No matter how much I read, I just cannot fathom the idea that civil servants should *not* tell ministers that their choice to be US Ambassador has red flags from Security Vetting.
That's *not* a defence of Starmer - and Robbins may have been applying the rules correctly. But the rule seems insane.
A good first step.
The point of the university as a concept is that it's been here for a thousand years and meant to be here another thousand. Turning education over to producing what the market needed five years ago is never going to work well.
The late Tony Benn set out five questions about power. In his final speech to the House of Commons he said that on meeting any powerful person, one should always ask: What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you exercise it? To whom are you accountable? And how can we get rid of you?
"How can we get rid of you?"
The immense significance of the defeat of Orbán's illiberal political machine and methodology
By me at the Empty City substack
emptycity.substack.com/p/how-can-we...
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Orban concedes defeat. The support of Trump, Vance, Putin, Lavrov, Weidel, Milei, Le Pen, Fico, Babis and many others could not overcome Hungarian anger at a stagnant, corrupt regime
www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...
Even at its worst, Hungary has a former Orban supporter against corruption winning, in the face of Trump and others.
Magyar may not be any liberal ideal, but breaking Orban’s illiberal machine and methodology is a welcome break.
And the international significance of Orban losing is immeasurable.
Hungary has voted for Remain.
Britain next, please.
#DNA #Books
“The Double Helix reinvented the scientific memoir. Watson rendered science not as a bloodless march from Fact to Fact, but as a passionate adventure whose direction depends on the individual personalities of scientists,” says @nccomfort.bsky.social, who is writing a biography of Watson
Volodymyr Zelenskyy calls on UK to rejoin the EU for sake of European security www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/volodym...
Can’t help but think it’s deemed a marathon because the US expected the other side to immediately roll over and agree. Their arrogance and dismissive attitude towards others knows no bounds. And they are the opposite of Worldly wise.
Anyone who describes a mere twenty-hour period as a marathon in any negotiation where there are fundamental disagreements, including peace talks, shows they do not understand negotiations.
Of course, the opposite also true: the USA chose not to accept Iran’s terms.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...
Trump's team going full David Davis. Piling in to a negotiation with nothing but bravado and an attitude. 🤔 #NeverGoFullDavidDavis
The most powerful man in the world doesn’t have the mental capacity to do the job. Or to put it another way, he’s nuts. It’s time we all recognised that app.prospectmagazine.co.uk/story/72990/...
Absolutely remarkable statement from Pope Leo today.
One for the history books
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...
This is brilliant and spot-on.
Just as there were people who resisted the introduction of inside toilets, seatbelts, women’s votes, lead free toys etc Tice & his party are similarly reluctant to embrace what most people can clearly see is needed. Unimaginative, regressive, fact averse idiots.
Let’s never let them run our country.
What is not being done is any recourse to the one document that provides for situations where a president needs prompt removal from office: the constitution of the United States. The checks and balances are already there, ready to be used. But they are ignored, as if these provisions did not exist. The United States may as well not have a written constitution. For what is now happening is not because of any inherent strength of the presidency in the United States political system. It is happening because the legislative and judicial branches are letting it happen. The constitutional tools are there to fix this, but those who can use these tools are refusing to use them. And the international legal order offers no constraint. Although it is important in principle to recognise that what Trump is threatening is in breach of international laws, nobody expects these laws to make any practical difference. There will be no sanctions on Trump or the United States for the threat to destroy an entire civilisation. Many world leaders also are just waiting for the problem to somehow go away.
Why President Trump’s threat of genocide matters
He may avoid immediate constitutional and legal sanctions, but this threat should not be forgotten
New by me, at @prospectmagazine.co.uk
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...
Putin’s ongoing plan to undermine the EU (which started with detaching the U.K. via pushing Brexit) isn’t quite going to plan. He may lose Orban, his EU disruptor, and his NATO disruptor, Trump, is proving to be a bit of a liability.
I used to use Skype Out for making occasional calls to international landlines to avoid paying extortionate sums to my mobile provider – has anyone found a decent alternative since Skype shut? (I've obviously Googled this; just seeking an actual recommendation from someone who's used an alternative)
I wanna point out something serious. The admin has been complaining about Iran winning the information war.
This same administration shut down Voice of America, and other information operations the US govt does.
It’s a self goal. Actions have consequences
This is so well done. 👌
Bravo @theguardian.com! This is a banger of a headline:
JD Vance accuses EU of ‘interference’ as he visits Hungary to help Orbán win election
A "cabinet of experts", drawn from outside Parliament, sounds a lovely idea (though experience suggests that's not what we'd get).
But the Cabinet should be a check on prime ministerial power, not just an instrument of it.
That won't happen if it becomes a creature of prime ministerial patronage.
To add: Johnson & Truss were ousted by the cabinet.
It matters, constitutionally, that ministers are mostly MPs with seats to defend, whose careers can continue after a PM goes.
The Farage plan - to appoint a presidential cabinet from outside Parlt, dependent only on him - would weaken that check.
Donald Trump is completely unhinged. His statement threatening to eradicate an entire civilization shocks the conscience and requires a decisive congressional response. The House must come back into session immediately and vote to end this reckless war of choice in the Middle East before Donald Trump plunges our country into World War III. For years, Republicans have enabled and excused Donald Trump’s deeply dangerous and extreme behavior. Enough is enough. Our brave men and women in uniform have been put into harm’s way in the Middle East. Over a dozen have already been killed and hundreds injured. Gas prices are skyrocketing, the cost of living in America is out of control and billions of taxpayer dollars are being wasted on a reckless war of choice. It’s time for House Republicans to put patriotic duty over party loyalty and join Democrats in stopping this madness.
After Trump wrote, in reference to Iran, “A whole civilization will die tonight,” the entirety of the House Democratic leadership issued this joint statement:
Starmer should immediately & unequivocally ban access to British airspace to US warplanes. The UK should not be accomplice to a US President who is threatening more war crimes. Period.
‘Government needs to recognise failure of water privatisation’ – Feargal Sharkey
www.channel4.com/news/governm...
