It's so frustrating when the actions of a few spoil your journey. Our new campaign reminds passengers to use headphones on trains, and highlights the penalties. And local leaders get new powers to tackle music, vaping and littering on buses. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm89…

Our next FAB meeting is on 26 October 2026. The draft agenda is below. We're sharing it in advance to invite your feedback. If you have comments on any agenda items or suggestions for other topics, let us know, we'll ensure they're considered for this or a future FAB meeting.

According to @SuellaBraverman not one of these ENGLAND players are English. Fuck her 🖕🏽🖕🏼🖕🖕🏾🖕🏿

Like Andy Burnham a lot but his comments around City ownership and not wanting to lose them is tone deaf and only fuels the fire that journalists will use and already are to prove some sort of nefarious relationship between him and City's owners, something incredibly unhelpful after a speech about doing politics differently and genuinely having people like me thinking about voting Labour again. Sportwashing literally is designed to make sure regimes and governments are seen differently abroad at a time when those regimes and governments are spending a lot on UK infrastructure, buy British assets ( and globally) but are also are alleged by NGO's and other governmental bodies of various things. Making people happy by giving them stuff, memories and happiness is the literal definition of Sportwashing. Trump, when asked by a journalist about the murder of Jamal Khassoggi a couple of years back and whether he would deal with Saudi or had a moral issue with the allegation ( do your own research on various organisations conclusions on Saudi guilt), Trump ( I'm generalising) said " These guys spend billions in America, ultimately that's what matters. ". That's sportwashing. The problem? With that investment comes an implied understanding that we all know is there. "We spend billions with you, remember that". Nothing more has to be said, we know what it means. Andy Burnham comments I'm sure were meant to be as banal as possible but the clunky delivery means many respected journalists and more importantly a football mad country, many who aren't political, now believe the PM ( I alluded to a few extra Typhoon aircraft being bought by the UAE and the UK government calling the City affair quits as a jokey aside ) has clouded his moral statements of fairness ( in a speech literally 24 hours before) because of his experience with Abu Dhabi in Manchester. That's now a live story and hacks will dig. I've read stories about Manchester Council selling land to Abu Dhabi , I don't know enough about it but the story has legs. Therefore destroying much of the goodwill he had only 24 hours before. Unhelpful and naive or something more? Sportwashing is easy with an unlimited budget and it's depth and influence may never be known. But for a PM, the day after a judgement by a respected panel to say " we can't afford to lose City Group, they've put a lot into Manchester " is missing the point so widely that he's now going to be tagged as taking a side or grossly naive. Neither things people will readily vote for. I hope I'm way off the mark but I've seen a lot of Labour voting football fans on here thinking the same. And if Labour can't convince us that they really are doing things differently then they'll have no chance with huge numbers who've already mentally voted elsewhere. And again after such a genuine speech, that would be a shame. Clarify your comments Andy. Good allies tell each other if they fuck up, however much they've invested. Because that's what you talked about yesterday. Doing things with honesty and integrity.

“I would be really concerned to lose them.” Prime Minister Andy Burnham on the possibility of Manchester City’s owners selling up. What?! These are owners found guilty of serial breaches of the Premier League rule-book by three judges on an independent commission after a lengthy investigation. Owners who outraged other clubs and countless fans by flouting the rules and inflating sponsorship income with the Disguised Funding Scheme. Owners who misled auditors and regulators, who threaten to bring this Premier League season – and, potentially, future seasons - to a standstill by their appeal, deny, delay tactics. Owners who are patently not proper custodians of a famous, historic club. Owners who many hope will sell up and ship out after bringing such shame and sham contracts to the game. So these are astonishing, alarming comments from the PM. “I do actually thank the City Football Group and the wider ownership for the money that they didn't just put into the Etihad and the campus around it but also into the city," Burnham told the BBC’s Chris Mason. Come on, PM. Read the room. Read the commission’s report. Read the belligerent statements from the Abu Dhabi owners and their chief executive like Ferran Soriano. Rather than thank CFG, perhaps thank the diligence of the Premier League in seeking to enforce its rules and protect the national sport. Perhaps thank the three judges for their pain-staking work in sifting through reams of evidence and coming to their considered conclusion. Burnham spoke as a politician seemingly with one eye on diplomatic and trade links. He spoke as a former mayor whose city benefited from investment in east Manchester by Abu Dhabi. “They've been such a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester and obviously the building of Manchester City into the global force that it is.” And how was that building financed? Burnham spoke as a politician and not the football fan that he truly is. The lifelong Evertonian is usually pretty sound on football matters. He misread the mood of many fans not wanting the possible return of drinking in Premier League stands but that was a rare misstep. This is far worse. This makes him look out of touch with the prevailing mood. He was speaking at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Maybe he should head to Anfield on Sunday week and witness the anger felt towards City. Burnham did add that he wasn’t getting involved in the process and that City had a right to appeal if they felt harshly treated. But how does the PM’s sympathetic words for controversial owners help the independent football regulator charged by Government with leading the fight against those who risk the credibility of their club, who play fast and loose with the rules and who damage the integrity of the national sport? How frustrating if Burnham’s words embolden City's owners and Soriano further. Bit of an own goal by No 10.

Marvellous edit 😅

Sex, drugs and sausage rolls.

A last look at Southend United's draw at Carlisle United and where Blues go from here Read here: echo-news.co.uk/sport/265479…