Happy Friday! And Happy Valentine's Day - we feel very honoured someone has bought The Lead subscription as a gift. We're assuming for a loved one. Nothing says I love you like sharp incisive writing direct to your inbox three-times-a-week. You can buy The Lead as a gift for someone. Each Friday we'll bring you our picks from what we've published each week as The Lead's week that was digest for the week ending Friday 14 February 2025.
A reminder we're publishing over on Substack now so this site acts as an archive and we'll publish this digest each Friday. Our email newsletter lands in tens of thousands of inboxes each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday with in-depth storytelling, incisive writing on topics not always making the headlines, our commitment to news and features across the North of England and more. It's free to receive the emails, and if you can please do support us with a paid subscription to ensure we can keep bringing you news and features on topics you might not see covered in the same depth elsewhere.
Immigration has been a major theme of this week and we've had Nicola Kelly, who used to work at the Home Office and is now a journalist and author writing on immigration and borders, reflect on what many say was Labour's 'Go Home Van' moment with the releasing of some hard-hitting deportation videos. While immigration has also been on our TV screens as the crux of a new Channel 4 show Go Back To Where You Came From, Diyora Shadijanova was saddened by what she saw but did manage to find some hope amid her despair.
Our weekend edition, in your inboxes on Saturday morning, will see Zoë Grünewald reflect on how Labour need to move the debate on from immigration - because polling consistently shows it is inflated by the media compared to the pressing matters in most voters minds (the NHS, the economy, cost of living, education). She's also written earlier this week on how Reform and Farage have exposed themselves for what they really are - launching a blistering attack on education in response to the immigration froth.
We've had a focus on parenting and working this week too - as Joanna Milne argued passionately for why the government needs to pay more attention to helping those trying to work and raise a family. And in our latest edition of The Lead Untangles, which comes out every Friday to help you make sense of the world and issues affecting it, Lauren Crosby-Medlicott examines all things paternity pay and how the UK is lagging behind.
Our long-reads this week - which hit your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday morning - reflect on what life is like living with HIV in what is HIV Testing Week (and saw the Prime Minister undertake a live HIV test). Rachel Howarth in the second-part of her story looks at how the government is likely to miss its 2030 target of stopping new transmissions.
While in Germany, Martha Bird reports from Berlin where the upcoming election on 23 February has progressives concerned. Far-right and populism is on the rise. And climate is being forgotten.
In The Lead North and in Blackpool we have been telling the story of what took place leading up to the death of father-of-four Alistair Taylor and claims of 'insidious' behaviour by the council as they pursued a compulsory purchase order on his property. That behaviour will now form part of the inquest into Mr Taylor's death.
Some The Lead parish notices too:
- We're exciting for Natalie Morris returning to our editing team and helping to steer our National edition alongside Zoe, Ed and Luke. We got together in real life in London this week (rather than a virtual meeting!) and it was nice. Here's a pic of us all looking smiley and happy. You can see Natalie's recent writing where she examined the inequality of air pollution in our cities.
- We're on Bluesky, as well as X, so do give us a follow to be notified of new stories going live. Our piece about why we're staying on X, despite everything, is a good read.
- If you're a freelance journalist, or have a story tip, our pitching guidelines have all been updated and are over on our Substack.
Useful links
- See all our newsletters on Substack and read the full archive of them
- Our local titles are The Blackpool Lead, The Lancashire Lead, The Southport Lead, The Calderdale Lead and The Teesside Lead - all on Substack and providing in-depth news and features every Wednesday and Sunday, direct to thousands of inboxes.
- If you're able to support us with a subscription, you can do so via Substack. There's monthly, annual and founder options available. It helps ensure we can keep covering stories beyond the usual headlines, going deep into topics you care about and may be surprised to see covered too.
The Lead is now on Substack.
Become a Member, and get our most groundbreaking content first. Become a Founder, and join the newsroom’s internal conversation - meet the writers, the editors and more.
