Peter Thurlow

Local government is being reshaped – and you can contribute As Local Government Reorganisation progresses in Hertfordshire, here’s what you need to know and how you can have your say

Big changes are coming to how local services are run in England. In Hertfordshire, councils have drawn up competing plans to merge and replace the current system – but the final decision could shape local government for decades.

Public consultation is open now ⤵️

@eastangliabylines.co.uk

It was on dozens of official leaflets too. Across the country, Reform pledged to cut or freeze council tax.

Everywhere they're in control it's rising (as it has to - they knew it was a promise they could never keep).

A Reform promise is just …. a lie that hasn’t happened yet 🤨

Private jet used for Nigel Farage Chagos stunt linked to Reform mega-donor Exclusive: Plane that flew Reform leader to Maldives appears to be linked to billionaire Christopher Harborne

A private jet used for Farage’s Chagos stunt is reportedly linked to a billionaire donor who has given £12m to Reform

Huge money can buy political influence.

The #ElectionsBill must go further. Democracy shld be shaped by voters not the biggest cheque.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I wrote this piece just five days ago - predicting Trump would walk away and leave everyone else to clear up his mess ….and here we are - concluding extract below:

For the last few days the President of the USA and the White House communications team have been active agents of Russian influence, spreading the Putin narrative and trying to undermine democracy.

Also wondering about the longer term impacts of an environment in which the world views of many writing from the US are so at variance with everyone else - whether on trade, China, or what it means to be allies

I was reading a wiki post about the kindertransport this morning - my dad’s oldest friend was one of them - and I couldn’t help noticing just how extraordinary a proportion of those children grew up to become celebrated contributors to science, the arts, politics, industry and academia.

Disused Wisbech to March railway - Crooked rails near Crooked Bank

After nearly 60 years without passenger trains, Wisbech–March could move a step closer to reopening. £500,000 has been secured to explore whether the line can finally return. John Elworthy reports

eastangliabylines.co.uk/business/tra...

The Queen, the palace and the media were accomplices in the Andrew fiasco Failings of the past mean the final test of King Charles’s reign will be damage control

Failings of the past mean the final test of King Charles’s reign will be damage control

✏️ Clive Irving

“I don’t think the progressives beat us,” he added. “I think the progressives were told how to vote and I think what you saw was a coalition of Islamists and woke progressives that came together to dominate the constituency.”

Or, as some would call it Matt, democracy.

Even now you will find very senior people in Labour who just do not take the threat from the left seriously at all, and who simply refuse to believe who their own voters actually are. Now that the Greens actually realise who their voters can be, they have a big opening.

The Representation of the People Bill: contours of the debates to come The government’s long-awaited proposals for electoral reforms, published last month, will receive their first scrutiny in the House of Commons next Monday. Ahead of that debate, Alan Renwick analys…

"Many observers fear that democracy is drowning in a sea of mis- and disinformation. Yet the bill contains almost nothing to address this."

Big holes in the elections bill on crypto and foreign donations too.
constitution-unit.com/2026/02/26/t...

Fall in UK net migration threatens to carve deep hole in public finances Issue is expected to come under the spotlight in chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement

The migration doom loop at work: does anyone in government seriously think that a strategy designed to keep out skilled workers and students makes either economic or political sense?

://www.ft.com/content/7408ad00-e4eb-41c7-8849-36061bc0eac1

Rupert Lowe Posed With Neo-Nazi Who Recruits White Supremacists Into Restore Britain Chris Mitchell, who has claimed that “Jewish control over our people WILL be coming to an end" and described himself as a "Nazi-Buddhist", was welcomed into the party by Lowe

📌 ICYMI — Rupert Lowe Posed With Neo-Nazi Who Recruits White Supremacists Into Restore Britain

Chris Mitchell, who has claimed that “Jewish control over our people WILL be coming to an end" and described himself as a "Nazi-Buddhist", was welcomed into the party by Lowe

Make Votes Matter protest at Westminster. One activist holds a banner that says, "Our FPTP voting system fails to give us representation in govt".

The populist right is on the march, writes Jenny Riddell-Carpenter. The progressive legacy of this government, our democracy, shared prosperity and the rights we have taken for granted are all on the line. How should progressives respond?

eastangliabylines.co.uk/democracy/el...

Nigel Farage and Rupert Lowe in parliament. A "glitch" treatment has been done to the photo to signify breaking up or a schism.

Farage, James Orr and Rupert Lowe – The Bear examines how competing visions and rivalries are reshaping the right’s landscape.

eastangliabylines.co.uk/politics/orr...

Maddie playing in the Suffolk Youth Orchestra

Not every success is measured in scholarships or stages. For many children, music simply becomes the place they feel most themselves. Helen Landon explains

eastangliabylines.co.uk/news/educati...

