"It's time to give the people what they want: a Tory-Reform non-aggression pact," said Jacob Rees-Mogg.

The GB News host argued in February that the right-leaning vote was split, after a YouGov poll revealed that 25% of UK adults would vote for Nigel Farage's Reform UK, 24% for Labour and 21% for his party, the Conservatives, if a general election were held the next day. 

But the question is not so much whether voters would want such a pact as whether either party leader could stomach it. Last week, Kemi Badenoch categorically ruled out a deal at a "national level". Farage "wants to destroy the Conservative Party", said the Tory leader.

'That does make a lot of sense'
Several Tory MPs echoed Rees-Mogg's suggestion of an informal deal. "A non-compete arrangement, such as we had with the Brexit Party in the 2019 election – I would have thought that does make a lot of sense," Conservative MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown told The i Paper.

Badenoch herself has suggested that Reform and Tory councillors might enter into power-sharing coalitions after the local elections on 1 May, if it was required. She pointed out that Tories were already governing locally as part of "various coalitions" with other parties, including Labour.

'Drifting further to the right'
Farage insisted Reform had "no intention in forming coalitions with the Tories at any level". The Conservatives have "betrayed" Brexit, he said.

The Tories should realise that they're better off occupying the centre ground, rather than "drifting further to the right", said Bloomberg columnist Rosa Prince. Instead of mimicking Reform's populist policies, Badenoch should appeal to voters who care more about "their own personal finances" than "irrelevant woke wars". After all, Farage's character is off-putting to as many centrists as it is attractive to those who have defected to Reform.

The Tory party is braced for a "renewed frenzy over a potential deal or even merger" if Conservative-MP-turned-Reform-candidate Andrea Jenkyns wins the mayoral election in Greater Lincolnshire next month, said Rachel Cunliffe in The New Statesman. But if Jenkyns loses, Reform's momentum may falter. "The party has poured everything it has into Lincolnshire. If it can't win here, doubts will emerge over how solid its polling figures really are." 

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg could be forced to sell off Instagram and WhatsApp if he loses a landmark antitrust trial in America.

After a six-year investigation, the US Federal Trade Commission is alleging that Meta's acquisition of the two apps, over a decade ago, crushed competition in the social media industry and were "the actions of a monopolist guarding his turf", said The New York Times.

What is the case against Meta?
Lawyers for the FTC argue that Meta unlawfully quashed rivals by overpaying for the acquisitions – $1 billion for Instagram in 2012 and $19 billion WhatsApp in 2014 – leaving consumers without "reasonable alternatives".

"They decided that competition was too hard, and it would be easier to buy out their rivals than compete with them," said FTC lawyer Daniel Matheson. Yesterday in court, Matheson referenced a 2012 memo from Zuckerberg discussing the importance of "neutralising" Instagram. Matheson called it "a smoking gun".

Meta's lawyer, Mark Hansen, countered that the FTC's case was a "grab bag" of theories "at war with the facts". He accused the FTC of ignoring the impact of TikTok on the social media marketplace, and said "acquisitions to improve and grow" have never been unlawful.

Could Donald Trump intervene in the case?
The US president "looms unusually large" over the trial, with competition-law experts "fretting" that he will intervene – "most likely on Meta's behalf", said Politico.

The FTC has, historically, "operated independently of the White House". But the current FTC head, Andrew Ferguson, is "Trump's newly installed pick" and, last month, the president "purged" two of the FTC's Democrat commissioners. This "has given Trump unprecedented influence".

Zuckerberg has been currying favour with the president, visiting the White House three times since the start of Trump's second term. Meta also donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund.

What happens if Meta loses?
Meta could be forced to "break itself apart and spin off WhatsApp and Instagram", said CNN. This would "reshape the broader social media ecosystem".

It would also break up a $1.4 trillion company – something that "hasn't been attempted at such a scale since telephone monopoly AT&T was broken up 40 years ago", said Politico. That was seen at the time as a "historic pushback on excessive corporate power".

"Spring is the very best time of year to be an angler," said The Times. As the days get longer and the "willows burst into bud", being by the water is a "delight". Here are some of our favourite spots to let loose with rod, line and reel.

Derwentwater, Cumbria
This "scenic" lake (pictured above) outside Keswick is home to a "huge population of perch", said The Times. Derwentwater is three miles long and often 60ft deep, so it's a "terrific" idea to hire respected Cumbrian angler Eric Hope as your guide. He "finds fish like no one else can". The lake is next to Borrowdale, a tranquil nature reserve threaded with hiking trails.

Llanidloes, Powys
Just north of this little Welsh town's Long Bridge, the River Severn promises a "very special (and free) half-mile of fishing", said The Guardian. The water here is "blessed with brown trout", grayling and salmon. Be sure to wrap up warm: the "shadier" sections can get chilly. Afterwards, head into town to stroll along the pretty high street and stop for lunch at one of the charming delis.

Loch Awe, Argyll
The mayfly hatch from late May to mid-July leads to a trout "feeding frenzy" at Loch Awe, which is "unforgettable", said The Guardian. There are plenty of places to stay, but it's hard to beat the Loch Awe Camping Pods, where "you can fish almost from the end of your bed". The cosy wooden pods are in a clearing, right by the water's edge.

Keep children well away from the ballot box
Melanie Phillips in The Times
It's "obvious" why Keir Starmer wants to reduce the voting age in general elections to 16, writes Melanie Phillips: "it's assumed that young people will always vote for progressive parties". It's "appropriate" that an "infantilist party plans to be elected by children" but Starmer "should be careful what he wishes for". Surveys suggest that an "alarming number" of young people "no longer value democracy" and are "drawn to authoritarian leaders".

Europe's race to rearm is pointless if its adversaries are waging war online
Johnny Ryan in The Guardian
Europe may be "scrambling to remilitarise", writes Johnny Ryan, but it is "still sleepwalking towards disaster". It can "harden its shell and sharpen its claws" but it hasn't done enough to "protect its soft underbelly" against "algorithmic assault" from "Big Tech's manipulation machine". Donald Trump "cannot be allowed to hold the hidden levers of Europe's internal political debate". This is a crisis "at least as urgent as rearmament".

Britain must escape the clutches of cringe
Sebastian Milbank in The Critic
We're becoming "the land of cringe", writes Sebastian Milbank. From Harry Potter to Paddington, "fictional children's characters are our preferred cultural ambassadors", elbowing aside "our great historic composers, novelists, writers, philosophers, generals and scientists". The "British upper lip trembles dangerously", for we are "one 'Dr Who' Christmas special away" from "irreversible and catastrophic" cringe levels. We "desperately" need help "before cringe claims us all".