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Will Hazell

@whazell.bsky.social
1.2K followers 91 following 94 posts

Whitehall Correspondent @ the i inewspaper. Story? will.hazell@inews.co.uk

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Reposted by Will Hazell
Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
My comments in i paper + @robfordmancs.bsky.social + of Louis O'Geran @moreincommonuk.bsky.social about how "no boundaries" policy + welcome mat for the most overt racists can undermine Restore Britain. Low knowledge of Restore & Lowe's middle-class image may delay this inews.co.uk/news/politic...
Lowe does not give off same ‘vibe’ as far-right parties
Sunder Katwala, director of the British Future think-tank told The i Paper: “Restore Britain is unique among parties represented in Parliament in actively defending a ‘no boundaries’ policy for party members and even staff and office-holders – right out to those who would insist on deporting half the England football team for not having the right ancestry.

“Rupert Lowe, as a former businessman who chaired a football club (Southampton), has a respectable image, but must decide whether a welcome mat to the most extreme racists in Britain is tenable with seeking to get elected.”
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University of Exeter News @uniofexeternews.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Dr @blagdendavid.bsky.social spoke to @whazell.bsky.social about the challenges facing the Royal Navy inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Angela Rayner’s speech on Tuesday has sparked a backlash in some quarters of the PLP. MPs have accused Rayner of “selfish” behaviour, of being on “obvious” leadership manoeuvres and of talking “bollocks” with her immigration intervention. Our @theipaper.com story inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
'Load of b******s': Labour Red Wall MPs angered by Rayner's migration attack
Sources close to the former deputy prime minister deny she is making a leadership pitch
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
NEW POLL - BMG for @theipaper.com Reform UK: 27% (-5) Labour: 20% (no change) Conservatives: 18% (+1) Greens: 14% (+1) Lib Dems: 12% (+1) -Lowest Reform vote share with BMG in a year -Highest Green vote share with BMG to date (1,503 GB adults, 4/5 March)
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
BMG Research poll for @theipaper.com finds that 47% of British public oppose UK joining US and Israel in airstrikes on Iran, with 22% in support inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
UK voters say no to joining Trump's Iran war, poll shows
An exclusive poll for The i Paper shows almost half of responders are against air strikes
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Exclusive @theipaper.com: Reform is mulling rolling out new grammars if Nigel Farage wins the next election. A senior Reform source said the party did not believe in “banning things for the sake of banning things” & "selection is something that we shouldn't distrust" inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
New grammar schools set to return if Farage becomes PM
The creation of new selective schools was outlawed by New Labour in 1998
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
UK is working on plans to evacuate British nationals from the Gulf. RAF planes could be used to fly UK citizens out of the region, while land routes from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar into Saudi Arabia are also being looked at, @theipaper.com understands inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
UK planning to evacuate Britons from Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha as Iran strikes escalate
British officials are discussing scenarios for a mass rescue, including land routes into Saudi Arabia, The i Paper understands
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Exclusive @theipaper.com: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor must repay money if he is found to have misused taxpayers’ funds, Rachel Reeves has said inews.co.uk/news/politic... Reeves also said she was glad she had never met Andrew, who was described by a minister yesterday as “rude, arrogant & entitled”
inews.co.uk
Andrew must repay any misused taxpayer money, says Reeves
Chancellor says she has never met the former Duke of York and it is 'probably for the best'
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Can a crowd of 1,100 people predict how UK politics will unfold in 2026? What about a forecaster who has consistently outperformed the 'Wisdom of the Crowd'? My @theipaper.com piece on @igmansfield.bsky.social's great prediction game inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
Starmer out, and Badenoch too? The crowd-sourced political predictions for 2026
The Wisdom of the Crowd proves strikingly effective at correctly guessing future events
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
A senior Reform source said the party had already received more than 1,000 applications from supporters wanting to stand as parliamentary candidates (with each paying a £250 fee). Farage set to unveil the first tranche of his prospective cabinet next week @theipaper.com inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
Inside Farage's plans to put Reform on an 'election war footing'
A senior Reform party source said that the goal is to have a 'plan for government by the end of this year, start of next year'
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
In Wales, Labour have the longest election winning streak anywhere in the world. But is that going to end in May, and how does it feel to be the Labour FM who may go down in history as losing Wales? My @theipaper.com interview with Eluned Morgan @prifweinidog.gov.wales inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
Labour faces extinction in Wales – in a sign of what lies ahead for Starmer
With voters angry, polls collapsing and Reform and Plaid surging, Wales's First Minister, Eluned Morgan, is fighting for her political life.
