Michael Woolley

I always find it interesting how the story changes when a lawyer gets to court. They can say anything they want outside of court without accountability but the rules are vastly different in court where you can get seriously penalized for lying.

Slightly harsh ?

UK standards of living set to fall behind Max Kendix Political Correspondent Living standards in Britain will fall behind those of Lithuania in less than five years and Turkey's in less than 20 years, according to forecasts. The UK will fall from the 30th richest country this year to the 46th richest by 2050, according to research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr). The Czech Republic will eclipse British GDP per capita in 2031, and Poland will do the same in 2034. The research was commissioned by the authors of a new book, Prosperity Through Growth, who interviewed former chancellors and former prime ministers to come up with policies to prevent the relative decline. Douglas McWilliams, the founder of Cebr, said: "With GDP per capita in the UK growing extremely sluggishly, we are likely to be overtaken by more dynamic economies unless we change policy." The book suggests merging national insurance and income taxes into one flat tax, cutting business regulation and refocusing public spending on infrastructure and defence.

BREXIT NUMBER CRUNCHING 0.08% Expected growth by 2038 from 'Brexit win' of Trans-Pacific CPTPP trade deal 0.08% Expected growth by 2035 from Australia trade deal 0.07% Expected growth by 2035 from CEPA trade deal with Japan 0.03% Expected growth by 2035 from New Zealand trade deal -4% Long-term loss of growth caused by the Brexit that enabled these 'wins'

Well this is a proper head scratcher.
But yeah, fiddling around with tax and getting rid of consumer protections should sort it.
Wonder what those ‘former chancellors and prime ministers’ had to say about this shitshow. Any mention of Brexit at all??

(Times and Private Eye)

Putin has refused to allow Trump envoy Keith Kellogg into the summit because he is seen as pro-Ukraine, CNN reports.

Trump agreed.

James O'Brien Daily Daily News Podcast · Updated daily · Welcome to the best bits of James O'Brien's LBC phone-in show. Listen back to all the highlights in a 60-minute bite sized chunk of his show with new episodes ever...

tinyurl.com/4rrn2mkx
Macron explains what nobody in UK politics is prepared to: the small boats ‘crisis’ is a consequence of Brexit. And Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, on the companies complicit in the genocide.

The fruits of my labours ! A productive couple of hours picking on the #allotment .

One of the streets off Lloyd Street with Maine Road in the background.

Thought for the day

Been to the one in Spain 🇪🇸 which, arguably, has all the same virtues. #Mezquita #UNESCO

Yet another BBC failure on the UK-EU Deal.

• Re your article (Labour targets international students claiming asylum after election losses to Reform, 3 May), the insistence of this Labour government on responding to the perceived threat of Reform by aping it on the issues where it is strong is utterly mind-boggling. I don't think any electable party will be more anti-immigration than Reform. The portion of the electorate for whom immigration is the one issue they care about won't be persuaded to vote Labour by it pledging to reduce asylum applications from international students. It's a ludicrous idea and, at best, only serves to reduce the distinction between the two parties. In reality, Reform is weak on almost every conceivable area: the economy, the NHS, Donald Trump, Brexit... the list of vulnerabilities is almost without limit. Yet the government chooses to engage on the only ground on which Reform is sure-footed. It's utterly bizarre. How is a party with five MPs, fewer than 800 local councillors and no actual policies allowed to dictate the agenda in this way? Richard Repper Frome, Somerset

V good letter in The Guardian on Labour’s flailing hopelessness in the face of Reform.
Come on, Labour. The country is crying out for better. We’re sick of this ugly rightwing agenda. It brings nothing but failure.
It’s disloyal to your voters and to the country. You’ve got power and time. Use them.

UPS Says It Will Cut 20,000 Jobs in Efficiency Drive The move comes as President Trump’s tariffs are reducing shipping volumes and is in addition to 12,000 job cuts last year.

UPS said on Tuesday that it would cut 20,000 jobs this year as part of a long-term plan to reduce costs and bolster profit.

C'mon you 'pies !

Yes, it is well worth a visit.

