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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 14h

🩷💛Reviews coming in… 💛🩷 Link in bio!

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 22h

Kemi Badenoch absolutely adamant that the Conservatives will not drop the triple lock #BBCLauraK

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Spotted my book in the wild on a stand with @jonronson.bsky.social. Life goals ✅ Thanks @foylesforbooks.bsky.social and to Rory Stewart for adorning the front cover.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Spotted my book in the wild on a stand with @jonronson.bsky.social. Life goals ✅ Thanks @foylesforbooks.bsky.social and to Rory Stewart for adorning the front cover.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

🩷💛It’s publication day for Fight to the Death💛🩷 Heading in to interviews to talk about the book and of course the legendary Dame Esther Rantzen, who is in it. She didn’t win her campaign to legalise assisted dying, but she certainly turbo-charged it.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Such sad news that the legendary Dame Esther Rantzen has passed away. Campaigning right until the very end. It was an honour to interview her several times in her final years. Thoughts with her family, who loved her so dearly.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

🩷 It’s publication day tomorrow for Fight to the Death and the early reviews are in. 💛 So grateful to Rory Stewart, Piers Morgan, Lorraine Kelly, Susanna Reid, Julie Etchingham, Tom Bradby and other brilliant colleagues for taking the time to read it so thoughtfully. Link in bio🙏

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

EXCL: Henry Nowak's killer has been allowed to appeal his sentence. Vickrum Digwa was given a minimum of 21 years in prison for stabbing Henry to death, before lying that he'd been racially abused. On 5th Nov he'll argue that his sentence is too long. www.itv.com/news/2026-09...

itv.com

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

That was a strong conference speech from Burnham. It had purpose and passion, with genuine tears and emotion. His ability to weave his personal story with his political mission looks more genuine than most manage to achieve. But it raises a lot of big questions too. (£££???)

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Means the next election in 2029 (?) will conceivably be the last general election fought on first past the post

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Burnham announces a new national commission on electoral reform

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Jill Rutter @jillongovt.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

but with an earnings link over time... I think what @theifs.bsky.social proposed

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

BREAKING: Burnham says the triple lock for state pensions will be reformed from April 2030.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

On this point, Burnham talks about giving carers the proper recognition they deserve. Again, that means *more* funding, not just transferring funds from private to public provision. So the £18bn price tag for a national care service is a modest estimate.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Burnham sends a direct message to care workers: "You are not invisible to me". Will never forget how neglected carers felt during the pandemic. Totally overlooked and under resourced. They hoped things would finally change. They didn't.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Burnham announces a new Water Bill which will repeal Thatcher's ban on public ownership of water companies

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Impressive delivery and fair enough he needs to keep communicating his core message, but we haven't heard anything from Burnham yet that he hasn't said/hinted at before.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

itv.com

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Important to remember that the debate around social care right now is about *free* care - ending the lottery of life that means some are financially ruined by care costs as they age. It is not about providing *better* care, which would require spending of another order…

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Fiscal discipline “underwrites every promise this government makes”… “we can’t succeed without it”. Chancellor says he’ll be keeping a “buffer against uncertainty”, ie fiscal headroom. So where does he get the money from? If not borrowing, then tax rises?

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Lovely morning on Radio 4’s Broadcasting House reviewing the papers and chatting about my book.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Have seen consecutive PMs promise to fix the lottery of life that is social care. The pandemic raised then dashed hopes that the deficiencies had finally become too obvious to ignore. Difference with Burnham is he’s making this one of his defining missions - he can’t drop it.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Looking forward to reviewing the papers and discussing my book on Radio 4 tomorrow with Paddy O’Connell from 9-10am.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Signing copies today of… 💛🩷 FIGHT TO THE DEATH 🩷💛 Out next Thursday! Can’t believe it’s almost here. Pre-order link in bio.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Given all the rhetoric from the far right about an 'army' of migrants allegedly arriving on our shores, this feels like quite a bold line from the Conservatives. What is the point they are making here?

