i wish we could have taggie+tabitha+marcus every episode

The Prime Minister and his gorgeous family. Black Doves is out on 5th November.

Old secrets. New faces. Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw star in Black Doves Season 2, premiering November 5.

Tony Blair on his sons canvassing for him in the 2005 General Election. (2010)

I was a very fortunate kid. My dad's GP surgery sat between the Dell and Hampshire's County Ground, so at weekends I could go to a game and get a lift home afterwards. It left me with a passion for both sports and a belief that sport opens a window onto who we are. When I was growing up, the Tebbit test was a matter of intense debate. Which side did you cheer for at the cricket? For all the criticism it received, it was a test anyone could pass. If you supported England because you saw it as home, you were part of the team regardless of the colour of your skin. Born in Southampton, 10 year old me passed it without even knowing about it. Giving the @MCCOfficial's Cowdrey Lecture on Thursday made me think about cricket's place in our national life and the current arguments about identity. In Britain we've built the world's most successful multi-faith, multi-ethnic democracy. I was a beneficiary of it. Whatever issues people had with me as PM (and there was no shortage) my race and religion weren't among them. I could read a lesson at the King's coronation or light Diwali diyas on Downing Street with my daughters without controversy. Foreign leaders assumed these must be huge symbolic moments. For most Brits, they just weren't that big a deal. But Britain's democratic achievement is now under strain. Some of the challenges are ones I've written about before, like Islamism, and the failure of governments, including the one I led, to adequately control immigration. But something else is going on - a risk that we start equating skin colour with nationality. After I left office, a debate kicked off here on @X about whether I was English at all, because I was a "brown Hindu". During the election campaign I'd been shocked when footage was broadcast of someone calling me a "Paki." It was shocking precisely because it was so unusual. That kind of abuse had simply not been a feature of my political life. But the Englishness argument was stranger still. Call it the reverse Tebbit test. If you're not white, it no longer matters who you support at the cricket, because you can never be English. It's a test no non-white person can ever pass. I have no truck with people who offend our sense of fairness and come here illegally; I spent half my premiership trying to deport them to Rwanda. I think the bar for legal migration should be high. It is entirely possible to want a radical reduction in immigration and a far more robust approach to integration, and still totally reject the attempt to turn Britishness into a DNA test. If you're born and brought up in England and view it as home, what are you other than English? Denying people their Englishness or their Britishness because of the colour of their skin is a recipe for alienation and a two-tier society. How are children who hear this meant to feel? Sport can play a small but significant role here. Cricket is played by nearly every major ethnic group in this country. Ask what my largely white rural constituents in the Dales and the British-Asian kids in Bradford have in common, and the answer is cricket. If cricket can produce England teams in which every kid can see themselves, the impact reaches far beyond the boundary. As I write in @thetimes today, we must all be on the same side, cheering for the same team. We cannot allow race to be reintroduced into our politics. We cannot allow Briton to be set against Briton.

If you were young in 2001, or weren’t even born yet, it can be hard to imagine what 9/11 felt like. The shock of that beautiful, cloudless morning. The heartbreak of the families whose loved ones were taken with such swiftness and cruelty. The realization that the forces of malevolence and violence were closer, and the future less certain, than we knew. But in the days that followed, we felt something else, too. Pride in the rescue workers who had rushed to the scene, and the passengers who had stormed the cockpit. Admiration for the men and women who left behind lives of comfort to serve their country. A deep resolve that nothing would break the will of a truly United States of America. Today Michelle and I are remembering those we lost that day, and those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the wars that followed. We pray for their families. And we hope Americans everywhere remember the true lesson of 9/11: that we can survive even our darkest days as long as we move forward as one nation and one people.

Omg. Just adore.

A theft at the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer over night. These are the stolen works: Portrait of Madame Pichon (1895) Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano (1910) Coco Lisant (1905) Jeune femme au puits (1886) Two abandoned at the scene, two still missing #renoir #renoirmuseum

The cultural losses this week are great.

Remembering the late, great Dolly, who brought joy, comfort and inspiration to so many - including the millions of children given free books through her Imagination Library. We will always ❤️ you.

BLACK DOVES S2 Keira Knightley, Ben Whishaw and Sarah Lancashire are back in Joe Barton’s achingly cool spy thriller, and this time they’re joined by One Day’s Ambika Mod. Season 2 arrives later this year.

Harry Potter s2 starts filming in September. That TV series will last about a decade which might explain why Harry and Meghan have committed to staying for such a long time. Who would Meghan play? Does she think it might rehabilitate her public image? Intriguing!

My phone was stolen on Frith Street in Soho this afternoon (by a woman) and… I managed to steal it back!!! Hooray! And then I screamed thief over and over again in the loudest, banshee-like voice imaginable and she ran away terrified! No one else batted an eyelid.

There are also people who don’t realize Frozen’s Hans, Christoph, Anna, and Sven is “Hans Christian Andersen”

The number of prominent figures in British public life who relentlessly piled on to an academic of little public or political importance- and are now seeking to pass the buck- is revolting.

The utter cruelty of Amanda Knox bringing this show to the UK. Please consider signing this petition. #RIPMeredith c.org/WZmDppqcFP

"What, a new one? They keep changing every five minutes." A care home resident was shocked to meet the new Prime Minister when he paid a visit. As Andy Burnham introduced himself, he was asked by resident Robert whether he was a local candidate. A smiling Burnham responded that he was actually now the PM.

‘Great Inventions, 1961’ Jodrell Bank Radio Telescope Artist: Robert Ayton