Very economical, efficient!

this is so wonderfully weird, give her all the golds 🥇

Statement by President von der Leyen with President Zelenskyy following their meeting Thank you very much, Mr President, dear Volodymr,\nWhat a pleasure to welcome you back to Brussels. I am very pleased to be here with you today for our bilateral meeting that we just had but also the ...

Statement by von der Leyen after meeting Zelenskyy
ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

With the deaths of John Hemingway and John Cruickshank, who else is still with us who is widely known for their service in WWII?

That is known by way of fame, rather than by personal knowledge of friendship and family.

Editorial cartoonist Daniel Boris shows that flattery from a veteran KGB agent — especially if you have an easy narcissistic mark — will get you everything.

John Major: Trump’s US isolationism threatens global democracy Former UK prime minister says US may regret ceding world stage to China and condemns ‘hypocritical’ JD Vance speech

At least there's one British Conservative who still has a spine
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

This is magical.

Every year, LCBO sells nearly $1 billion worth of American wine, beer, spirits and seltzers. Not anymore. Starting Tuesday, we’re removing American products from LCBO shelves. As the only wholesaler of alcohol in the province, LCBO will also remove American products from its catalogue so other Ontario-based restaurants and retailers can’t order or restock U.S. products. There’s never been a better time to choose an amazing Ontario-made or Canadian-made product. As always, please drink responsibly.

BREAKING: Ontario Premier Doug Ford says they are removing ALL American drinks from the market.

The LCBO has a monopoly on drinks distribution in Ontario.

Trump just torched $1 billion of US exports.

Holy shit.

Frighteningly spot-on.

Time to turn off the taps.
Not a single bottle of American wine, beer or bourbon should be sold anywhere in Canada.
From here on in I will only drink "freedom" wines from Canada, France or Spain.
As for the beer? It's shit anyways.
True. North. Strong. Free.
@strongasfuck

Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves claim to be looking everywhere for opportunities for growth but are ignoring the solution right under their noses.

A new UK-EU Customs Union would turbocharge our economy, tearing down the trade barriers holding British businesses back.

This is, by some distance, the most unforgivably stupidest thing the government is doing. An easily sellable proposal, which would actually help Brits, and unlocks meaningful negotiation. Irrational and anti-growth.

Quite. Well said, @annettedittert.bsky.social.

Seeing as everyone is writing Brexit anniversary pieces, I thought I'd give it a go.

Brexit for 🇪🇺 didn't begin in. 2020 or even 2016.

Brexit began during the financial crisis, with UK blackmail.

A 🧵

Constitutions, including written ones, are ultimately only as strong as the institutions responsible for upholding them. If leaders & governments are determined to defy the law & the constitution, who will stop them? The legislature? Not if weak or craven.

I’m happy that we seem to have read / heard different news reports. Fine - let’s see what happens.

Participating in a pan-European model that reduces red tape for supply chains would not (of course) in any way preclude exploring closer cooperation on defence and security.

I have a faint suspicion (which I do hope is misplaced) that the emphasis may again be on British exceptionalism (‘a tailor-made new deal just for us’) to the exclusion of participating in any existing model that the EU operates successfully with other third countries.

I mean: I’d just like to understand why - as with a youth mobility scheme that would benefit young Brits as well as young EU nationals - there seems to be a knee jerk reaction against such ideas when they are gently floated by the EU.

And the good reason for turning this idea down instantly and out of hand is …?

En effet, au Luxembourg le rouge des robes est un peu plus foncé …

May I very gently observe that ‘ever closer union amongst the peoples of Europe’ and judicial oversight by a court composed of a judge from each Member State were both there in the EEC Treaty when the UK joined in 1973?

Non, dans l’escalier, c’est la CJUE.

The common thread? Perhaps a conviction that neither he nor Putin need respect established rules of international law prohibiting the use of force to seize another sovereign state’s territory. Just a thought.

President-elect Trump has conspicuously refrained from condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Yesterday he did not rule out using military force to re-acquire the Panama Canal and to take control of Greenland (under the Danish crown for six centuries).