Reform 57%
Labour + Conservative 38.6%
In 2024 (18 months ago!) Lab + Con was 81.6%
Green + Reform 57%
Labour + Conservative 38.6%
In 2024 (18 months ago!) Lab + Con was 81.6%
@gabyhinsliff.bsky.social incisive as ever: ‘Threatening to put #universities out of business – with all that would mean for students halfway through their degrees, or towns reliant on a major employer – if they don’t fawningly accommodate any regime-backed political nonentity…’ #Reform #Bangor
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If you want to know what Reform would be like in power, look at how it threatened Bangor University | Gaby Hinsliff
A debating society didn’t want to invite two figures connected to the party to speak. Cue an authoritarian response, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff
www.theguardian.com
February 13, 2026 at 8:37 AM
@gabyhinsliff.bsky.social incisive as ever: ‘Threatening to put #universities out of business – with all that would mean for students halfway through their degrees, or towns reliant on a major employer – if they don’t fawningly accommodate any regime-backed political nonentity…’ #Reform #Bangor
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6.52am former Cab Sec Gus ODonnell corrects report of Times’ Oliver Wright that Keir Starmer overrode civil servants’ concerns about payout to Chris Wormald. Highlights trouble with reporting+commenting with an agenda. He calls briefings against civil servants “shabby”+says that is the problem here.
video.twimg.com
February 13, 2026 at 8:17 AM
6.52am former Cab Sec Gus ODonnell corrects report of Times’ Oliver Wright that Keir Starmer overrode civil servants’ concerns about payout to Chris Wormald. Highlights trouble with reporting+commenting with an agenda. He calls briefings against civil servants “shabby”+says that is the problem here.
Reposted by Laura Phillips
Manchester United distance themselves from their co-owner saying he believes Britain has been colonised by immigrants.
"Our diverse group of players, staff and global community of supporters, reflect the history and heritage of Manchester; a city that anyone can call home"
"Our diverse group of players, staff and global community of supporters, reflect the history and heritage of Manchester; a city that anyone can call home"
February 13, 2026 at 7:48 AM
Manchester United distance themselves from their co-owner saying he believes Britain has been colonised by immigrants.
"Our diverse group of players, staff and global community of supporters, reflect the history and heritage of Manchester; a city that anyone can call home"
"Our diverse group of players, staff and global community of supporters, reflect the history and heritage of Manchester; a city that anyone can call home"
Reposted by Laura Phillips
Exclusive:
Ministers and civil servants have been told to report any future conversations with Global Counsel, the lobbying firm co-founded by Lord Peter Mandelson, in the latest fallout from his ties to Jeffrey Epstein
www.ft.com/content/124e...
Ministers and civil servants have been told to report any future conversations with Global Counsel, the lobbying firm co-founded by Lord Peter Mandelson, in the latest fallout from his ties to Jeffrey Epstein
www.ft.com/content/124e...
Whitehall told to report conversations with Mandelson lobbying firm
Guidance on Global Counsel is latest fallout from ties between former minister and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein
www.ft.com
February 12, 2026 at 6:19 PM
Exclusive:
Ministers and civil servants have been told to report any future conversations with Global Counsel, the lobbying firm co-founded by Lord Peter Mandelson, in the latest fallout from his ties to Jeffrey Epstein
www.ft.com/content/124e...
Ministers and civil servants have been told to report any future conversations with Global Counsel, the lobbying firm co-founded by Lord Peter Mandelson, in the latest fallout from his ties to Jeffrey Epstein
www.ft.com/content/124e...
Reposted by Laura Phillips
£10m from his mum, £3m from his late father’s estate, and the rest from various relatives made up the payoff to Virginia Giuffre, despite Andrew MB denying doing anything wrong to or with her. But nothing, Palace stresses, from his brother Charles, now King bit.ly/4rapF9D
King did not contribute to Andrew’s £12m Giuffre settlement
Palace distances Charles from brother’s payout, as reports cite funds from the late Queen and Prince Philip’s estate, while Gordon Brown urges police to question Andrew
bit.ly
February 13, 2026 at 7:52 AM
£10m from his mum, £3m from his late father’s estate, and the rest from various relatives made up the payoff to Virginia Giuffre, despite Andrew MB denying doing anything wrong to or with her. But nothing, Palace stresses, from his brother Charles, now King bit.ly/4rapF9D
#BBC’s Science Correspondent Pallab Ghosh, with one for #ValentinesDay ♥️
The science of soulmates: is there someone out there exactly right for you?
For many, the idea of soulmates still shapes how love is understood.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 13, 2026 at 7:39 AM
#BBC’s Science Correspondent Pallab Ghosh, with one for #ValentinesDay ♥️
Reposted by Laura Phillips
On BBC Front Row tonight @tds153.bsky.social and guests are discussing loving Brutalism, as London's South Bank Centre finally gets Grade II heritage listing. Some of us have always felt the love..of course ❤️. 715pm R4 or link after: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
February 12, 2026 at 5:48 PM
On BBC Front Row tonight @tds153.bsky.social and guests are discussing loving Brutalism, as London's South Bank Centre finally gets Grade II heritage listing. Some of us have always felt the love..of course ❤️. 715pm R4 or link after: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Two senior aides to the leader of the Conservatives in the Welsh Parliament have defected to Reform UK just days before the Tories' party conference where leader Darren Millar will tell members that Reform "isn't a serious party"+is more interested in selling merchandise than forming a government.
