It will never stop pissing me off how much trump is going to walk away from this presidency as a “real” billionaire in a way he never was before, and it is going to be solely because of the public office
I'm a broken record on this but the radicalisation and brain rot of Gen X/boomers is a massively under-appreciated problem
this is all the proof we need that downing st did know about the security services concerns sen months ago
This the key point. If FCDO did overturn the vetting without telling anyone it was because it had already been announced. Which was a ridiculous thing to do.
NEW: Olly Robbins has been called to give evidence to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee on Tuesday 👀
The nub of so many of this government’s problems is that there is a Keir Starmer where the prime minister should be.
EXCL: Peter Mandelson failed his security vetting clearance but the decision was overruled by Foreign Office to ensure he could take up his post as ambassador to US - a Guardian investigation by Paul Lewis @direthoughts.com & me
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
My latest piece for the Guardian.
"Reform or Plaid? Whoever is leading the Welsh Gov the country will be utterly transformed"
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Note how he doesn't just define himself against an enemy but personifies the enemy by naming Ken Griffin and how much he paid for his penthouse.
This is how to create definition about what you stand for.
A year ago, I cried when govt agreed to consult on Council Tax debt collection. I’m reposting it today as IT'S DONE. It WILL change the rules
Currently miss a monthly payment & within 3wks, you can be told pay the whole year. From Apr 27, they must wait 63 days plus the max admin cost will be £100
This is a Ukrainian boy, Bohdan. He will forever be eight years old.
Yesterday, a Russian drone killed Bohdan as he was playing on a playground in Cherkasy.
Bohdan sang in the church choir.
Deepest condolences...
Russian terrorism must be stopped.
I think it alters your genes. If I had my full life ahead, that what I’d study
I think a lot about that. It inhabits your bones, gets passed on, down, lives through the ages
I do think Robertson blunted his response with an unnecessary sideswipe as "welfare". Money could come from higher taxes. Or cuts elsewhere. And he did the politician's get out of saying "welfare" and not "pensions".
Turns an intervention from a defence-focused one to Retired Man Has Opinion.
Hungary is partying like it’s 2026
The man dancing is Zsolt Hegedus, slated to become Hungary’s health minister.
He is dancing to a club remix of the resistance song “The Hanging Tree” from The Hunger Games: The Mocking Jay.”
How fitting!
A tiny Spring corner of the orchard in Oystermouth Castle Woods, Wales this weekend. Fritillary? And a wild tulip?
Zelensky happy
Trump sad
Putin sad
I’m just so glad about how happy he’ll be and how sad they’ll be tonight.
The hill I will die on: Yes, money can buy you happiness – if you spend it right | Eleanor Margolis www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... this is a brilliant little piece of writing
Leaflet of three candidates, white blokes with limited hair, all in glasses. --- **GATESHEAD IS BROKEN. VOTE REFORM UK TO FIX IT** Introducing your Reform UK candidates for Low Fell leaflet text: **ATKINSON, John** Reform UK John has lived in Low Fell for 30+ years. His background is in civil engineering, policing, teaching and transport. He wants to bring back a sense of community, listen to residents' concerns and focus on local issues such as crime, roads and streets, and better services. --- **HENDERSON, Iain** Reform UK Iain has lived and worked in Gateshead all his life. Now retired, he wants to give something back to the borough. With a positive outlook, Iain is looking forward to making a real difference to the lives of the residents of Low Fell and to working closely with them. --- **MURRAY, Arthur** Reform UK Arthur has owned several businesses for many years. He has lived locally for 50 years and employs local staff, servicing the northeast and Scotland. His priorities are to see the ward and area prospering once again, caring for the old and infirm and maintaining our parks and open spaces. ---
This Reform leaflet from three Gateshead candidates looks like a timelapse of the same person
Just wrote up my interview with Trần Nam who was 6 years old in 1968 and saw his entire family killed at My Lai. Only those who were 10 or older at the time of the massacre are formally considered as survivors, since younger children are not presumed to remember much. But he remembers everything.
Sound advice
But we also replaced one Khamenei with another; empowered the IRGC; did nothing for the protesters, killed over a thousand civilians, including hundreds of children and lost at least 13 US service members, alongside over 500 wounded); left Iran with enough highly enriched uranium to make 10-12 nuclear weapons; gave it greater incentive to try to build them; irreparably tarnished America's reputation; did lasting damage to the US and world economies; depleted our arsenal of scarce missile-defence interceptors; diverted valuable military assets from other regions; empowered Russia with an oil price windfall; triggered further conflict in Lebanon; further eroded domestic and international law; and may have left Iran in control of the most valuable waterway in the world, in a position to earn tens of billions of dollars in revenue per year through tolls, while holding the world economy hostage.
So @jderbyshire.ft.com asked @philgordondc.bsky.social if the Iran war is the US’s Suez moment. He said no, but then pithily and pitilessly sums up how it has been a comprehensive strategic failure. Oof!
www.ft.com/content/0cbc...
This should always have been the end of it.
"From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, 'Look at that, you son of a bitch.'"
― Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 astronaut.
It’s that time of year - folks asking us about #bumblebees - WHY THEY’RE SEEING THEM ON THE GROUND - so here’s a thread to explain.
Please #repost!
Every queen that survives means a new colony that gets to exist and produce new queen #bees for next year!
So important to #share!
1/9
#nature #caring
Also, just a massive shoutout to @twelves.bsky.social for the magnificent work he’s been doing to dismantle Goodwin’s utter nonsense.
A big damned hat tip to you, Sir.
If you’re not following him yet, absolutely well worth it.
This is incredibly cool.