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
Labour MP: “The plane is nosediving.. the passengers have been told there is going to be an extended period of turbulence – except the passengers are not entirely confident the pilots are trained to navigate this weather, or that the pilots are in fact in the cockpit..” inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
‘The plane is nosediving’: Inside mortified Starmer’s doomsday week
Allies believe the PM is hard as nails and will ride this latest storm out – and should
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
“We really couldn't contemplate a kind of clean break with the Americans... without massive damage” For my latest @theipaper.com read, I looked at what diverging from Trump's America would really mean for the UK- for our nukes, intelligence, defence, diplomacy & trade inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
How cutting off Trump would spell disaster for UK's nuclear deterrent
The Trident missile system is US-built, with Britain relying on America for scheduled maintenance
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
The £400k-a-year chief executive of South East Water Dave Hinton is facing renewed calls to quit after his company was responsible for a second massive water supply failure in two months. Our @theipaper.com story: inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
£400,000 water CEO's 'staggering lack of self awareness' as he's urged to quit
Minister expresses 'shock' at 'lack of accountability' after second supply failure in two months
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
Challenged on whether she is “talking London down” with her portrayals of a crime-infested capital, Reform’s Laila Cunningham told me: “If someone’s an alcoholic and you tell them ‘you’re an alcoholic’, you’re not talking them down” inews.co.uk/news/politic...
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
Nato allies are mindful of the escalation risk with Russia if further shadow fleet tankers are seized. On the US capture of the Marinera, one (learned) diplomat said: “Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi” (“What is permitted to Jupiter is not permitted to an ox.”) inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
North Atlantic is new front line in UK's grey war with Putin's ghost fleet
Starmer ally says Britain is ready to use 'hard power' against Russia, after shadow ship is seized
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
MPs in Labour, the Lib Dems & other centre-left parties believe voters lending their support to candidates who aren’t their 1st preference could be key to locking Farage out of No10. A Lib Dem MP said work was already under way to marshal anti-Reform tactical voting inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
Inside the left-wing plot to stop Farage entering No 10
Green, Lib Dem and Labour MPs are already planning how to unite progressive voters to defeat Reform in 2029
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
“It definitely could happen elsewhere.” I have written a long read for @theipaper.com on the Tunbridge Wells water outage, including: -Why it happened -Why the risk of similar incidents is increasing -What we can do to stop them inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
The nightmare water disaster in a Kent town that could be coming to you
The fact that a British town in 2025 could go without guaranteed clean water for approaching two weeks raises urgent questions about the state of our infrastructure
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
Reform UK have been accused of a Monty Python-style farce on Kent County Council after two of their expelled councillors formed a rival “Independent Reformers Group” Reform has lost 9 councillors (latest one today) - or 15% of its contingent - since May's local election inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
Reform breakaway group forms on flagship Kent council
Kent County Council is crucial to Reform's hopes for national power
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Keir Starmer insists that Digital ID will be “voluntary”. Unless, er, you want to have a job inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
Digital ID to be voluntary... unless you want a job (or benefits)
Keir Starmer has relaunched the controversial policy, stressing its use for every day life
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Reform's administration on Kent County Council has been rocked by a leaked video of a chaotic internal meeting, with four councillors suspended as a result. I took a look for @theipaper.com on whether the infighting could hurt Nigel Farage's party nationally inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
What Reform's Kent nightmare means for Farage's dream of becoming PM
Reform is hoping to prove it is fit for government by the way it runs local authorities
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
Bridget Phillipson announced today that tuition fees will rise annually in line with inflation (although unis will need to meet quality standards to benefit after two years’ time). @theipaper.com revealed that indexation was coming back in August Our story from then: inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
University tuition fees heading for £10,000 - as students face new hike every year
