The man behind Olly Robbins is Dave Penman, General Secretary of the FDA, the trade union representing senior civil servants.

The message here? Join a union and have your union rep with you when you need them!

The key issue is whether Starmer misled Parliament. If he did, he has to go: parliamentary democracy cannot function unless we uphold that norm.

We'd demand it of Johnson & we should demand it of Starmer.

Future PMs (including a possible Prime Minister Farage) must know that this is inviolable. 1/

a phrase that has been coming to mind a lot lately: reality always bats last

This is just possibly one step less pitiful than saying "god sorry I don't know what chat gpt was thinking there"

I think that as economists we should be a lot more concerned that everyone feels like they've got poorer when the data show they haven't. We certainly shouldn't just be assuming that the customers are wrong, rather than that we're no longer measuring things that are most relevant to wellbeing

Government looking at decoupling electricity and gas prices to bring down bills Ed Miliband spoke to Labour MPs about possible action after the chancellor faced questions about how she plans to help households if the war in Iran continues to impact their finances.

I have seen lots of enthusiastic posting about what a great idea this is. And don't get me wrong, I get the frustration with electricity prices spiking so high when gas prices rise. But so far I've seen far too many half baked solutions being thrown around that don't really add up. 🔌💡 (1/12)

Archaeological Dig Uncovers Ancient Race Of Skeleton People

Archaeological Dig Uncovers Ancient Race Of Skeleton People theonion.com/archaeological-dig-uncov...

If fertiliser isn't moving through the Strait of Hormuz in two weeks' time, we won't be debating any more, we'll be sending in aid. If it's not moving in four weeks, we'll be managing instability. It's time to act on the agricultural calendar, not the diplomatic one.

Grim. Every week this goes on is compounding the collective price paid. www.ft.com/content/c139...

I don't understand how you can genuinely believe what they believe and not immediately want to end it all.

Government to go “further and faster” in becoming energy secure The Energy Secretary outlines measures to protect consumers and make Britain energy secure.

Anyway, on a happier note, the actual content of what the government is doing on energy is much better than the rhetoric. The only good thing about Trump's war is that it is at a time when the government can hopefully design a better energy support package than the Truss madness, too:

Just so we're all clear, this is a war crime and would be punishable by life or death under U.S. law.

Related. marketoonist.com/2023/03/ai-w...

Complex thing of indetermine length go on outside, small thing with bounded length go on inside. That grug opinion

Geopolitical projection and psychological projection, all rolled into one. Fascinating

Ideally novel technologies like “books” would make it unnecessary to keep rediscovering the stove is hot every 40-80 years, but since we seem to be struggling with “Nazis are bad” I won’t hold my breath for intergenerational retention of trade policy lessons.

Get ready to be annoyed when petrol prizes go up and a) a bunch of politicos declare the government's poll ratings have gone down because Starmer didn't go in with the US on Iran and b) a bunch of politicos who support the war blame the government for increased energy costs.

Worst Abbey Road recreation I’ve ever fucking seen

Anyone who wants Britain to join the war in Iran needs their head examined They don't know what they want to achieve, why they're doing it or what the consequences might be. They are lost in the void.

Anyone who wants Britain to join the war in Iran needs their head examined open.substack.com/pub/iandunt/...

Those first few responses got a chuckle out of me.

I taught John Prescott how to use a computer after I saw him pointing the mouse at the screen like a remote control

Bigotry erodes the critical faculties because it is a cognitive shortcut, and modern racism in particular essentially forces you to believe in moon man nonsense, but even so. One leaflet round on the Edgware Road is all I am asking!

Sectarian.

The sheer contempt and entitlement in that word.

Thousands of Muslim voters just voted for a white, (I think) working class non-Muslim woman because they feel abandoned by Labour and agree with her views on a huge foreign policy issue and on immigration policy

I don't think there's any learning of any kind going on, this is the sort of thing you could only say if you're so deep into the bunker mindset that reality is a mere oddity to be pondered briefly and then ignored

'Embarrassing', as a word, is insufficiently descriptive.

“I’ve reviewed over 50 sticky toffee puddings” is an incredibly powerful way to begin a video

Maybe they should ask a focus group what it thinks about the government relying entirely on focus groups to plan policy

This is a very good point