Nick

I spent 6 years of my life writing a PhD about UK policy in Persian Gulf in the 1960s, including the role of the Anglo-American alliance.
Key to the Persian Gulf policy of both countries: AVOID a power vacuum under any circumstances &keep Iran&Saudi Arabia from attacking the smaller Gulf States.

Treasury plans depend on net migration being much higher than current policy will deliver or current Home Secretary willing to accept.

Something will have to give. Will Labour deliver tax rises and spending cuts just before an election to keep net imm close to zero? Or let imm rise to avert this?

The first tool of those who wish to destroy democracy is to attack its very principles.

Let’s be clear: Gorton & Denton was a free & fair election where the Green Party won.

A democrat congratulates their opponent & moves on.

Farage & Reform U.K. are the Orban’s & Trump’s of Britain.

Quite. If parties want to hold onto a broad coalition of voters, they need to be home to a broad range of opinions.

A Green win must mean that "left behind" voters forgotten by Westminster want open borders and legalised class A drugs. That's how it works right?

Why hasn't Disney used the Muppets to duplicate what Warner Bros. did with Lego movies? We could be 10 episodes deep into Muppet Star Wars, Muppet Marvel, Muppet Indiana Jones. Hell, Muppet Avatar would make more sense than the actual series.

This is a wonderful piece.

On how we’ve made mainstream schools far more hostile for many children, and then wonder why those children are struggling and need extra help

15 February 1944 | A Polish woman Natalia Hiszpańska (b. 1904) perished in the Auschwitz camp hospital. She was an architect, a scout leader and a second lieutenant. She was engaged in resistance activities during the war.

In the camp from 25 August 1943. No. 55813.

PwC somehow more lucid on AI and education than most university leaders these days

This is not the most important thing, but a really good reason to educate your kid in math early is you end up finding pieces of paper with equations written in little girl handwriting, with hearts and cats drawn around them.

The question isn't whether people should wear high-viz/helmets. People should wear whatever makes them feel safer. Question is whether mandatory high-viz/helmets is good public policy - it's not

Protected lanes, safe junction design, more cyclists, and better driver behaviour are good public policy

This is why Shakespeare is the greatest genius who ever lived. And this is just from a few pages he wrote in someone else's play.

It is genuinely wild that Russia is ruining itself and becoming a satellite state all in service of a crackpot theory about historic destiny to rule Ukrainian farmland. Such is the nature of autocracy. Mass death and destruction for the sakes of the perverse obsessions of a few ruthless horrid men.

My actual job description is activist and here’s what I tell people in despair all the time: do not underestimate how much harm you can prevent by being just a little bit annoying.

You can test new tech ideas using the Seinfeld Test

Would the product eliminate the plot of an episode? (Google maps, cell phones, paypal, battery packs)

Good tech.

Would the product inspire new Seinfeld plots? (NFTs, AI chatbots, crypto currency, blindboxes, metaverse land sales)

Bad tech.

School is Way Worse For Kids Than Social Media On building a world that doesn’t make children want to die

A vast array of data suggests that school, not social media, is the biggest modern threat to the mental health of children. If you were recently a child, that won’t be a surprise. If not: enjoy the post :)
open.substack.com/pub/unpublis...

Vintage photograph of a boy seated on a checkered surface, holding a toy, framed in an oval with an ornate border on a textured beige background.

29 January 1936 | A French Jewish boy, Michel Ejzenberg, was born in Paris.

He arrived at #Auschwitz on 26 August 1942 in a transport of 1,000 Jews deported from Drancy. He was murdered in a gas chamber after selection.

UK loses measles elimination status Decision made after outbreaks in 2024, when there were nearly 3,000 cases in England and Wales.

I realised over Christmas that I’d never gotten my second MMR jab on account of childhood moves and policy changes. I emailed my GP and I just got it this morning, free on the NHS. It’s never too late and you can’t overdo it. Please get vaccinated.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Europe and India are making history today.

We have concluded the mother of all deals.

We have created a free trade zone of two billion people, with both sides set to benefit.

This is only the beginning.

We will grow our strategic relationship to be even stronger.

a man in a military uniform says are we the baddies Alt: Mitchell and Webb sketch: David Mitchell in a military uniform says “are we the baddies?”

These are very dark times. But there’s also quite a bit of this happening, some of it quietly, but it’s there. Hold onto hope.

Very very good and carefully written piece that I encourage people to read closely rather than immediately seizing on things they don’t like to score points.

Peacehammer 40K: Paintinge litel miniatures of gardeneres, sculptors, academics. Detailed scale dioramas of museums, kiosks, cafés. Trimminge hedges. Makinge friendes.

Last term I tried an experiment: I walked into my Tech and Design Ethics class, admitted that I had *no idea* what to do about ChatGPT - so I would let them figure it out.

As in: their first project was to decide and write the ChatGPT policy for the class.

Here's what happened:

Starmer maybe rightly doesn’t take bait each time but he needs an outrider - a semi-licensed “off message” attack dog - to make Haw-Haw Farage pay for sucking up to the guy who denigrates British war dead.

Can't be expecting the government to sort everything for you and then complaining about the corporation tax.

Reform's opponents need to keep punching this bruise.

It's a real problem for a would-be nationalist leader when they start looking like the lapdog of a hostile power.

This did a lot of damage to Oswald Mosley in the 1930s, and it could become a serious issue for Farage.

I took this photo on the Teign Estuary in Devon in spring 2022. I thought I was just taking a photo of an attractive hole in an old tree. It was only when I got home and looked through my camera roll that I saw the leaping dog, who I'd caught perfectly framed, mid-leap, totally by chance. I remembered the dog immediately, because of what an annoying twat it had been.

THREAD.

The definitive list of the absolute best interdimensional portals I have photographed on walks in the British countryside.

1. Gateway To The Land Of Leaping Dogs.

Anyone complaining about solar panels taking up space needed for growing food needs to look hard at this chart. Solar panels are *massively* more efficient than biofuels.

Secretary of State statement to the House of Commons: 12 January 2026 DSIT Secretary of State statement after concerns over Grok AI.

Sharing, or threatening to share, a deepfake intimate image without consent is a criminal offence.

This offence, created by the Data Act last year, will be brought into force this week, and I will make it a priority offence in the Online Safety Act too.

www.gov.uk/government/s...

a girl with a heart in a speech bubble is being displayed on a phone screen ALT: a girl with a heart in a speech bubble is being displayed on a phone screen

CONES' ANIME OF THE YEAR THREAD

wondering what 2025 anime is worth checking out? want a sexy lady opinion that you can Trust™? look no further my friends. here's my top 10, some honourable mentions - and some mentions of shame.