The right wing is getting itself in a tizzy about a bill that will let you use a valid bank card to help prove your identity when voting. Burnham’s axing Photo ID, they say. (Spoiler: He isn’t.) Here’s what he’s actually doing - https://bit.ly/4hVEQ2S

No, Burnham isn't scrapping voter ID. Here's what he's actually doing.

The right wing is getting itself in a tizzy about a bill that will let you use a valid bank card to help prove your identity when voting. Burnham's axing Photo ID, they say. (Spoiler: He isn't.)

bit.ly

Day 72. We did it. We called on the PM to kick off a National Commission on Electoral Reform in his first 100 days. Today, he said yes. Thousands signed, shared & contacted MPs - making this impossible to ignore. Want to know more about the commission? bit.ly/3Vj6NdA

Reform UK are now under police investigation over alleged secret donations. If political parties are taking money behind closed doors, the public deserves to know who paid, how much, and what they expected in return. Transparency in political funding isn’t optional.

Big money has too much influence over British politics. The Government has now promised a new taskforce to tackle the power of political mega-donors. That’s welcome, but it needs to lead to real reform, and quickly. Our democracy shouldn’t be for sale to the highest bidder.

Burnham to crack down on UK mega-donors influencing politics

Government pledges to find quick ‘solution’ to party funding row under pressure from Labour MPs

theguardian.com

🚨 BREAKING: Keir Starmer has resigned as MP for Holborn & St Pancras, triggering a parliamentary by-election. 🌱 Green Party Leader Zack Polanski has expressed interest in running in the by-election.

If donations over £100,000 are considered a risk when the donor lives abroad, why does that concern disappear when they move back to Britain? Closing the loophole is welcome. But Britain still needs a proper cap on mega-donations.

Expats face spending longer in UK to donate over £100k to parties

Labour plans to strengthen proposals announced under Sir Keir Starmer after Reform received millions from British citizens living abroad

thetimes.com

Reform’s biggest donor has a £400m stake in major military contractor QinetiQ. Christopher Harborne has provided around two-thirds of Reform’s funding. No party aspiring to govern Britain should be this dependent on one billionaire with vested interests.

Reform’s biggest donor has a £400m stake in major military contractor QinetiQ. Christopher Harborne has provided around two-thirds of Reform’s funding. No party aspiring to govern Britain should be this dependent on one billionaire with vested interests.

In May, Andy Burnham backed a £500k cap on political donations to stop parties being “unduly influenced” by big donors. Now he’s in No 10, his government won’t back one. What changed?

Reform UK talks a lot about free speech. Now it’s suspended one of its most prominent members after he criticised Nigel Farage and Zia Yusuf. Apparently free speech has its limits when it’s coming from inside the party 🙃

They love free speech until someone uses it to ask questions about Nigel Farage. Arron Banks hired investigators to dig into the Conservative chairman after he pressed Farage on his finances, after already investigating a journalist reporting on the party's finances.

Funny how Reform UK love talking about accountability right up until Nigel Farage is the one being held accountable. Apparently the establishment must be challenged at every turn, unless it involves asking Nigel Farage to follow the same rules as every other MP.

The investigation into Nigel Farage’s £5 million gift can now resume following his return to Parliament. The standards inquiry was paused when he resigned. Defeating Count Binface in Clacton doesn’t settle the questions around political funding and accountability.

Politics spends a lot of time telling us what people think. This time, we’re asking. We've joined the National Conversation, an effort to hear what worries people, what gives them hope, and what kind of country they want to live in. It takes around 7 minutes. Have your say.

A national conversation about Britain’s future – and you’re invited - Open Britain

Open Britain is a grassroots movement, hundreds of thousands strong, fighting to make democracy work for everyone, not just the rich and powerful.

open-britain.co.uk

Britain’s constitution relies heavily on convention, goodwill, and people choosing not to push the system too far. Foreign interference, concentrated political funding, and repeated pressure on democratic norms, that feels increasingly fragile. uglypolitix.com/p/britains-constitutional-strategy

Reform’s 12 point lead over Labour has fallen to just 1 in three months. 🌹 Labour +6 ➡️ Reform UK -5

A council candidate with a neo-Nazi past. A Conservative leader willing to defend his selection. And a much bigger question about what now counts as disqualifying on the British right. Read more on Ugly Politix: https://www.uglypolitix.com/p/redemption-or-rebrand

The best systems reward people who can build agreement. Manchester's election gave candidates a reason to appeal beyond their own supporters, and gave voters more confidence that their preferences would still count. That should be normal, not exceptional.

Count Binface works because everyone knows politics has become ridiculous. When the “serious” candidates dodge questions, chase headlines, perform outrage, and pretend it’s all normal, a man in a silver bin can end up looking like the honest one. https://www.uglypolitix.com/p/behind-the-bin

If this Government wants to rebuild trust, it has to fix the system that keeps weakening it. Start a National Commission on Electoral Reform. Ask whether our voting system fit for purpose. Build a democracy that actually reflects how people vote. www.uglypolitix.com/p/what-is-political-capital-for

George Cottrell is a convicted fraudster Richard Tice received a £78,100 loan from him through a private company, didn’t declare it, and says it had nothing to do with politics Another financial relationship around Reform that wasn’t declared and only surfaced when others started asking questions

Cover-ups thrive when institutions know delay and denial carry fewer consequences than honesty. The Hillsborough Law could begin to change that, but closing Britain’s integrity gap means fixing donations, lobbying, and the voting system. https://www.uglypolitix.com/p/closing-britains-integrity-gap

Reform UK’s bank account was frozen for around 2 weeks during the last general election. It adds to mounting questions about Reform’s donors, financial controls, and the people handling money around the party. Calling scrutiny an “establishment hit job” won’t make those questions disappear.

Farage’s favourite trick is turning scrutiny into victimhood. But the questions around George Cottrell and Reform UK's donor networks point to a wider problem – Britain’s political finance rules are weak, opaque, and easy to game. https://www.uglypolitix.com/p/can-farage-wriggle-his-way-out-of

Can Farage wriggle his way out of this one?

Damning revelations continue to emerge. And it may just be the tip of the iceberg.

uglypolitix.com

A Burnham bounce, and a Farage flop. Labour up four, Reform UK down two – while Farage fights a by-election of his own making against Count Binface.

Trumpism doesn’t stop at America’s borders. The same networks, money and tactics are being imported into Britain – with Farage, Truss and others trying to make them look normal, patriotic and inevitable. But the empty seats show that this politics is louder than it is popular.

Conservatives have asked HMRC to look into Farage’s £5 million “personal gift”. Reports he previously discussed needing £1 million a year to return to frontline politics have raised fresh questions about what the money was actually for. Those questions deserve proper answers.

Labour has surged in Andy Burnham’s first days as leader. The latest poll has Labour level with Farage on 28%. Political momentum can shift quickly. Division, grievance, and billionaire-backed politics are not the only forces shaping where things go next.

Farage’s White Lives Matter rhetoric marked a dangerous escalation in Reform’s race to the bottom with Restore Britain. What began as dog-whistles has become something much louder, uglier, and harder to control. Read the full piece over on Ugly Politix

Democracy is not only defended at the ballot box. It's also defended through secure infrastructure, resilient institutions, and public trust strong enough to resist hostile interference. GCHQ’s warning is a reminder that these things are now inseparable.