This is officially one of the strangest pictures in American history, and I do not doubt that it will be considered iconic a hundred years from now.

100% serious here.

He’s so weird

The sheer greasy desperation from these bastards that any violent crime is committed by an immigrant so they can continue their grift. Even when they know it isn't true. Foul.

Prince Andrew gives up royal titles including Duke of York after ‘discussion with king’ In statement released by Buckingham Palace, Andrew says he will give up titles and honours including the Duke of York

Prince Andrew can no longer be Duke of York (a ceremonial title) because of Epstein, but Donald Trump can still be President of the United States (a position of staggering real-world authority) *despite* Epstein.

Quite a stark contrast we are being offered here.

Jane Goodall with monarch butterfly scarf

“It actually doesn’t take much to be considered a difficult woman. That’s why there are so many of us.”
― Jane Goodall

💙 RIP to a real one. My childhood hero

More questions about the integrity of articles about private school fees in the @telegraphnews.bsky.social raised by @privateeyenews.bsky.social

Are some parts of the press making sensible discussion of the issue impossible?

Damn right!!!

Private pupils charged more than state schools to see Shakespeare Groups of state schoolchildren watching performances by the globally famous company are charged £10 a head, while their private school counterparts are charged a staggering £16.50.

The @dailymail.co.uk claim that private school pupils being charged a ‘staggering’ £16.50 for tickets to the theatre is ‘feeding into a national class war.’

Is this valid, or just a mean-spirited take on broadening access for state school pupils?

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

Today marks nine years since Jo Cox was assassinated by a far-right extremist, a terrible loss to those who knew and loved her and to politics. Zero lessons were learned though and the far-right continues to be pandered to. With more political assassinations in the US it all feels too familiar.

💰 Our new research, covered by @theipaper.com, looks at the private schools making millions in tax-free profits from overseas campuses 🌎

Are these schools' charitable statuses justified?

Check it out 👉 pepf.co.uk/publications...

This article in @privateeyenews.bsky.social points to issues for choir schools and cathedrals related to VAT on fees.

Is this an example of where exceptions could be made?

Private school exodus of 13,000 dwarfs ministers’ predictions The drop in pupil numbers, being blamed on VAT being added to fees, is the biggest since the Independent Schools Council began tracking the figures in 2012

A @thetimes.com article links an ‘exodus’ from private schools to VAT. @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social accused them of crying wolf - ‘They have whacked up their fees, year on year, and priced themselves out of the reach even of many middle-class families’.

Is she right?

www.thetimes.com/uk/education...

Why two top Welsh private school plan to close after decades Oakleigh House has educated children for more than a century and St Clare's for more than 85 years, now both schools propose to shut in the face of uncertain economic times and falling birth rate...

‘The blanket application of VAT fails to consider the unique role of small independent schools in Wales’

Fair point, or signs of special pleading or a flawed business model?

@walesonline.bsky.social

www.walesonline.co.uk/news/educati...

The president of Argentina looks like a Norfolk farmer making a court appearance for hosting dog fights in his disused barn.

Milei looks like a 70’s Welshman who passed out drunk on his nephew’s stag do in Brynamman RFC & mysteriously woke up in the Vatican

RIP

I wonder how much time Andrew will spend reflecting about this poor, traumatised person who he claimed never to have met, other than in photos.

Mahler 3

BORIS JOHNSON: Why Adolescence is tosh It is not often that Starmer comes up with something so crass that I push aside the breakfast table, hurl the paper at the far wall and run around the room pant-hooting with incontinent rage.

In an article for @dailymail.co.uk @borisjohnsonreal.bsky.social appears to claim that VAT on school fees is a bigger problem for teenagers than social media influencers [paywall]

Does any part of this argument hold up?

www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/artic...

‘Discriminatory’ VAT on school fees ‘breaches ECHR’ High Court challenge by private school pupils claims Labour's plan breaches European convention right to education.

The Law Society Gazette outlines the arguments made on both sides as VAT is challenged in the High Court.

Are arguments about human rights in relation to this matter fair or reasonable?

www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/discrim...

Let’s be clear. He sold $2.4 billion of his stock the day before he announced tariffs. He’s now crashing the stock market deliberately. He will then buy stock when it’s fallen through the floor. All this is is him stiffing everyone to get richer. That’s it.

Do the Right Thing is wonderful

Boris Johnson has used his Daily Mail platform to slag off “Adolescence” and compare Starmer to Pol Pot.
This is a politician, a paper and a headline that sum up the debasement of our politics and the toxic level of ‘debate’ it encourages. Grotesque that he gets airtime to insult us all like this.

Britain's wrongest man rides again.

Two very different perspectives on the story of the closure of a school in Clitheroe from @dailymail.co.uk and BBC News.

VAT, falling pupil numbers and rising costs are all cited, but are the head’s travels to Dubai relevant?

Some perspective on Alexander Armstrong’s claims of poverty from @privateeyenews.bsky.social with numbers from @telegraphnews.bsky.social suggesting that ‘extremely poor’ may be overstating the case.

Are such interventions helpful to the debate on this issue?

Xavier transitioned and became Vivian Jenna Wilson. She is alive and well and lives in Japan.

No loving parent would ever write such a disgusting thing as this, and it speaks volumes.

Something amazing happened to me yesterday. I went to a free concert at a local church - The Gustav Holst Ensemble - & half way through the second piece - Brahms Piano Quartet no. 3 - I noticed that tears were streaming down my face. A moment of absolute beauty. Never known anything like it.

Knighthood for #StephenGraham
#Adolescence is virtuosic

‘Students in the state system miss out on extra time for important exams’

In a new article for PEPF Sam Hudson looks at the disparity in numbers of pupils claiming extra exam time between state and private sectors.

www.pepf.co.uk/opinion/gove...

Not even bothering to avoid the puddle is a lovely touch.