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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán: “As long as Ukraine demands that Hungary be cut off from cheap Russian energy, Ukraine is not simply our opponent — Ukraine is our enemy.”

This is just a desperate, under-trained, inexperienced and unmotivated team, but given the circumstances and the WRU can you blame them?

Not only did they bring a small private army, but among the waste of taxpayer money was BRINGING A FULL PLANE OF FOOD.

To *Italy*.

Was trying to find an old article and drifted across the Kemi Badenoch interview where she praises Israel for fighting a proxy war on our behalf in Gaza, "just like Ukraine is," and I do think it's up there for the more bonkers and revealing things she's said.

Will the EU now ban American software in internet connected vehicles to reduce reliance on a hostile state?
(China has not threatened to invade an EU state: the USA has.)

Parmesan French Toast While obviously a contender for weekend brunch, this savoury take on French toast is, for me, a perfect early supper when I feel like something comforting and quick. It's also exactly what I need when...

Parmesan French Toast is #RecipeOfTheDay: an easy answer to your eating needs whether for a weekend breakfast, light lunch, cosy tv-night dinner or late-night schnack! www.nigella.com/recipes/parm...

MAGA’s War on Empathy This crisis in Minneapolis reveals a deep moral rot at the heart of Trump’s movement.

I believe that Christians like me—and people of faith more generally—have a responsibility to stand up to the extremists who use religion to divide our society and undermine our democracy.

My new piece in the Atlantic:

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

And in some jurisdictions posting racist material is a criminal offence. eg

“A person who .. displays any written material which is threatening, abusive or insulting, is guilty of an offence if—
…
(b)having regard to all the circumstances racial hatred is likely to be stirred up thereby.”

I expect the lawyers at Channel 4 were mindful of the Online Safety Act and the restrictions on broadcasting illegal content.

What if we give the creative director €50m and some LSD

Latest U.S. Boat Strike Kills 2 in Pacific

The latest U.S. strike on a suspected drug smuggling boat has killed two people in the Pacific, this one authorized by the Marine general who took command of military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean earlier in the day.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/u...

Democracy for Sale's scoop about Labour Together paying a firm to investigate journalists has now been picked up in FT, Politico and the Guardian

Huge questions to answer - for Morgan McSweeney, Josh Simons, and Keir Starmer

Oh, and do support D4S 😀 democracyforsale.substack.com/subscribe

GB skier avoids censure for writing ‘F*** ice’ in snow ‘with urine’ Gus Kenworthy, whose Instagram account boasts 1.2million followers, will not face disciplinary action for message about US immigration officials

"The British Olympic Association... is understood to be relaxed that Kenworthy has given a personal opinion on a subject that sits outside the Games." www.thetimes.com/sport/winter...

Good point. Who knew what and when?

The US security services obviously had access. (They can require access to any US based messaging service. They do not routinely say when they have done this. )

Did they share this with their UK counterparts?
I doubt they shared it all but perhaps some of it.

We don’t know.

Faute de mieux.

The PM is briefed by the intelligence services. They knew.
Why does the PM say he believed Lord Mandelson rather than the experts with factual evidence?

Many people who voted Labour in 2024 are not Labour supporters.
They voted tactically against the Conservatives rather than for Labour.
If there were elections in May (ours have been cancelled for some reason) you would see different tactical voting.

Known as “The Stranger’s Case,” this monologue is inspired by a real speech delivered in 1517 by Thomas More, then the under-sheriff of London, who was trying to calm a riotous anti-immigrant mob incensed by the presence of foreign workers. The riots went down in history as Evil May Day.

Well some will but many will not because Labour, being frightened of losing, has cancelled the elections.

Sorry, got that wrong. Labour say it’s because elections are expensive and time consuming.

Letter to the prime minister from parliament's intelligence & security committee - when will you send us the withheld Mandelson documents so we can decide whether to release them?

Evil May Day or Ill May Day is the name of a xenophobic riot which took place on 1 May 1517 as a protest against foreigners (called "strangers"[1]) living in London. Apprentices attacked foreign residents ranging from "Flemish cobblers" to "French royal courtiers".[2] Some of the rioters were later hanged,[3] although King Henry VIII granted a pardon for the remainder following public pleadings from his wife Catherine of Aragon.

According to the chronicler Edward Hall (c. 1498–1547), a fortnight before the riot an inflammatory xenophobic speech was made on Easter Tuesday by a preacher known as "Dr Bell" at St. Paul's Cross at the instigation of John Lincoln, a broker. Bell accused immigrants of stealing jobs from English workers and of "eat[ing] the bread from poor fatherless children".[8] Bell called on all "Englishmen to cherish and defend themselves, and to hurt and grieve aliens for the common weal".[9][10] Over the following two weeks, there were sporadic attacks on foreigners and rumours abounded that "on May Day next the city would rebel and slay all aliens".

Happened upon this Wiki entry for a xenophobic riot in 1517 and was struck hard that even after 600 years of extraordinary human progress we’re still beset by the same rabble-rousing fucksters utilising medieval bigotry and the same tired, shit-stirring language.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_Ma...

...and then repeated it when he was appointed ambassador.

www.ft.com/content/007a...

Worth reading the Polish government’s comments on Russian involvement.

Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue

Worth noting that Qatar was/is also a prominent client of Global Counsel

Most of the Washington Post’s tech reporters were laid off today, including me. I have loved my time at the paper, which is where I wanted to work from age 15. I take some consolation in not being among the survivors who will have to work harder with less for fewer readers. On to better things.

I'll say more before too long, but for now: Thanks to anyone who has ever read and supported the Post's books coverage.

In 15 years when Peter Mandelson is next sacked from the government, having been caught red-handed robbing a bank, commentators will confidently predict that his career is definitely over this time.

The United States has threatened to invade a long standing friendly neighbouring country.

The UK’s relationship with the USA is not all about trade.