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David Wilcock @davidtwilcock.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

BREAKING: Daniel Thomas, aka Danny Tommo, has been arrested by Hampshire police over boat slashing incident in the Channel.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

First US review for the book… 🙏

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

⭐ SPECIAL OFFER ⭐ Pre-order a copy of Fight to the Death from Bookshop.org by 27th Sept and save 20% with code: SEPT20. Every sale supports independent bookshops. Scroll to see what readers are already saying about it. “Essential read” “Fantastic journalism”.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

💛🩷 IT’S ARRIVED 💛🩷 If you want to understand the arguments on either side of the assisted dying debate, why it’s been legalised rapidly around the world, and why the recent bill failed in England and Wales… …**Fight to the Death** is out on October 1st. You can pre-order from the link in my bio.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

BREAKING: Reform UK’s leader in Wales Dan Thomas is standing down. He says he was reported to the police over the weekend and released without charge. He insists he’s done nothing wrong but doesn’t want to be a “distraction” to the party.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Interesting analysis from Humanists UK suggests that if Scottish and Northern Irish MPs had abstained on Friday, the Assisted Dying Bill would have passed. The bill would only have applied to England and Wales. (It isn't that unusual for this to happen though). humanists.uk/2026/09/15/m...

humanists.uk

MPs didn’t move against assisted dying – they just abstained

On Friday the Assisted Dying Bill was defeated in the House of Commons by just 16 votes. Analysis by Humanists UK shows that the change from the previous vote that led to defeat was largely due to abs...

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Andy Burnham’s father, Roy, has passed away. The Prime Minister said one of his greatest regrets was that his dad didn’t quite understand that his son had made it to Number 10. The PM has cancelled all engagements for today.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Still a lot of raw feeling among supporters about the assisted dying bill being voted down on Friday. Not much they can do about it for now, but interesting to see talk already of making further attempts to legalise it. International experience would suggest the debate will return before long.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

If you’re wondering why there was such a drastic turn of events for the Assisted Dying Bill - from big majority to narrow defeat - there is a chapter in my book on what went wrong for supporters & right for opponents. Why did AD stumble in the UK when around the world it’s being rapidly legalised?

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

BREAKING: MPs vote to REJECT the assisted dying bill. AYES 270 NOES 286 It now falls.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Just to explain what's happening here... MPs basically had a vote on whether or not to have a vote. 293 said yes let's please have a vote on the assisted dying bill 218 said no let's not (and it would potentially fail) It's all a bit confusing but that's the nub of it.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Another extraordinarily moving moment from today's debate, as Care Minister Alison McGovern shares that she lost her mum in July, which will inform her vote today. On both sides, this issue brings out the very essence of what it is to be human.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Another powerful speech, this time from supporter Marie Tidball who, as a disabled person herself, argues that the bill is safe and provides choice to disabled people. "By setting the bar high for dignity in death, we set the bar even higher for dignity in life."

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Labour ‘big beast’ Hilary Benn speaks out in favour of assisted dying after leaving cabinet recently.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Sincere speech from Muslim MP Sadik Al-Hassan, who says that while his faith means he would be unlikely to choose an assisted death for himself, he does not believe he should stop others from having the choice. The role of faith in politics is a recurring theme of this debate.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

We have yet to hear from an MP in the assisted dying debate who has changed their minds... Switchers were quite pivotal in the Scottish debate and vote earlier this year. If there are switchers in Westminster, they may of course choose to do so quietly.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Very powerful speech from @AshleyDalton_MP, who has stage 4 cancer and opposes the assisted dying bill. "I have been terrorised with tales of people vomiting up their own faeces...it is nothing short of irresponsible to scaremonger people like me into believing our deaths will be horrific..."

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Supporter Kit Malthouse says he doesn't 'trust' the House of Lords to resist filibustering the bill a second time.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Passionate interventions as Jess Phillips, Karen Bradley and Naz Shah - each with deep insights into coercive control - debate the impact of the bill on vulnerable women. This bill cuts across parties and even areas of expertise.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

The tone of the assisted dying debate is very different this time. Less about the big picture arguments, more about procedural wrangling. Was it right for the Lords to frustrate the bill (ask supporters), is it right for the bill to be forced through unamended (ask opponents).

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Significant turnout. This is going to be interesting.

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Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Both sides of the assisted dying debate believe the vote is close, but winnable for them today. Turnout remains key. This also reminds me of the hours leading up to the vote in Holyrood earlier this year, where nobody really knew what was going to happen until the debate got underway...

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