Sound check at @PetworthFest with @Peston ahead of our event about his latest thriller, The Kill Switch, the state of the economy, and life as a national broadcaster.

Walking the gorgeous streets of beautiful Petworth in West Sussex, between interviews with Victoria Hislop and Robert Peston, gripped by the Cape Town Test series decider between South Africa and Australia. What a sport cricket is.

Glorious Petworth with the wonderful @VicHislop to talk about her new novel, The Wine-Dark Sea. Full house at @PetworthFest for her, of course.

Sir Patrick Stewart was most famous for Star Trek, but by the time I interviewed him in five minutes in 2011, he’d been in 28 of Shakespeare’s plays. He talked about overcooking fear, being told he would never be a leading man, what it’s like to be on stage, and how he wanted to be a concert pianist next time around, RIP.

It would be very, very funny if Robert Jenrick loses his seat at the next election.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to: Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Fund    alzresearch.org/giving/ Alzheimer’s Foundation of America Caregiver Resources     alzfdn.org/donate/ Photo Credit: Tommy Garcia

Paddington station just now… superb. Make sure you donate today if you can to mark @PoppyLegion London Poppy Day on its 20th anniversary In 2006 with a handful of volunteers they raised £500, last year it was over £1 million

Robert Jenrick literally claims the phrase "Nigerian Scammer" is not racist. As I said, it's clear what the benchmark for racism within Reform is now. This isn't some obscure councillor. It's a senior MP.

Burnham now needs to get a grip. Fast.

Forget the sideshow of Reform and Farage, there is now clear blue water separating Labour and the Tories, as the Healey/Burnham Budget showed.

Exclusive: Nigel Farage's "physical altercation" during the State Opening of Parliament was with the Lib Dem MP Caroline Voaden - and has caused an major row between Reform and the Lib Dems. Lib Dem sources say Voaden was left "shocked and shaken" after he "shoved" her to secure a place in the procession of MPs to the King's Speech. Video from the Commons Chamber that day shows Farage and Voaden making their way down from their benches together. Voaden reported the incident to the Serjeant at Arms and says Farage was asked to apologise - but hasn't. A Reform spokesman denies any wrongdoing by Farage, saying "it was the Lib Dem MPs being aggressive towards Nigel". Lib Dems say that is "utter nonsense" Farage said yesterday that the "physical altercation" was the reason he didn't put up a fight to be in the Chamber for the Budget after his prayer card to save a space was removed. He said he thought that after the row with Voaden, it was "better to avoid conflict". But in a further twist, a Commons spokesman says Farage's card was only removed because it didn't have a date stamp, which are required to reserve a spot. Top work by @hope_sapphire here: telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/10…

The bleak backdrop to the first Burnham budget is households struggling. Can Labour turn that around? Let’s hope so, but there’s not a lot of evidence suggesting they can any time soon. @PJTheEconomist @OBR_UK @TimesRadio

Totally extraordinary that Nigel Farage wasn’t in the Chamber for the Budget.

On @TimesRadio with @carolewalkercw from midnight responding to John Healey’s big day. What did you make of Burnham’s first Budget?