Keith Burnett

There are TWO hyphens in Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, actually.

Bloomin' Eck! You've only just got used to the shock of discovering that one of the Velvet Underground is still alive, and then he's wanging-on about kicking the bucket. The violin licks are reminiscent of a certain opiate ditty, too. Absolutely terrifying.

Similar false arguments were made by the tobacco industry's spokesdroids, claiming that smoke free workplaces would put newsagents out of business. As if gambling firms care about coastal communities...

Ridiculous as this is, it's hard to escape the suspicion that it's just cover for what they really want; capital punishment. How is it that some commentators still struggle to identify the Bad Guys in the narrative?

Isn't that one of the Aphex Twin's alter egos?

Is anyone surprised?

😎😎😎😎 GOOD THINGS CAN STILL HAPPEN 😎😎😎😎

Kemi Badenoch has six months to save the Tories – and her leadership, MPs warn There is consternation among MPs that support for the Conservative Party has dropped seven points in the year since she became leader, with no signs of recovery

Incorrect. In its current form this party is unsalvageable, whether they stick with Badenough or flip to the similarly inept Jenrick. Replacement of the whole front bench, and total policy reorientation, will be required before recovery is feasible. Impossible within 6 months. Unlikely before GE.

Do populists always crash the economy? Argentina is counting the cost of its turn to Javier Milei. Politicians from Donald Trump to Giorgia Meloni and Nigel Farage will be closely watching what happens next

Yes. But it bears repetition...

www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

The first thing any professional law enforcement officer learns is to reduce the risk of head injuries. These paramilitaries appear to be actively inflicting them.

16.6% is a really shocking turn-out. What is the point of paying membership fees if one cares so little?

How should we extrapolate from a chance regional assembly vote to infer lessons for a future national parliamentary general election? Caerphilly - very.

Modelling behaviour? 'Sounds helpful. There are lots of review points within the doctoral journey where this can happen.

Racists & knuckleheads will never opt for a limp imitation of fascism when they can get the real thing. The Cabinet needs to have the courage of its convictions. Tax wealth. Repossess water. Build homes. Rearm. Disown Brexit. Show some backbone. Give a reason for hope.

Performance conversations are tricky in most industries, to be fair. Suspension of ego isn't easy in practice. Helping people get used to two-way candour early in career sounds worthwhile - but is sharing information enough to achieve that?

Depends what you call 'best'. My fumbling, ingenue MA thesis got quoted a bit, which was nice. A cod Wordsworth/Larkin mash-up made a few people smile. Some Govt publications I wrote anonymously still helped to change laws & save lives. 'Just lucky to write for any audience, quoth the dyslexic...

It would be a simple choice for a competent politician. An even half-way adequate party leader would simply dismiss such errant nonsense and those proposing it, immediately. Lam is a fool, clearly - but Badenoch is destroying her own credibility by endorsing the folly.

So the solution to nationalism is, err, more nationalism?

I once saw him, clad in a blazer like a stripy deckchair, leading a conga of goths around a Swedish garlic restaurant. 'Surreal' didn't quite cut it.

In defence of the rules-based order The last time I saw my cousin, the former Tory MP Danny Kruger, I found myself trying to ginger him up a bit. I said, which I thought then and thought now – and which I can’t think it is betraying a c...

This one? www.spectator.co.uk/article/in-d... Yes, it's a refreshingly sane summary.

At no point since the 24th of June 2016 could Brexit have got through a referendum. It has been unpopular/unworkable since Day One - and always will be. Politicians who nevertheless claim this as their greatest success are, ultimately, doomed to fail.

All too true. We're much better at the whole integration-but-also-variety thing than she gives us credit for.

Well obviously they're not. But race certainly was what that failed politician was referring to.

There's a special place in Hell for hypocrites who wang on about the evils of Nazism then start karaoking the greatest hits of Ribbentrop and Goebbels.

As most Hebrideans are white, sure you'll do just fine. Let's not over-complicate this; it's just racism.

Rising star? In whose dodgy horoscope? 'Looks more like another sinking nonentity, desperately tootling the dog whistle. You cannot be Sirius!

He hasn't even met the criteria for a Blue Peter badge.

Well done, America. This is more like it.

In an earlier age, he'd have been packed off to a monastery by now.

The video for the Orbital contribution is laugh-your-head-off funny.