Harry Samuels

Also: the Lib Dems are closer to Labour than Labour are to Reform. And I think I saw yesterday that they are the biggest repository of former Labour voters at the moment too.

Seems to be flying under the radar that the Lib Dems are running 4% ahead of where they were at the last GE (i.e. an extra third on top of their GE24 share), and it's not even in an election period where higher numbers are normally because of increased media exposure.

I love playing Bananagrams with @williamten.ch

Not to be horribly earnest on Bluesky, but it really is divine music in its true sense. It swells the spirit. In a hall with thousands of others, and a giant choir singing from on high, it’s an absolutely incomparable feeling.

Just been to Mahler 2 at the Proms courtesy of @williamten.ch and it was absolutely sublime. Just a sensational piece of music. Full chills when the choir stood and joined in the last movement, and at the bells and organ. Mahler’s genius is unfathomable.

I have just been reading articles about the reform package to try to get a "fair" view of what the government is trying to do and it's just completely opaque. You get the real sense that even they have absolutely no idea what each tweak is actually meant to accomplish.

This welfare reform stuff is so, so silly. How on earth are Starmer and Reeves this bad at politics? Who, other than political obsessives, actually understands what on earth they are trying to do? Which actually existing voters voted Labour to perform this exercise in beancounting?

I remember pre-2015 there was more of a genuine media effort to understand the competing ideologies within the Lib Dems, or what made Lib Dem voters tick and what political priorities were pushing them to the party. Obviously, that was during the Coalition, but surely that is still interesting now?

The classic answer I get to this is "well, the Lib Dems should be more interesting!". But isn't it the role of the media to report, rather than to insist on a particular style? And isn't the Lib Dem political threat to both Con and Lab of interest regardless of policy?

Yet another Ed Davey media interview where the interviewer asks "why are you so invisible!" despite the media itself giving almost no attention to the party. Perhaps I was naive, but I really did think that winning the largest number of Liberal seats in a century would have changed that.

From time to time I remember that Michael Howard was once Leader of the Conservative Party.

Sure

And those monsters should have smaller-scale ambitions too. Not every alien race needs to want to destroy time itself — you also want monsters who (e.g.) feed off the excess carbon in the atmosphere, or who notice that humans have an exploitable ability to [X].

I... did not like that at all #DoctorWho

I see we're still doing "get everyone together in a room and then explain everything through exposition" #DoctorWho

Draper absolutely dismantling Fonseca. I really think he is a Slam contender.

This might be an unpopular opinion but I do think it is time for Ed Davey to draw a line under the stunts. They worked for getting him attention during the general election, but my (admittedly anecdotal) view is that they have started to crowd out the other things he does and talks about.

This is hardly a searing insight but with the way the Tories are going I am feeling increasingly certain that the Lib Dems are going to make even more gains at the next election — which, given 72 was beyond anybody's wildest dreams in 2024, is quite something

He looks like a cormorant about to be cleaned by RSPB volunteers.

Listening to Sweeney Todd while working this morning and it has to be up there as one of Sondheim's richest, most musically inventive works. I'm just annoyed I can't ever go and watch it because of how quickly I faint at visual depictions of blood!

I have been dipping in and out of the BBC local elections show over the past couple of hours, and it has been wall to wall Reform. They are clearly the winners, and deserve coverage. But almost *zero* coverage of the Lib Dems doing exceptionally well too.

Tribute to Karen Samuels, 1966 - 2025 Dedicated to the memory of Karen Samuels

Mum's funeral is taking place this Thursday in Saltash. For those very generous people who have asked if they can make a donation in her memory, we have set up the link below for donations to be made to the MS Society, whose work really is invaluable.

karensamuels.muchloved.com

This is an unusual probate claim in that the deceased says she is very much alive.

Well, this is quite the opening to a judgment.

And I mean that beyond just (fairly) unideological critiques of obvious government failure, like cost of living and sewage. While those are obviously important, we have to consolidate the success of 2024 and become *the* party representing the interests of this demographic.

Lib Dem report says leftwing alliance not needed because of tactical voting Exclusive: Study of 2024 election says party’s refusal to make formal deals with others was vindicated in ballot

This is interesting. But we can do more than just pavement politics, I think: the demographic coherency of the party's seats means we now have an identifiable group to represent. Need to tailor a national platform with something to say for those people.

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

Still finding myself de-energised and wiped out almost a month after falling ill with the flu which went round in December. Grim.

Commissioning an MRP projection now, 4.5 years before the next general election, strikes me as a complete waste of money. Utterly meaningless noise.

Yes — I wonder whether the directories might have started life as a way to navigate the market before the abolition of the rule?

I always tell mini-pupils that the "running a business" side of this job is so much bigger than they expect when first exploring things. The romantic aspect of researching knotty points of law in beautiful libraries is of course true, but not the whole picture!

‘Co-president’ Elon Musk? Trump ally tests influence in spending fight The unelected tech billionaire’s outsize role in sending the federal government careening toward a potential shutdown alarmed Democrats, academics and watchdog groups.

A friend points out: Imagine how Republicans would react if George Soros were manipulating Obama or Biden and the Democrats the way Musk is manipulating Trump and the Republicans.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...