Now that is true

Fair point about media reform. It’s long overdue and as they won’t support him whatever he does he might as well get on with it. I also agree it’s his job to tell the story, but using what? Social media is now such a toxic hydra. How would you circumvent it? Genuinely interested cos it’s beyond me

So how would you suggest Starmer disarms or circumvents them?

Not sure there’s a lot he can do. Media owners have no interest in or incentive to change tack, in fact it’s in their interests to double down. Trump style politics gets clicks, sells copy and leaves big business alone. What tax exile billionaire is going to start being positive about Labour?

Sadly I think you’re right. Terrified of bringing bad news so say nothing and catch all the flack in the end anyway.
Wonder to what extent that’s been the case since 1997 and therefore ingrained throughout the CS. Must be a pretty thankless place to work at times

I bet he won't sound convincingly angry because he's probably not, he's probably wearily exasperated at the way "the systems" work. I'm purely hypothesising here but the civil service doesn't change when the government does. 14 years of being scared to deliver bad news has to effect an organisation.

What should have happened: the REIT paid no tax but the Tice companies holding shares in the REIT paid £98k tax on the dividends they received. What actually happened: none of the companies paid any tax.

Our new report: Richard Tice signed accounts wrongly claiming £98,000 of tax exemptions

A 🧵 with the evidence:

Brilliant orange cats are brilliant

Basic competence does seem to be his problem.

The letter but not the spirit

How will attitudes change if students like me aren’t taught the truth about British colonial history? | Astrid Barltrop The skewed perspectives in my A-level curriculum are staggering. Until that changes, harmful ideas about race and migration will live on, says Emerging Voices winner Astrid Barltrop

Excellent piece. Wish i could have communicated so thoughtfully at age 18
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Buried 30 paragraphs into this abysmal BBC piece blaming renewables for the high cost of UK electricity is the actual reason it's so expensive, which is fossil gas. But Justin Rowlatt seems uninterested in this detail.

Why cheap power could matter more than clean power in the push for net zero The question of how important making our electricity clean is to going green is coming under increasing scrutiny

UK folks what is going on with all this? The whole spectacle of blaming renewables for the crippling impacts of fossil gas is.......some pretty stunningly wild gymnastics.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Just read it. Chapeau ❤️

The United States is destroying itself | Rebecca Solnit The daily news can’t adequately convey the administration’s sabotaging of our government, economy, alliances and environment

And yeah, it's this piece, out this morning. "The federal government that serves us is being starved while the federal government that serves the Trump agenda and the oligarchy is glutting itself on taxpayer money...."

Plus Marc Almond doing Hellraiser. Brilliant night

The Telegraph just gave a convicted criminal a two-page spread to explain why he's pumping £4 million into Reform UK. They tucked his criminal record away in the small print. So as a former financial crime specialist I’ll do their job for them👇

That’s the point. DJT is Putin’s poodle

Think 1997 was a great escape from relegation for the Irons. Fingers crossed this is a good omen COYI

That won’t rebuild the bridges he’s burned outside the US, the economies he’s trashed, the agreements he’s destroyed, the tyrants he’s enabled. I suggest you leave everything he built in place to remind Americans not to take their democracy, and hence everyone else’s for granted

Pete Hegseth’s holy war: the militant Christian theology animating the US attack on Iran The Bible-thumping US defense secretary is overseeing another strategic disaster in the Middle East. Is this a war or a crusade?

I’m guessing Mr H is not acquainted with James Hogg’s novel www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

Plus he’s an example of a loathsome tendency for crypto bro criminals to claim their egregious behaviour and dubious political leanings are a result of their “autism”. Like that excuses being convicted of law-breaking

FACTCHECK UPDATE: No, the UK can't "be more like Norway" in the North Sea

🇬🇧 extracted most of its oil & gas after privatisation
🇳🇴 has much more left due to state stewardship
🤔Lawson spent UK windfall on tax cuts; Norway got a sovereign wealth fund

www.carbonbrief.org/...

And Lawson the climate change denier

Fair point. Caligula and the Roman army gathering up shells makes more sense re “conquer the sea”. My example doesn’t hold since Canute was probably being ironical, but I couldn’t resist .

Are you saying the President is a Canute?

* late, obvs.

No sh*t Sherlock! Talk about Kate to the discussion.
And don’t think that talking in the manner of a nanny admonishing a child will make the orange man listen to you because it won’t.

Just in time for the Second Coming, chapter 31 of AVĒ IMPERĀTOR is live!! In which the chickens come home to roost. archiveofourown.org/works/530617...

You know the artist, you love the artist: @angellilou.bsky.social