Jo Smith

All death row inmates in California to have sentence changed to life in prison, governor says bbc.in/4iAxBh9

I’ve run a unitary local authority and their adult services. This is such a fudge from @andyburnham. He’s making grand gestures without any substance. Whilst cutting pensions for pensioners. General election now

Do the Lib Dems have a brand and cut through problem? Our word cloud finds people struggle to describe the Liberal Democrats and where they do they tend to be words which suggest a lack of relevance on the national political stage.

In which the other Deputy Green Leader, Rachel Millward, tries to defend Mothin Ali being a landlord despite the party’s policy being ‘to seek the effective abolition of private landlordism’ - and repeatedly refuses to answer if she herself is a landlord.

After the #Grenfell disaster Richard Goatley and @Middlesex_CCC sent this message of support to members of their Middlesex community. Today, the club lists Simon Dudley as chair of its ethics committee. Will the club distance itself from his shocking remarks about Grenfell?

A woman gets sexually assaulted in her hotel bed while she's literally asleep. Some random dude strolls up to Travelodge reception at 2am, drops her name, claims "I'm her boyfriend," and they just... hand him her room number and a key card. No call to the room. No ID check. No "hey, does she know you're coming?" Nothing. She wakes up to the nightmare. He gets convicted. And now, in 2026, Travelodge has to announce a shiny new policy: Staff must actually get explicit consent from the actual guest before giving anyone else access to their room. Let that sink in. This wasn't some high-tech security failure. This was "don't hand strangers the key to a sleeping woman's private room" needing to be written down as official rules because it apparently wasn't before.

Hey @TravelodgeUK 🚨A Travelodge let someone into woman’s room to sexually assault her, then offer her £30 compensation & defend their actions!🚨 Outrageous. Review your security procedures. How can women stay safely in your hotels otherwise? bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3v7…

NEW: All talk about Angela Rayner today She has caused ‘mayhem’ by forcing PM’s hand on having Parliament oversee Mandelson disclosures Rayner has been coming into the Chamber with a ‘praetorian guard’ of allies on either side, MPs say Sam Tarry spotted on the Estate 👀

Inside Kemi Badenoch’s meeting with the Tory right last night: 📣 She made a pitch for “unity around authentic conservatism” … aka no shift to the left ⚔️ And MPs seemed on board, with a call to become her “Praetorian Guard” My latest | @ConHome ⬇️ conservativehome.com/2026/01…

Great response so far: MAT CEOs, teachers, governors & academics on board. If you work in education, please add your name and share our open letter to phase out the 11-plus: comprehensivefuture.org.uk/e…

Thank you for sending in your questions this week for our second 'Josh on the Spot'! From Shrinflation to Maidenhead United and Gaza, we've covered lots this week. Keep the questions coming!

Driving test delays and exploitative charges for test bookings have spiralled out of control. After backlogs for years and with Slough amongst worst affected, glad @UKLabour government is taking action, by helping deliver 10,000 additional tests each month.