Jim Pickard
@pickardje.bsky.social
Deputy political editor, Financial Times. Also amateur iphone photographer and some-time musician.
"any settlement could give Tehran control over some of the waterway and without denying it the power to eventually charge fees from vessels using it — conditions that would have seemed unthinkable to US geostrategists just a year ago" www.ft.com/content/87b0...
Donald Trump trapped between escalation and an Iran deal on Tehran’s terms
US president faces few good options to exit a war he once said would end swiftly with the Islamic republic’s surrender
ft.com
Rather puts Grant Shapps being rejected as a Conservative candidate into perspective.
Former neo-Nazi activist selected as Tory candidate for Somerset council election
Joshua Bonehill-Paine, creator of satirical Crewkerne Gazette, has convictions including for harassing a Jewish MP
theguardian.com
I've written today's Inside Politics column while @stephenkb.bsky.social is away: What if people just instinctively realise that the replacement of one Labour prime minister with another Labour prime minister may not move the dial that much? www.ft.com/content/7fa3...
The Burnham bounce shouldn’t come as a surprise
Labour may be enjoying an uptick in the polls but the public mood remains largely one of disinterest
ft.com
The convicted fraudster George Cottrell transferred a total of more than $2m to his mother, Fiona Cottrell, in the days before her 2024 donations to Reform UK, the Guardian understands. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Revealed: George Cottrell transferred $2m to his mother days before her donations to Reform UK
Exclusive: Sources say Fiona Cottrell told bankers the transfers, received 24-72 hours before her donations to Reform, came from her son
theguardian.com
The convicted fraudster George Cottrell transferred a total of more than $2m to his mother, Fiona Cottrell, in the days before her 2024 donations to Reform UK, the Guardian understands. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Revealed: George Cottrell transferred $2m to his mother days before her donations to Reform UK
Exclusive: Sources say Fiona Cottrell told bankers the transfers, received 24-72 hours before her donations to Reform, came from her son
theguardian.com
Just spotted this. It's misleading and unnecessary, who eats 5/6th of a bag?
stat of the day: "53% of the population gets back more from the state than they pay in" www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
So many British people have it better than they think – it’s up to Burnham to make them see that | Polly Toynbee
A new survey suggests voters are becoming more cynical and pessimistic. A few goodwill gestures from No 10 won’t change all that – but it’s a start, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee
theguardian.com
Good morning! From poster Em Donovan: "I always like to share this photo of—what was my Dad’s home— in Ingonish, Nova Scotia. I still to this day don’t know who took it, but it was found online. It’s a truly stunning place, especially in the fall"
Uh-oh, looks like the Censorship-Industrial Complex is winning, someone call Matt Taibbi!
The Associated Press@apnews.com · last wk.AP Exclusive: In a Ukrainian bomb shelter, Laura Loomer explains her shift on Russia’s war and wants to admit that she fell for some falsehoods of her own.
A betting account in the name of George Cottrell, the convicted fraudster who bankrolled Nigel Farage, received almost $9mn in cryptocurrency from unidentified sources while he was providing gifts to the Reform UK leader great work from @annasophiegross.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/b74c...
Betting account in George Cottrell’s name received $9mn in crypto from unidentified sources
Deposits in Polymarket wallet came as convicted fraudster was providing gifts to Farage
ft.com
Nigel Farage's approval ratings have now sunk even lower than Keir Starmer's before he resigned, yet we're still being encouraged to believe he has some kind of magic connection with the British public
Reform UK donor and Farage ally George Cottrell carried a fake Swiss passport under the name ‘Oscar Drewitt’. Cottrell was hired under the name by the future Reform treasurer Mehrtash A’zami. A’zami later vetted Cottrell’s mother's donations to Reform, now the subject of a police investigation
‘Posh George’, Two Passports, and a Fraudulent Identity: Convicted Fraudster and Nigel Farage Funder's Connections to Reform UK’s Murky Financial Structures
Why did Reform UK change from being a privately-owned company to a non-profit company limited by guarantee in 2025? Nafeez Ahmed investigates a fraudulent identity used by George Cottrell – and how hi...
bylinetimes.com
Trump: “We are building a tremendous military facility at the White House. “It's a ballroom, but it's also a big military facility.”
A betting account in the name of George Cottrell, the convicted fraudster who bankrolled Nigel Farage, received almost $9mn in cryptocurrency from unidentified sources while he was providing gifts to the Reform UK leader great work from @annasophiegross.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/b74c...
Betting account in George Cottrell’s name received $9mn in crypto from unidentified sources
Deposits in Polymarket wallet came as convicted fraudster was providing gifts to Farage
ft.com
Larry laid his mouse in front of the press to be photographed. Lest you ask, this is a real photograph via the Press Association.
new UK foreign secretary Ed Miliband has pledged to reinvigorate climate diplomacy, stand up for the rule of law internationally and “nurture” Britain’s relationship with the US — despite previously branding Donald Trump a racist and misogynist www.ft.com/content/e0aa...
How will UK foreign policy change under Ed Miliband?
Former energy secretary vows to reinvigorate climate diplomacy, stand up for rule of law and ‘nurture’ relationship with US
ft.com
As Ed Miliband leaves his post as energy and net-zero secretary, a final tally: There have been an incredible 251 newspaper editorials attacking him and his approach to net-zero since the start of 2024 That amounts to two editorials a week, mainly in the Sun, Daily Mail, Times and Daily Telegraph.
I see Labour MPs still announcing stuff on X, a platform specifically designed to make people hate them, 100% shaped to push them out of public life and which would ideally see many of them in prison. Funny old world.
I mean it was a very boring game last night so understandable
