Yes, and took control of Surrey Heath, archetypal Blue Wall. With the Labour gain as well, it's a difficult night for the Tories, not really surprisingly. (View Post)

Belarus's role is interesting - avoiding getting into the war, while still on good terms with Russia. I think there's an element of sanction-busting there - at a trivial lelvel, Pokerstars … (View Post)

She claimed not - said they would be housed in hostels or hotels while their asylum applications were considered, and that they had huge numbers of refugees (from DRC and Libya) so were used to proce… (View Post)

It is a long time, with significant events every week or two. But I remember a sense in both 1995-7 and 2008-10 that the Government was exhausted and were just playing out time, so even quite sensibl… (View Post)

Labour politics doesn't really work like that any more. The centre can get people onto a shortlist by ringing up the right people, but the membership is far from willing to take direction on sel… (View Post)