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I'd share a pic of me which was lit as flatteringly as that first one.

The other obvious bit of context is that Reform are primarily broadcasting their (perfectly understandable) concerns about Polanski's post on a social media site whose owner gleefully shares tweets and memes encouraging violence against "traitors" (liberals) and "invaders" (immigrants).

*This is the Greens' version of what happened, which is all I have to go on, given the post was deleted.

With the full caveat that I'm not a lawyer, I'd be astonished if police took any action against Zack Polanski. Sure, it was distasteful and a mistake, but re-posting someone else's post in which this was one of 20 images*, and deleting it on being told of the content, is not incitement to murder.

New by me: Homeless families placed in temporary accommodation in London were told they could not use the in-built air conditioning as it had “not been offered as an amenity” for them, leading to two children being hospitalised during recent heatwaves. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Only one poll etc, but still - not least Greens on 8%.

On a related note it's worth remembering that this time last year, Nigel Farage was hogging political attention with weekly press conferences. This year, he's essentially the invisible man of British politics.

There is a point at which politicians complaining endlessly about how the media and others are conspiring against them becomes, well, a bit tedious and off-putting for voters. I suspect that Reform might be, beyond their core support, getting close to this.

Kemi Badenoch has written to Andy Burnham to say the Tories are "happy" to work cross-party on reforming social care.... but only if he rules out the only two ways you could realistically pay for it (contributions from individuals, or higher taxes/borrowing).

The fact the policy would also apply to EU nationals with settled status would mean extra costs eg for schools, many of whom have long-serving EU staff, and NHS – staff like GPs have completed expensive UK training (at taxpayer expense) and can't just be replaced.

Reform's argument is that it would push such sectors to employ UK staff. But professional groups point out that employment of non-UK nationals is already often more expensive, eg in care, but is the only way to fill vacancies. And so the extra costs would mean less £ for NHS/care etc.

Not much attention has been paid to Reform's plans for a “migrant worker surcharge” – higher employers' NI and an annual charge for any employees without a UK passport – but the impact would be *huge*. It would apply to *all* EU nationals (other than Irish) and to NHS/care/education etc.

New from me: Reform UK’s plan to make employers pay an annual levy for overseas staff would harm the NHS and social care, cause a shortage of schoolteachers, and could push some universities into bankruptcy, experts have warned. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I'm up at 6.30am to write up an Andy Burnham interview the BBC did last week and have been teasing in segments, refusing to release under embargo. This it the first interview with a new PM. I don't object to it going to the BBC but treating it like some sort of celebrity exclusive feels a bit weird.

"But if we leave X, then we are unable to communicate effectively with voters."

I’d have scrubbed all the relevant web pages, personally.

As a punishment for his world’s-worst-in-class Routemaster buses, Thomas Heatherwick should be banned from ever enjoying air conditioning for the rest of his life. And from May to September every year he is only allowed to travel in London via bus routes which use his sweat box behemoths.

As it happens, Chris Bryant's book "Glamour Boys" is about the gay politicians who saw early the danger of Hitler and in at last one case died fighting him. Ronald Cartland's defence of Cassel in 1940 was pretty damn macho.

No! Our wonderful Richard W was never head of the SAS as far as I know.

That did occur to me