Welsh Tory leader attacks Reform as staff quit on eve of conference
Party gathers in Llandudno as senior aides quit to join Nigel Farage's organisation.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 12, 2026 at 10:36 PM
Two senior aides to the leader of the Conservatives in the Welsh Parliament have defected to Reform UK just days before the Tories' party conference where leader Darren Millar will tell members that Reform "isn't a serious party"+is more interested in selling merchandise than forming a government.
Reposted by Laura Phillips
It's really rare for officials to force the PM to make a ministerial direction. Not sure I can think of another example. What a mess.
My God. What a total and utter shit show. Axed civil servant gets £260k after Starmer overrules objections
www.thetimes.com/article/e01c...
www.thetimes.com/article/e01c...
Axed civil servant gets £260k after Starmer overrules objections
Officials refused to sign off Sir Chris Wormald’s sacking as cabinet secretary because they said there was no reason that justified the expense
www.thetimes.com
February 12, 2026 at 8:52 PM
It's really rare for officials to force the PM to make a ministerial direction. Not sure I can think of another example. What a mess.
Reposted by Laura Phillips
New Swingometer! Dropping my latest Gorton & Denton update now as I have teaching all morning tomorrow. I take a look at the leaflet wars underway in the seat, and how I've ended up caught in the electoral crossfire: open.substack.com/pub/swingome...
Gorton & Denton update 2: Leaflet wars
I'm sorry but I just don't know, I know you said I told you so
open.substack.com
February 12, 2026 at 9:03 PM
New Swingometer! Dropping my latest Gorton & Denton update now as I have teaching all morning tomorrow. I take a look at the leaflet wars underway in the seat, and how I've ended up caught in the electoral crossfire: open.substack.com/pub/swingome...
Reposted by Laura Phillips
Farage's claims here are straightforward lies (and it's about time the media/press said so)
The correct figures are 160K (0.3%) and 900K (1.5%)
www.gbnews.com/news/video-n...
The correct figures are 160K (0.3%) and 900K (1.5%)
www.gbnews.com/news/video-n...
February 12, 2026 at 5:02 PM
Farage's claims here are straightforward lies (and it's about time the media/press said so)
The correct figures are 160K (0.3%) and 900K (1.5%)
www.gbnews.com/news/video-n...
The correct figures are 160K (0.3%) and 900K (1.5%)
www.gbnews.com/news/video-n...
Reposted by Laura Phillips
Not sure why you'd choose to go into bat for "being friends with rapists", but if you are running it, the principles of penitence and repentance are vital - and obviously lacking in the Epstein case.
There’s a segment of the right that lives on the reflected prestige of eugenicist thinkers who have been revealed as Epstein-adjacent. I understand the bind they’re in but I think most people would happily cut off former friends who were implicated in the sexual abuse of minors
February 12, 2026 at 9:06 PM
Not sure why you'd choose to go into bat for "being friends with rapists", but if you are running it, the principles of penitence and repentance are vital - and obviously lacking in the Epstein case.
Reposted by Laura Phillips
"Whites are a rapidly dying minority,”
Elon Musk posted on 22nd January. The radicalised and radicalising X owner posted about race on 26 days out of 31 in January, the Guardian reveals. His site also invariably protects unlawful racist posts in the UK
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Elon Musk posted on 22nd January. The radicalised and radicalising X owner posted about race on 26 days out of 31 in January, the Guardian reveals. His site also invariably protects unlawful racist posts in the UK
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Elon Musk posted about race almost every day in January
Many social media posts by Tesla CEO on his platform are indiscernible from those of white supremacists, say experts
www.theguardian.com
February 12, 2026 at 8:32 PM
"Whites are a rapidly dying minority,”
Elon Musk posted on 22nd January. The radicalised and radicalising X owner posted about race on 26 days out of 31 in January, the Guardian reveals. His site also invariably protects unlawful racist posts in the UK
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Elon Musk posted on 22nd January. The radicalised and radicalising X owner posted about race on 26 days out of 31 in January, the Guardian reveals. His site also invariably protects unlawful racist posts in the UK
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
‘The #BBC is making #cuts amounting to about 10% of its costs in the face of "substantial financial pressures".
The broadcaster said the savings needed to be made over the next three years.’ 1/
Death by a thousand?
The broadcaster said the savings needed to be made over the next three years.’ 1/
Death by a thousand?
BBC to make hundreds of millions of pounds of cuts
The outgoing director general told staff about the savings during an internal call on Thursday.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 12, 2026 at 8:26 PM
