Watch the clip above to see LBC’s James O’Brien say with a serious face “it’s just insane how patronising some people are to their readers“. Pots, kettles…
It forms part of a furious rant he inflicted on his listeners this morning. Apparently it is absurd for the media to report on the PM taking a holiday just two weeks into the job, and it’s all fine because he’ll obviously have his phone nearby. An excuse which, for some reason, O’Brien never thought to make for Tory ministers in the past – he also seems to think Yvette Cooper is still Foreign Secretary…
Ohio State University says it has no record of Cambridge’s embattled sociology professor Jason Arday being a ‘Visiting Professor’ there, despite the claim appearing on his Cambridge University profile. Here we go again…
In 2021, Arday became a Sociology of Education professor at Glasgow, making him one of the youngest professors in Britain. He moved to Cambridge in 2023 and was widely held up as a diversity poster boy. Covered extensively elsewhere…
He is currently facing accusations of academic plagiarism and is being supported by Jolyon’s Good Law Project and others.
Cambridge’s Faculty of Education page, which forms part of his bio as a Jesus College fellow, claims he is currently “a Visiting Professor at The Ohio State University in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion”. An office which closed last year…
A spokesman for Ohio State told Guido:
“We have no record of an employee by that name… Visiting professors appear in our employment records. The records would not indicate if an individual visited in another, non-employment, capacity.”
Glasgow University has also disputed Arday’s claim to be a visiting professor there, too. A hard day for Arday…
The taxpayer has fronted tens of thousands for Sadiq Khan to host African businesses in City Hall after he flew to African countries last year for a ‘trade mission.’ Could all of this have been a Zoom call?Khan travelled to Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa with eleven staff last year at a cost of over £80,000 and earlier this year hosted a summit to bring “together investors, entrepreneurs and businesses from London and Africa to showcase London, strengthen opportunities for both inward investment and outward expansion, and underline London’s commitment to one of the world’s most important long-term growth regions”. The Mayor’s office said:
“The final costs of the London-Africa Business Summit are still being reconciled, but are expected to total around £28,000. These costs covered catering, production, and BSL interpretation and palantypists. No costs were incurred for travel, staffing or security.”
London taxpayers – who have shelled out over £100,000 on Khan’s Africa stunts – have yet to find out if Khan wants to run for mayor again. Crossing their fingers…
The illegal tobacco trade is rife in Britain. This week a Romford shop was shuttered after officers uncovered an £8,000 stash, traders in Grimsby were found with £12,500 worth of illicit stock and three stores in the North East selling illicit tobacco and illegal vapes have been closed down by Sunderland City Council. Nationally, Operation CeCe has stripped 33 million illegal cigarettes and 800kg of hand-rolling tobacco from shelves in the last year, with a street value of nearly £24 million…
Yet HMRC claims the black market is shrinking. Its latest estimates put the tobacco tax gap at just 14.2% in 2024/25, supposedly the latest step in a two-decade decline. HMRC’s own methodology admits the 2024/25 figures aren’t measured at all – they’re projections, produced because of incomplete data and resource constraints. The way HMRC defines the ‘tax gap’ is essentially an educated guess. It’s about as scientific as asking someone how many pints they have in a week…
There’s one easy way to work it out. Cancer Research UK estimates smokers got through 28 billion cigarettes in 2024, while HMRC records show only 14 billion cigarettes were cleared for legal sale in the same period. That means around 14 billion missing cigarettes and billions of pounds in Exchequer revenue going straight into the pockets of organised crime. A recent UCL study found 23.1% of smokers in 2025 had bought illicit cigarettes in the last six months, up from 12.2% in 2023. Test purchasing found 54% of independent retailers visited in Makerfield are selling illegal tobacco. If more than half the corner shops in Burnham’s own backyard are flogging illicit fags, HMRC’s estimate is up in smoke…
Burnham’s government is fleshing out its lines on tax ahead of the Budget, and already hinting at taxation of wealth. Asked about tax on working people by Tory peer Lord Jackson, Labour ministers said in a written answer in Parliament:
“Everyone is being asked to contribute to support these goals, but the Government is keeping the contribution from working people as low as possible by ensuring the wealthiest contribute more.”
That’s the first parliamentary question Burnham’s government has answered in the Lords. Has anyone asked Burnham to define a working person yet?
Only one point in it at the top, with Reform gaining a point since the last poll despite the bad headlines. Pour another one out for Your Party…
Burnham confirms he spoke to Trump last night about drilling in the North Sea:
“I indicated in the phone call that we had a week last Monday that I would take a pragmatic approach when it comes to the North Sea, and that is my intention as we go forward from here. There is a resource there. When people are struggling, we can’t ignore that. Hence, me indicating that to the president…”
