Andrew Jefferies

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.

I don’t want to post the video. You’ve all seen it. But I do want to write a love letter… Dear everyone in Britain, ( even you illegals) Just so you understand. The poppy is for the boys who never got to grow old. For the boys who were still somebody’s baby, brother, uncle or father. More than 600,000 of them. It doesn’t matter if you support war, hate your country, think you are a woman (even though you are a man). It doesn’t matter which God you pray to, or if you pray to none at all. It doesn’t matter who you vote for, what climate narrative you believe, or whether you believe Israel should exist or not! The poppy isn’t for you! It’s for those who came before. Those who fought for your right to be weird, annoying or even foreign. The poppy is how we say thank you. Thank you for giving us time, peace and choice. And attempting to ban our poppy by declaring it politically divisive isn’t a move towards freedom. It is an act of suppression. Understand that. The poppy is about love and loss. For you! So stick your rainbow flags and every other flag where the sun doesn’t shine and just wear your poppy. Those boys did not die as symbols. They died for you! Did you know that poppies grew across the battlefields where so many fell? As though even the land refused to forget the blood once given to defend it. So the poppy is for them. For those who came before us and paid in youth, in hope, in breath, in blood, so that we might have the freedom to be arseholes. So that we might even have the freedom to fight over the ridiculous, the inconsequential and the insane. Revere it, celebrate it and wear it. The very least you can do is that. Best The ordinary people.

"No laws were broken" "According to your mates!" Reform UK councillor Jaymey McIvor is questioned by broadcaster Richard Bacon about an internal party investigation over whether it breached electoral law. #Newsnight

I’m gay because I love men. Not “queer.” Not “LGBTQIA+.” Not whatever new letter they invent next week. I love actual male bodies, male energy, male reality. The second you start telling me that a woman who takes testosterone and cuts her breasts off is somehow the same as me, you’ve already lost the plot. We are not the same. Stop forcing it.

BREAKING NEWS: Earl Spencer has apologised to me for his defamatory lies published in his new book, Swan Song, published today. But I am pursuing legal action against him and his publisher Penguin to have the lies removed, and damages paid to the King’s Trust.

Why on earth is #BBC devoting its 6.30pm slot this evening to an interview with Earl Spencer? It’s nothing more than free advertising for a book he’s about to publish! #DirtyLinen

It has come to my notice (I'm a continent away) that Nicola Sturgeon has again claimed I'm obsessed with her. This is, of course, true. I hereby repost my adoring review of her magnum opus, in which I attempted to convey the full magnificence of La Sturge. jkrowling.com/opinions/the-t…

It's like I keep telling you. Some people who are pregnant right now are male. And if they are pregnant, they have a womb, and that means they may need to buy products from that aisle. Get over it , move along, nothing to see here. apple.news/A-Wc18L3KSomWcQ6-…

So funny.

Getting a £5 million gift when you are about to run for parliament is of legitimate public interest. If it was to pay for security, which Farage says he needs, then it’s also fair to ask if it has been spent on security.

Why are we still interviewing Richard Tice’s wife, live from Dubai, and pretending this is a source of commentary (let alone objectivity) when discussing Reform? These guys hated Ed Balls’ commentary. How is this any different?

I don’t want to hear about Black Lives Matter. I don’t want to hear about White Lives Matter. Everyone matters. Henry Nowak matters.

All gone into Room 101?

Indeed-what’s more depressing is that everyone there is a by election the media rush to report this is a matter of debate. It really isn’t. It’s pedalled by a loud but small minority who have friends that have joined Reform