C2C, which serves my constituency, has consistently been one of the top-performing rail lines in Britain, topping customer satisfaction polls. That's why Labour chose it as one of the first to be nationalised - they thought it would make nationalisation look good. Before nationalisation, 94% of trains were on time. Now it's 71.5%. I joined a cross-party group of local MPs this week to raise the alarm - but these were fears I set out before nationalisation. Labour needs to demonstrate to my constituents why their approach is an improvement, not simply a recipe for decline. thetimes.com/uk/transport/ar…

Happy days at Guardian Towers. Remind me, which columnists did Kath Viner drive out of the paper? Talcum X? Russell the Rapist? Oh, I remember now. It was the feminists. All three of us:

⏱️Before nationalisation, 94% of c2c trains arrived on time. Now, it is just 71.5%. Is anyone surprised? 🚆 thetimes.com/uk/transport/ar…

This is devastatingly bad

Michigan's Democratic candidate for Senate Abdul El-Sayed confronted @jamesmatthewsky, telling him he wouldn't answer his questions as he wants "zero" votes in the UK. Watch the heated exchange between the two. Watch our live coverage of the US midterms➡️ trib.al/BikRSb2

Thank God more people are finally calling it what it is. It shouldn’t take this long for people to speak up, especially when the same behaviour is so quickly condemned whenever an Arsenal player does it.

Since riots are now spreading across Europe, there are some simple things any country that wants to avoid them can announce. Anyone found guilty of rioting/looting: - who is a foreign national will be immediately deported - who is a dual national will be immediately stripped of their citizenship, then deported - who is an asylum seeker or has been granted asylum, will be denied asylum/deported - permanently banned from receiving any benefits/welfare of any kind - given harsh custodial sentences Announce this now and avoid riots or watch your country go down the route of France and Germany.

If an oligarch had used the Metropolitan Police and Carter Ruck to silence a journalist, would that be similarly brushed over and forgiven?

Slavery was an evil in which people from every continent and region participated. We should be honest about the whole history, not select the parts that are politically convenient today, especially given Britain's leading role in ending the transatlantic slave trade. If Caribbean countries are asking Britain for a formal apology for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, will they also be asking the same of the descendants of African kingdoms, rulers and merchants who captured, sold and profited from the trade? On demands for reparations, whether through cash or debt relief, we have been down this track before. Twenty-five years ago, Jubilee 2000, Drop the Debt and Make Poverty History argued that cancelling the debts of poorer countries would give them a fresh start. More than $100 billion of debt was eventually written off, but many of those countries have since built up even bigger debts. Labour are already spending too much on Britain's welfare state, now is not the time for Andy Burnham to be providing global welfare. There is no reason British taxpayers today should be held financially responsible for things that happened generations before any of us were born. And I have even less patience for political elites in commonwealth countries who don’t know how to make their own citizens prosperous now looking for another opportunity to blame Britain. As Prime Minister, Andy Burnham should be Britain’s greatest defender. Instead, he is writing articles saying we need to confront our history (as if we haven't done enough of that) and considering another formal historical apology. Tony Blair already expressed Britain’s deep sorrow and regret for our role in the slave trade nearly twenty years ago. There is no need to do so again. This is all another navel-gazing distraction. The Commonwealth should be looking forward, not endlessly backwards. That means economic partnerships to make us all richer and deeper military and security cooperation against common threats. If every Commonwealth summit becomes an exercise in presenting Britain with demands for cash then we need to start asking if it is worth the effort.

This is absolutely shocking. A key London station out of action for most of next year due to a few escalators. Not every journey relies on them. The station has stairs and lifts. Do better @TLRailUK.

SIR PATRICK STEWART (1940-2026) Before everything else, Patrick was defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire, the proud county in the north of England which he loved to the end. You could hear it in his accented voice and in the stern honesty with which he told you what he thought and felt. Yorkshiremen have no truck with half-truths or avoidance of big issues. He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love. We first met as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago but we weren’t in the same productions. My first strong memory was a few years later, meeting him in the street in central London when he told me about an offer to take over a leading part in 'Star Trek'. “But Patrick think of your stage career in the UK. Do you really want to risk—getting lost in Hollywood for years and years?”. Well, he took the risk and thank goodness for us all that he did for not just his devoted Trekkies but film and theatre audiences, who marvelled at his using international celebrity to star in a string of cinema successes ('X-Men' of course) and in great classical plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Peter Shaffer, Pinter and Beckett at Stratford-upon-Avon, in London’s West End and on Broadway. America was his adopted home, where he met his adored Sunny who has cared for him through sickness and health, through thick and thin. But he never forsook his origins: and the proudest achievement of the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic, was his appointment as Chancellor of Huddersfield University in Yorkshire. His farewell performance in 'Avengers: Doomsday' is yet to be seen. Ian McKellen 29 October 2026 Photo: University of Huddersfield

The FA had a duty of care towards Max. What was his crime? Mildly reacting to a dangerous challenge. Instead of protecting a 16 yr old, you chose to suspend him and promote violent conduct. Thankfully Max didnt suffer a serious injury because apparently thats what it takes.

🚨NEW: A UK bank chief executive, reacting to John Healey's decision to raise the bank's profit surcharge said: "Taxing the engines of growth to reduce VAT on gherkins is end-of-Rome level of stupidity" [@FT]

Utterly heartbreaking. A must watch.

Remember when Antoinette Fernandez (Green Party speaker of Hackney Council) bemoaned the British bombardment of Lagos, forcing her great great maternal grandfather from power? She forgot to mention the reason why. And you won't hear a single peep of apology from this lot about it.

Unai Simon has won the Men's Goalkeeper of the Year award for 2026. He beat his compatriot, David Raya, to the prize thanks to his efforts with Spain at the World Cup. But Simon made a total of nine saves in eight games, which — as a body of work — surely does not outshine Raya's season for Arsenal. 📝 @SebSB Follow the rest of the Ballon d'Or live: nyti.ms/4dTOSRe

Just make it stop. Can someone check the car park and see if all the Oxbridge educated upper class types who ran the country forty years ago have actually left yet? Tell them to come back in. We shouldn’t have got rid of them. Tell them we’re sorry.

Another car crash interview from Labour. “That’s £190,000 per person…we could buy them all a house.” This Labour govt are out of their depth. This is scarily incompetent. It’s no wonder Labour are bankrupting us and taxes are going up to pay for it.

Unai Simon for Athletic Bilbao last season: 46 games 8 clean sheets 73 goals conceded David Raya for Arsenal last season: 51 games 28 clean sheets 31 goals conceded Guess which one just won “Best Goalkeeper” at the Balon d’Or? 🤣

In August 1999, Jonathan Powell (then Blair’s chief of staff) and partner Sarah Helm left their eight-week-old daughter Rosamund in the Groucho Club cloakroom while they dined, unable to find a babysitter. The attendant minded her among coats and bags. She later said she only agreed expecting a decent tip, but none was left (Downing Street claimed a cash mix-up with a cheque to follow). The Guardian reported it. Helm complained to the Press Complaints Commission over privacy intrusion; the complaint was not upheld. The facts were not disputed.