Last night was the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere's midnight ride to warn the Minutemen of approaching British troops.

I want to take a moment to share an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence's grievances against King George III.

Remind you of anyone?

Three people walking into the ICE Processing Center. The text reads: "IRS Agrees to Share Migrants' Tax Information With ICE." Photo by Michael Ciaglo for The New York Times.

The IRS has agreed to share information with ICE to help locate people for deportation, court records show, a fundamental change in how the tax collector uses its tightly regulated records. nyti.ms/3XQ9vWk

Americans are beginning to fear dissent. That’s exactly what Trump wants | Robert Reich Attacks on the pillars of civil society are chilling speech. But American democracy was built on criticism

Americans are beginning to fear dissent. That’s exactly what Trump wants.

My latest for The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/31/americans-dissent-fear-trump

Hi, BlueSky. It's Hillary.

I've joined up here to help get the word out about an important election in Wisconsin tomorrow, and other ways to defend our democracy against those who think votes can be bought.

Trump Administration Moves to Shutter Library Agency The staff of the independent Institute of Museum and Library Services, the largest source of federal funding for museums and libraries, were put on leave.

The Trump administration on Monday placed the staff of the independent Institute of Museum and Library Services, the largest source of federal funding for museums and libraries, on administrative leave.

Donald Trump needs Greenland for international security.

Adolf Hitler needed Austria, so much so that he invaded and they were forced to surrender.

It was the first place he invaded.

Since January, SpaceX has received over $560 million in government contracts—an amount projected to surpass $2 billion in taxpayer funding by year’s end, averaging roughly $6.1 million per day. Follow the money and see where it goes.

A petitition to rejoin the EU with 100,000+ signatures was debated in Westminster Hall yesterday.

Full transcript at the link below:
hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2025...

Labour, officially winding up the debate, once more explicitly repainted their Brexit red lines.

They deserve to lose in 2029.

Opinion | What Autocrats Want From Academics: Servility In 1931, Italian scholars were made to take loyalty oaths. Will that happen to us?

"On October 8, 1931, a law went into effect requiring every Italian university professor to sign an oath pledging their loyalty to the government of Benito Mussolini. Out of over 1,200 professors in the country, only 12 refused. All of them were immediately fired." www.chronicle.com/article/what...

Medicine shortages are occurring everywhere, but ours are worsened because of the effects of Brexit.

Yet another example of why Labour's glowing red lines on not rejoining the Single Market, Customs Union or EU are unconscionable, and actively harming Britain.

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

I didn't go when he was in last time. I don't think I'll ever go again (and I'd been a fair few times before 2016). @iandunt.bsky.social

The 1950s: Film of Law’s Debut Here's film of Denis Law making his debut on this day (19 March) in 1960 at Elland Road against Leeds. He was, of course, making his first appearance for Manchester City following his transfer from Huddersfield Town. Notice the photographers lining up to catch him. This was an uncommon sight at football back then and demonstrates how significant Law's transfer was at the time.

The 1950s: Film of Law’s Debut

Here's film of Denis Law making his debut on this day (19 March) in 1960 at Elland Road against Leeds. He was, of course, making his first appearance for Manchester City following his transfer from Huddersfield Town. Notice the photographers lining up to catch him.…

Thousands of people are ditching Tesla. Here’s one of them with a message you can see from space.

Location: Black Rock Sands, Wales, UK

Led By Donkeys is 100% funded by small donations.

Peer who led government NHS review failed to declare shares in health firms Lord Darzi’s undeclared interests in four companies included $500,000 of shares in US-based healthcare venture

Who could have predicted it?

Lord Darzi, who led the rapid review of the NHS, held $500k undeclared shares & $800k undeclared share options in private health companies - all missing from his House of Lords register of interests - when Streeting appointed him.

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Chief Justice Roberts Rebukes Trump, Saying Impeaching Judges Over Rulings Is Improper The chief justice rarely issues public statements. This one was reminiscent of another in 2018 defending judicial independence after the president criticized a different judge’s ruling.

Breaking News: Chief Justice John Roberts, in a rare statement, rebuked President Trump for calling for a judge’s impeachment.