Kate Phillips

I think this is the best way to proceed. I know Parliament has not distinguished itself as a decision-making body in recent years, but referendums REALLY haven’t.

The world is awful but two of my favourite celebs - Jennifer Garner and Daniel Radcliffe - are currently on (separate) publicity tours. I’m sure it’s a dreadful bore for them but I find them both delightful whenever they pop up, and I’m glad they are famous.

The US is a rogue state that murders innocent men women and children. It is about time world leaders stood up and said it loud and clear.

I am trying to hard to see it as a liberation from the weight of history - but I’m definitely actually in the mourning phase.

a close up of a man 's face with blood coming out of his mouth . ALT: a close up of a man 's face with blood coming out of his mouth .

I just went to close a tab and accidentally hit the ‘close all other tabs’ button. There were pages that I’d been waiting to get around to since at least 2023.

I have just abandoned a novel after 100 pages (the grace period I always allow). It was hailed on the front as ‘a stone-cold masterpiece’ but it reminded me of nothing so much as Longing For Wolverhampton by Adrian Mole.

Simon Russell Beale in A Very Peculiar Practice

I have been working my way through A Very Peculiar Practice, which is one of the strangest shows I’ve ever seen but extremely enjoyably so. And never more so than when it throws up a tiny appearance from a very young version of Britain’s greatest actor.

It continues to be a disgrace that this sort of calculus is necessary. Everyone should have the right to cast a positive vote, and know that it will count.

Reform win a seat: The true Volk have spoken and we all must listen.

Greens win a seat: Early reports that Muslims may have ‘voted’ (an ancient Islamic practice designed to steal elections). How severely should the franchise be limited in response?

All of these are wonderful writers. For my part, I’ll throw in:

Dorothy Whipple
Barbara Trapido
Olivia Manning
Alison Lurie
Eva Ibbotson

Felton Perry as Johnson in ROBOCOP

One of the best examples of making something out of a nothing role is Felton Perry in ROBOCOP. He has barely any lines but makes every moment on screen count; he’s hilarious, watchable and brilliantly memorable.

First Past the Post is a perfect electoral system with no flaws

Reform UK by-election activist suspended over posts Adam Mitula, who has been campaigning ahead of the Gorton and Denton by-election, made the posts on X.

It’s basically impossible at this stage to keep track of how many activists, councillors and MPs Reform has been forced to disavow (and that’s only the ones who couldn’t manage to keep their bigotry private). At what point does it prompt some self-reflection? (Obviously I know the answer is never.)

Excellent news. And I had totally missed that we have a spin-off coming! How exciting!

Hopefully Edi Gathegi’s Mister Terrific bounce will encourage more people to strap themselves in for the rocket-fuelled lunacy this time around. This show is just so much fun, and I don’t know anyone else who watches it.

Up to the end of S2, it was just a brilliant drama. Since then it has upped its commitment to utter madness every season, in line with the amount of make up Joel Kinnaman has to wear, and I couldn’t be more here for it. Forget Slow Horses and Ted Lasso, this is the jewel in Apple TV’s crown.

And don’t get me started on party list or mixed-member solutions, which are grotesquely undemocratic and a gift to control freak party bodies like Labour’s NEC. STV in enlarged multi-member constituencies is the only proper solution.

In any system with more than two viable parties, FPTP is pretty much guaranteed to ensure that more than 50% of the votes cast nationwide will be effectively ignored. How is anybody ok with this tyranny of the plurality?

Back on my hobby horse: the UK political system is heading for a disastrous reckoning with FPTP at the next election, which will deliver an even more catastrophically unbalanced result than it usually does.

I SWEAR wasn’t eligible for this year’s Oscars because it didn’t have a qualifying run in 2025; it will be eligible for next year.

I only voted for four of this year’s BAFTA winners, which may be my worst hit rate yet, but I am very happy that one of them was Robert Aramayo as Best Actor. A truly unforgettable performance.

Ready for my Frederick Wiseman memorial marathon. (With Wiseman, you only need one film for a marathon. I have snacks and a cup of tea, and am all set for 217 minutes of scorching legislative action.)

Fixed it.

This is absolutely correct. Will Tippin is THE WORST. I also held a grudge against Seth Rogen for many years because I so hated Ken in Freaks and Geeks.

When it comes to stories about Shakespeare’s life that culminate in an extended recreation of a play’s first performance, asserting that it reflects the writer’s own emotional state, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE is ten times the film that HAMNET could ever be.

It has also taught me a surprising amount about ecclesiastical architecture and medieval building techniques, so the research didn’t go to waste.

Ken Follett writes clunky prose and favours simplistic characterisation, tempered with inelegant dumps of his research - but he does bring a propulsive energy and satisfying plotting. I can see why The Pillars of the Earth is a beloved book, even if no-one could ever mistake it for a great one.

"Du måste anpassa dig om du vill vara i Sverige säger en svensk till en invandrare. 10 år senare har invandraren gjort just så, lever mer svenskt än svenskarna själva - och belönas med ett utvisningsbeslut.

"Otack är Sveriges lön" - Max Gustafson.

Right? I’m amazed his hairdresser let him leave the salon like that.