Streeting and Mandelson

I suspect this photo is going to be one of the most shared over the next few years if Labour is stupid enough to select Streeting to replace Starmer.

Looks like Orbàn is out!
Maybe we should thank Vance, whose appearance in Hungary to support Orbàn may have had the opposite effect.

Hungary’s Viktor Orbán Concedes Defeat in Election The result is a stunning turn for a politician who has ruled as prime minister for 16 years and been an ally of President Trump.

the JD Vance effect: "Prime Minister Viktor Orbán conceded that he had lost Hungary’s election on Sunday, as early results showed a stunning defeat for the politician who has ruled the country for 16 years and been an ally of President Trump."

Looks like Orbàn is out!
Maybe we should thank Vance, whose appearance in Hungary to support Orbàn may have had the opposite effect.

Walkabout in Wels - I explore Austria's historic small city! YouTube video by Deanna Allison (DeannaInAustria)

I've completed a film about the city of #Wels in #Austria.
I learned a lot while making Wels Walkabout. Ovilava, as the Romans called it, goes back a long way!
Duration: 33 minutes.
#UpperAustria #Osterreich #Oberösterreich #Thalheim #Traun #Alps #Ovilava #history #Geschichte
youtu.be/Ngkba3JZ4_0

Green party wins Gorton and Denton byelection, pushing Labour to third place Hannah Spencer elected as party’s first MP in northern England as vote share for Keir Starmer’s party plummets

"I don’t think it’s extreme or radical to think that working hard should get you a nice life."

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I þink þat if "þ" replaced "th" in modern #English, þat'd be better... þen again, þere are þose for whom þis would less þan optimal. In þat case, I'd suggest that þose people þink about using "θ" instead. θat might work. What do you θink... is θat a θoughtful & practical suggestion θat might appeal?

Fabulous!

Good questions, but what worries me is that people consuming right-wing media will never think about that; they will be fed a diet of lies by GB News and the Daily Mail (etc.) instead. How do we get the message out beyond our own progressive bubble? I don't have an answer. I'm hoping somebody does.

I think I have a solution that is fair to all. We simply rename dairy milk as "animal-based cereal juice extract substitute", then everyone's happy.

‘I saw the writing on the wall’: Austria offers safe haven for US academics as Trump wages war on universities — The Guardian Other countries benefit from the Trump brain drain as administration wages war on academia and research

Academics flee the US to Austria to escape fascism.
Austria is offering safe haven for US researchers as Trump wages war on universities.

#POTUS #Trump #fascism #fascist #academics #universities #research #Austria

Report in the #Guardian
apple.news/AHJ2KVYqKQV6...

One of my favourite sayings with respect to time is:
"Time flies like an arrow, but fruit flies like a banana."
This is clearly nonsense, because bananas are much more aerodynamic than, for example, raspberries.

#TimeFlies #Linguistics #Antanaclasis #Pun #DoubleEntendre

In your face: Close-up Photographer of the Year Awards 2026 – in pictures Animals, insects, flora and fauna – the world photographed in close-up in the annual competition dedicated to micro and macro photography. Cupoty 7 was won by underwater photographer Ross Gudgeon, tri...

Love these close-ups in The #Guardian.
#Macro #Photography #PhotographerOfTheYear

www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

I loved that show!

QT was really the Nigel Farage Show. He was on #bbcqt so often that he might as well have been presenting the programme. There are many reasons that I lost faith in the BBC, and this is one of them.

Mandelson scandal shortens odds on Starmer following him out the door Appointment of the ex-ambassador despite tarnished past raises potentially fatal doubts about judgment of PM and his team

Lovely turn of phrase in the #Guardian today:
#Mandelson "would possibly need to be buried at a crossroads with a stake through his heart before you could completely rule out another comeback."
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

If the Greens keep climbing we're gonna see tactical switches away from Labour to keep Reform out.

I wish Starmer would grow a spine.

‘Nostalgia is not a strategy’: Mark Carney is emerging as the unflinching realist ready to tackle Trump In a speech at Davos, written by Carney himself, the Canadian prime minister laid out his doctrine for a world of fractured international norms

Distressing that Canada, which has the most to lose from this change, is ready to face reality, whilst Starmer bets on Churchillian nostalgia for the 'special relationship' and actively rejects meaningfully closer economic engagement with the EU, which must be where our future lies.

This, at last, looks promising!

Timezones are so weird. Australia is in 2026, Canada is in 2025, and the United States is in 1939.

I have to say that @deadder.bsky.social is one of my favorite political cartoonists. ❤️

What a lovely message. Happy Christmas to you Jolyon and to your family and best wishes and greetings from Austria.

Hallo from a Brit in Austria!

Love the Klatch! I‘m a UK citizen resident in Austria. Q.: Trump seems to be treating the EU as an enemy. But can the Dems do anything about it? Is this even an issue for Democrats in the US given all the other issues in domestic politics? Will the mid-terms change anything? Best wishes from Deanna.

Good luck.

That's a very good article by Jess O'Thompson.

The UK's first barrister-astronaut! 👍😃

Tasty. I reckon those would also have been my choices!