Ministers are mulling plans for automatic tuition fee hikes each year linked to inflation, though no formal decisions have yet been made
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
Starmer is facing a challenge from MPs on the Left to strip Prince Andrew of his dukedom. MPs, including Labour left-wingers, Jeremy Corbyn and the Westminster leaders of the SNP and Plaid Cymru want Parliament to formally remove Andrew’s titles inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
Starmer faces fight with Jeremy Corbyn over Prince Andrew's titles
MPs, including Labour left-wingers Jeremy Corbyn and the Westminster leaders of the SNP and Plaid Cymru, want Parliament to pass legislation to formally remove Andrew’s titles
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
The Home Office is brokering extra police officers from forces outside the West Midlands so the ban on Israeli fans attending next month’s match at Aston Villa can be overturned inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
Starmer set to overturn police ban on Israeli football fans
Ministers are racing to overturn a ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending Aston Villa’s Europa League match after police safety concerns sparked a political row
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Reposted by Will Hazell
The i Paper @theipaper.com · 16/10/2025
Reform pledged to cut costs and taxes in local government with a 'Doge'-style approach, but instead their council taxes are rising ➡️ Read more: trib.al/4eTKWIn
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
Exclusive @theipaper.com: Ministers are looking at introducing salary sacrifice schemes for rooftop solar panels as part of efforts to cut energy bills inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
Salary sacrifice for rooftop solar panels in new tax-break scheme
The policy may feature in the Government’s Warm Homes Plan, which is expected this month, The i Paper has been told
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
Rachel Reeves has been warned that making changes in the Budget to the amount of cash people can withdraw tax-free from their pensions is a “high risk strategy” which would create a “political storm” inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
Reducing pension tax-free lump sum to £100k a 'high risk', Reeves warned
Pensions minister Torsten Bell has previously called for the tax-free cash amount to be capped
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
The collapse of a case involving two men accused of spying for China is a “mess” which is “damaging” to Keir Starmer, an ex-head of MI6 has said. Sir Richard Dearlove told @theipaper.com that if the Govt had “caved” to Chinese pressure then it was “absolutely outrageous” inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
Former head of MI6: Starmer is damaged by spy trial row - China is a threat to UK
Sir Richard Dearlove, who led MI6 between 1999 and 2004, told The i Paper that China was indisputably a national security threat
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Jenrick is on his best behaviour in Manchester. But Tory insiders think he is playing a long game, knowing that any explicit show of disloyalty could fatally damage his reputation among the membership inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
Jenrick is a picture of loyalty. But Tory insiders insist Badenoch should be worried
The shadow Justice Secretary is a popular draw amid the struggles of the party leader
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
House sellers will be forced to disclose problems with their homes before sale under plans by the Government to cut costs for buyers and speed up purchases inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
House sellers will be forced to list problems with their homes before sale
The Government wants to speed up sales and cut costs of house buyers
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
The Home Office is looking at introducing outright bans on protests which risk intimidating minorities or threaten serious disruption, @theipaper.com understands inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
Home Office could outright ban protests that risk ‘intimidation’ or ‘serious disruption’
The Home Secretary is considering giving police new powers to ban protests
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
As Kemi Badenoch prepares for the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Tory MPs have warned she is “in the last chance saloon”. Here’s our @theipaper.com weekend long read inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
‘It’s f**king serious’: Badenoch's last chance as Jenrick coronation threat looms
Some Tories preparing for their conference are contemplating 'amalgamation' with Reform UK after a series of dire poll ratings
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Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
And they looked from podcaster to administration official, and administration official to podcaster; but already it was impossible to say which was which. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
theatlantic.com
A Government of All the Podcasters
The right-wing podcast-industrial complex is establishing new norms and taboos—and expanding the White House’s power.
