Richard Desmond’s gamble fails as the Competition Appeal Tribunal rules against his Subsidy Control challenge…
My thoughts on this case can be read at:
www.linkedin.com/posts/alexan...
Starmer was voted in because people wanted integrity back in UK politics, rather than any particular love for him or his party.
Mandelson deserves the punishment that goes with his actions.
Starmer could turn bad news into a winning formula by tackling the rot within UK politics.
State funding for airports and airlines will be in the news next week - Bristol Airport is bringing a Subsidy Control case in the Competition Appeal Tribunal claiming £206m of public funding has been unlawfully awarded by the Welsh Government.
www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/projects-and...
There’s a knotty dilemma at the heart of devolution.
Had the North had received the same per head public funding as London 2007 - 2017 then the region would be £59bn richer. To make up for this, more powers and funds have been given.
But is that fair to London & can both areas grow simultaneously?
I’ll have to have a listen.
I had assumed he was a “useful idiot” spotted and cultivated by some regime (in that he befriended powerful people in order to protect himself from being arrested for his crimes) but this email suggests he was going out of his way to link up with foreign regimes…
Did the meeting ever happen?
Fraser Nelson’s article explains the X algorithm and why it is so damaging.
Every post is scored for engagement, but then the algorithm rewards abuse / hollow claims - anything that draws a response from the original poster, amplifying whatever polarises the most…
www.thetimes.com/article/d65a...
Get it built…
I reckon Hugo is Amanda’s brother
Loving how the Villa players are celebrating with the crowd.
In the highly unlikely event that a court did find the BBC liable for $5bn* Subsidy Control law might protect the UK taxpayer.
*Private Eye has summed up Trump’s track record on court cases & it’s not as good as he likes to present it.
bsky.app/profile/alex...
You’re right - we’re at a junction about how politicians present international politics to voters.
Option 1 is distrust. Option 2 is what conventional politicians have tried to the last decade. Option 3 is promote the benefits of long lasting partnerships with countries with shared values.
Are DBS checks in place?
Or do these self appointed ‘protectors’ rely on the word of one another?
Growing up in Birmingham in the 1980s I never thought I’d become nostalgic about the brutalist buildings and art. Then a couple of years ago, I saw this bull again…
Listing creating an aura amongst your main achievements rarely ends well…
Not just fatigued and forgetful, increasingly cantankerous and unable to edit out his most extreme thoughts.
The permanently outraged minority will say it is a conspiracy.
That’s why experienced politicians are lining up behind him.
“A legacy of excellence”
No, but politics is ultimately about winning over new voters whilst keeping your existing ones.
This story (& his outbursts since the story broke) might stop people who were on the fence from moving over.
Do you think Nigel will ever disagree with them?
If not, who is in charge?
Extraordinarily aggressive.
His argument is abhorrent but also illustrative.
Thatcher was hated for pushing a very strong version of meritocracy.
Populism doesn’t because many of its supporters aren’t successful, so heritage is used to feel superior to others…
What constitutes native British ancestry?
Some of my ancestors came over on boats & then fought the native British at Hastings. Am I going to banned?
Sad news that Sir Alec Reed has died.
He genuinely did help revolutionise charitable giving.
He died on #GivingTuesday when the charity he founded (the Big Give) runs a Christmas Challenge event - last year it raised £44.7m benefiting 1,267 charities.
fundraising.co.uk/2025/12/03/b... #News
Farage in 2019: I won’t do a deal with the Tories.
Also Farage in 2019: I’ve done a deal with the Tories.
Who remembers 6 years ago?
If you do, you’ll recall Nigel Farage’s denial of a pact followed by a pact.
Out of 10, how much faith do you have in this most recent denial and why?
It would be embarrassing if anyone who saw Nigel Farage’s denial of a pact with the Conservatives was able to remember 6 years ago, when a denial of a pact was swiftly followed by a pact.
“As they are”
Means the door is open.
Grimes doesn’t understand public funding.
If he did, he would know that v few grants are given with clauses which allow the state to suddenly withdraw all the money. So his idea of quick savings doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
Then we come onto the cost of his plans to the future of the region…