Do you think there is also "satire as showbiz"? Where the edge is dulled and cosiness and familiarity replace real challenge?

No subs in Prospect? Surprising.

Trump still cannot agree the conditions of this unconditional surrender.

Starmer is cross that no one told him of Mandelson's Epstein links. Sometime the focus will change to the misconduct in public office. Once sub judice is out of the way, there'll be a lot more things that Starmer never know about his colleague. That high-energy indignation won't easily brush away.

That's an interesting idea. I have no notion of the forces working at that level of politics. But if the option does remain, and is taken, it could be a very interesting and different couple of years. Assuming he survives this.

He was under the control of the shysters by the time he fought the election. If he hadn't been, he wouldn't have been leader. As leader, he is their creation.

This morning I’ve seen Olly Robbins’s appearance before the select committee described as ‘box office’, while a commentator flagged up another key political moment with the words ‘bring the popcorn’.

That’s one of our main problems right there.

I thought Robbins came out well. Levi says he could hardly have refused DV, for an appointment already, which would presumably have led to "departure of Mandelson, plus a massive scandal potentially defenestrating the PM"

Seems to me refusing & informing PM are the same thing. Impossible for him.

If you want a thoughtful and informed explanation, here's a long thread that's rather good.

bsky.app/profile/andr...

Some people seem to think that those associations, and his ability to navigate worlds that were closed to others, were the very reason he was appointed. You don't think there's any mileage in that at all?

Is this a private joke? If so, sorry for butting in. But I don't think you're correct.

English speakers have no trouble understanding firing line as in the line of fire. As is well attested in dictionaries.

The ‘Money Launderers Dream’: Who Is Really Bankrolling Nigel Farage? Why are crypto billionaires, tax-avoiding media organisations and the employees of foreign oligarchs really putting their money into Reform UK?

Among Reform UK’s biggest donors is the Crypto billionaire Ben Delo, who was handed a fawning spread in the Telegraph this week to explain why he is giving £4m to the party.

What is buried in the piece that Delo is a convicted criminal who pled guilty to violating money laundering law in the US

Very good. Where is this? Like, where's the painting now and where did you source the image?

There's a closer close reading by Bill Kristol and others for anyone interested. Pays attention to personal pronouns.

www.thebulwark.com/p/melania-th...

Excellent piece.

There's a glitch in the copy around Scruton's cafes—"a chain of more than half a cafes in Hungary"

I hope the missing word is dozen, not million.

Fascinating, important and, in a properly run world, shocking. Excellent reporting.

What happens to Britain's radical right if Orbán loses? Inside the money, power and patronage connecting Hungary and the British right

From Roger Scruton cafes to paying Matt Goodwin $10k a month, Viktor Orban has built a network of populist right think tanks, journalists and activists

Today Democracy for Sale delves into Orban’s allies on the British right

Well worth a read
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/orbans-brits

Makes sense, but only if you understand trousers as a metonym, not for bravado, but for power and authority. Which is worrying in a different way.

got my @ucu.org.uk fighting fund payment this morning so thank you to all colleagues who pay into that, it does make a difference! Solidarity!

Well said.

Yes, and I suspect part of this is to stop people like us looking at whats being blown up.

Are you sure that's the point?

I'd thought the point was to make shed loads more money for people who already had enough by ripping off the hard work and creativity of others.

I thought prayer was a fundamental human right.

Not sure what citizenship has to do with it.

Post it again. I liked that.

Last year the TLS (is that comparable, owned by News International?) apparently paid £110 for a review. Marked as way below acceptable by the excellent NUJ London Freelance fees guide.

www.londonfreelance.org/rates/index....

Editorial budgets must have been enormous. Feels stupid trying to explain it to anyone now.

Yesterday I found some Guardian payment slips from the early 1990s. Amusing to think I would have printed the pieces, put them in an envelope with a stamp and posted them.

Also struck me that the payments (c £125) were probably not far from what a freelance today might think is the going rate.

Take Big Money Out of Our Politics British politics is awash with money from super rich donors. In 2023, two-thirds of all private donations came from just 19 people. These so-called ‘mega donors’ enjoy privileged access to political p...

Oh wow our campaign to Take Big Money Out of British Politics with @38degrees.bsky.social now has more than 100,000 signatures!

Can we make it even more to show government this needs to happen?

Do sign and share the petition if you haven't already! thanks 😊 you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/ta...

Maybe the mainstream right had been hiding its true agenda. Maybe there never was much difference. Maybe it's more honest to have things out in the open.

So perhaps less fear, because people can see better now.

UK economy failed to grow in January ahead of Iran war Analysts had been expecting 0.2% growth for the UK economy at the beginning of the year.

UK economy failed to grow in January ahead of Iran war.

Neoliberalism has failed.

Need new economic strategy. Redistribute income/wealth. Too many struggling.

Profiteering pushing people into poverty. Nationalise essentials.

Govt to invest directly in infrastructure, new industries.