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
Exclusive @theipaper.com: Sir Ed Davey has been told to raise his game by Liberal Democrat MPs amid growing concerns that the party is failing to cut through with the public inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
Ed Davey told by his MPs to raise game and drop ‘bullsh*t stunts’
Dissatisfaction has been fuelled by a feeling that the party have not received the media attention that many MPs expected after their election performance
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The i Paper @theipaper.com · 05/08/2025
Some Labour MPs have backed proposals to tax private healthcare, but the industry has hit back 🔴 @whazell.bsky.social reports trib.al/xIjDnqF
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
EXCLUSIVE: Tory to Reform switcher David Jones has told @theipaper.com he is talking to current Conservative MPs who are thinking about defecting too inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
Reform defector says senior Tories want to join him - in blow for Badenoch
Nigel Farage is bolstering his party with defections - but it's a strategy not without risks
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
Sir Keir Starmer has ruled out granting a Bank Holiday if the Lionesses win the Euros in Switzerland on Sunday, @theipaper.com understands inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
Starmer rules out bank holiday if Lionesses win Euros
The England women's team is likely to get an open-top bus parade through central London instead if they triumph against Spain
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
Our latest @theipaper.com weekend long read is on the fallout from Starmer’s strike against Labour rebels and the apparent refusal of the UK economy to play ball with Reeves’ growth plans inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
‘We’re told to eat s**t’: Resentment builds on Labour benches as economy stalls
Fears among MPs of a slide towards populist authoritarianism unless living standards are raised and backbenchers say they're treated like 'robots'
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
Labour MPs knew a VIP was imminent in Parliament’s old smoking room because when they turned up Mini Cheddars had been left out in advance. Sure enough, the PM arrived to schmooze them. Our @theipaper.com long read is on Starmer's bid to reset his troubled government inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
‘Ministers are f**king sh*t’: Inside divided Labour as MPs prepare to rebel again
Starmer's on a charm offensive. But his rank and file think No 10's 'a mess' and are contemptuous of their frontbench colleagues
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
My latest @theipaper.com read is on Putin’s “shadow fleet” of sanction-dodging oil tankers. Is the fleet being used for sabotage and hybrid warfare operations? How can it be stopped? And could it trigger a clash between Russia & NATO? inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
How Putin's shadow fleet of ageing oil tankers could trigger a war with Nato
The foreign ships Russia uses to evade sanctions on oil exports are already suspected of sabotage. Now it is feared they could spark a major conflict
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
Exclusive: One of the frontrunners to be the next Chancellor of Cambridge has said he fears Reform could launch a Trump-style assault on UK universities. Lord Chris Smith, Blair's first culture secretary, said: “Populism is always driven by a wish to kick the elite" inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
Reform 'could launch a Trump-style assault on UK universities'
Labour peer Chris Smith, one of the favourites in the contest to be chancellor of Cambridge University, talks to The iPaper about Farage's threats, tuition fees and free speech
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Robert Shrimsley @robertshrimsley.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
Everything you need to know about the British voting public
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Oleksandr Shepotylo @shepotylo.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
It is certainly positive news for UK universities. The question is still how substantial it is going to be
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
Could Trump's decision to go to war with US universities inadvertently save the UK's cash-strapped higher education sector? UK uni sources have told me they are already seeing foreign students who had intended to go to the US coming here instead inews.co.uk/news/politic... My @theipaper.com read:
inews.co.uk
Trump's 'act of self-harm' could accidentally save UK universities
The US President’s clampdown on foreign students could rescue British universities facing tighter restrictions on their own overseas recruits
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
The case for using "global majority" by institutions should be rejected unless + until it can be shown - most people understand what it means (most don't) - most people it is about would like it used (most don't) I find it a deeply incoherent fiction + a highly regressive term in some many ways
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
Nigel Farage’s plan to slash tax and increase benefits would cause a market shock up to twice the size of Liz Truss’s mini-budget, independent economists have told @theipaper.com inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
Farage's policies would risk Truss-style mini-Budget market chaos, economists warn
Independent economists predict that Farage's policies could cause a market shock up to twice the size of the former PM's mini-Budget
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
Can Nigel Farage really become PM? I took a look for @theipaper.com at what he’d need to poll, target seats, what Reform has to do over the next 3-4 years, as well as the obstacles (including his proximity to Trump and tactical voting) inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
Can Farage really become PM? Why electoral chaos could mean power for Reform
Reform's big poll lead suggests first past the post may flip to work to the party's advantage. But many obstacles still lie in the way
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
It's worth emphasising the existential problem for the Tories right now - they no longer lead among older Britons, in the South of England or among the middle classes, while holding a 17pt deficit among Leave voters. Their islands of strength are gone and they're becoming a party for nobody.
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
Excellent thread. The extent to which explicit racism, antisemitism etc has become ubiquitous on social media (I see it most on X but that’s one of the main platforms I use) is shocking and horrific.
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Will Hazell @whazell.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Rachel Reeves is pinning her hopes on planning reforms unlocking extra fiscal headroom to avoid raising taxes again this year, @theipaper.com understands inews.co.uk/news/politic...
inews.co.uk
Treasury has 'things up sleeve' in desperate bid to avoid tax hikes
Labour insider says changes to planning system among possible measures to buy extra headroom for the Budget
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