Community gardens: solving the problem of food security Food insecurity, poor quality diet, stress and lack of green spaces: all are linked to the obesity epidemic. Here's one holistic solution

Food insecurity, poor quality diet, stress and lack of green spaces: all are linked to the obesity epidemic. Here's one holistic solution | Prof Neli Demireva

Companies in the UK’s Overseas Territories facilitated almost £6 billion worth of trade with Russia despite sanctions

Opaque shell companies in British Overseas Territories used for $8bn trade to bust sanctions against Russia.

BVI, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Gibraltar are key nodes, as in illicit financial flows.

Banks, accountants, lawyers involved.

UK govts pretend not to know.

Does Labour follow its old voters, or its old ideals? Labour has always had a potential conflict of interest at its heart. Since Thatcher that has become a threat, which may consume the party

Labour’s crisis is not simply electoral but philosophical: can a party survive when its voter coalition and its founding worldview diverge?

@eastangliabylines.co.uk @peterthurlow.bsky.social

Electoral reform is the key to Social Democratic renewal With four parties tied in the polls, our first past the post electoral system is failing. How should progressives respond?

Four parties tied in the polls.

A governing majority on just 34% of the vote. This isn’t stability, it’s a warning.

If Britain is now a multi-party democracy, why are we still using a 19th-century voting system?

Electoral reform is needed writes Jenny Riddell-Carpenter MP

INEOS announces £150 million investment at its Grangemouth site, supported by the UK Government INEOS has today announced a major £150 million investment to underpin the long-term future of its Grangemouth site in Scotland, one of the UK’s most important industrial assets and a critical hub for ...

'Stop draining our resources, immigrants,' says Jim Ratcliffe who moved to Monaco to avoid paying personal taxes leaving his company here to claim tens of millions in public subsidies.

Times Extracts: Closer ties with EU are Britain's biggest prize Ben Clatworthy Whitehall Editor Closer integration with the European Union is the "biggest prize" for Britain, Rachel Reeves has said. The chancellor said closer alignment with the EU "is a political argument Labour can win" and closer ties with the bloc would boost trade and make things easier for businesses and cheaper for consumers. Speaking at the London School of Economics, Reeves said: "The biggest prize is clearly with the EU. The truth is, economic gravity is reality. Almost half of our trade is with the European Union. We trade almost as much with the EU as the whole of the rest of the world combined. There are three big trading blocs in the world -there's the US, there's China and there is Europe. "We want to make Europe as strong as possible, and that means not putting up the drawbridge." Sir Keir Starmer has maintained that rejoining the customs union was a red line, although he is open to closer ties on specific issues, such as food stan-dards, animal welfare and pesticide use. Reeves added she believes that the UK rejoining the EUs Erasmus scheme, which was announced late last year, is "one of the most popular things that we've done as a government". The comments will raise hopes on the soft left of the Labour party, which is feeling emboldened after Starmer was forced to head off a challenge to his premiership on Monday, the leadership plans a change in its stance on the EU. They also mark a shift in Reeves's language on Europe. Last month in Davos, she urged Cabinet ministers to stop floating the idea of a closer union, insisting Britain could not "go back in time". Her comments were seen as aimed at Wes Streeting, the health secretary, who said in December: "The best way for us to get more growth into our economy is a deeper trading relationship with the EU."

“We want to make Europe as strong as possible and that means not putting up the drawbridge”
Didn’t Brexit detonate that drawbridge?
Great if you want to rebuild it though. Not that great if your red lines mean your pace is glacially slow and has Farage standing by with more explosives.

(Times)

‘Jim Ratcliffe has moved to Monaco to save £4 billion worth of tax in this country one might question whether he is the patriot we need to comment on this issue'

Home Office minister Jake Richards speaks to #BBCBreakfast Ratcliffe claimed UK had been "colonised by immigrants"

Ireland announces scheme to provide basic income for artists The Basic Income for Artists (BIA) project is believed to be the first permanent one of its kind in the world.

After a trial over the last few years, Ireland has launched a permanent scheme giving a basic income of €325 a week for artists.

2,000 will be eligible, and successful recipients will be chosen at random from applicants, who must be "professional artists" (definition tbc).

Autism sign - a painted rainbow of colours in the shape of the infinity symbol

A new Norfolk charity is offering therapy, parent support, and faster autism assessments – and 11-year-old ambassador Amaya Edwards is spreading the word.

eastangliabylines.co.uk/news/welfare...

‘Pulling up the drawbridge’: Alf Dubs criticises Shabana Mahmood’s plans for child refugees Exclusive: Labour peer, who came to UK as a refugee, says some ministers try to show they won’t ‘just do things because of their background’

Labour still don't understand that you don't beat the far-right by copying their policies.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

'The Mandelson-Epstein Scandal Is an Opportunity for Starmer to Radically Reform Our Broken Politics' The Prime Minister should use this moment to shine a light on the dark forces corrupting our democracy, argues former British diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall

bylinetimes.com/2026/02/07/t... - Brilliantly put. Go hard, or you'll be going home, Sir Keir.

Jeff Bezos makes enough money to fully fund this literally every two minutes.