John McStravick

The fundamental problem:

58% of voters want public spending maintained or increased.

67% want taxes to stay at their current level or be cut.

In reality, it’s a binary choice. Taxes go up, or spending is cut. That’s it.

I've noticed this trend too. Any theory on why MPs, hacks, etc. increasingly seem to be following / engaging with accounts like this one?

Boris Johnson breached rules designed to stop abuse of contacts made in public office, watchdog finds Johnson found to have breached rules after refusing to answer specific questions about allegations published by the Guardian

Johnson refused to answer specific questions or to provide factual denials to allegations of rule-breaking, while insisting all the rules had been followed at all times. His responses led Acoba’s chair, Isabel Doverty, to find him in breach of the rules.

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

I recently started using Fedica on @roberthutton.co.uk 's advice & can echo the recommendation

You've convinced me. Do you find one (Fedica vs Buffer) better than the other?

Useful reminder from Peter Kellner on the problems we refuse to acknowledge are getting better, and the politics of hopelessness that this breeds

open.substack.com/pub/kellnerp...

Helen will be a superb Councillor

July September

'Hi guys, have you eaten with us before? No? Okay well just so you know here each dish just comes out of the kitchen as and when it's ready... even if that might be 2h apart'

[very] deconstructed surf 'n' turf

So relatable. When I moved to Germany two older ladies in a supermarket queue remarked how tall I was & asked me my height. I mumbled that I didn't know ('cause metric) but they looked at me like I was an idiot so I panic-guessed an approximate number of cms. That then became my European Height

A spectacular team worthy of a spectacular city.

We've had to wait a long time for no.7 but this incredible treble-winning season has been worth it. Well done all at Bath Rugby for bringing our club back to the very top 🟦⬛️⬜️🏆🏆🏆

After years of denial, it's really striking that a UK government press release has just come out and said that Brexit was, you know, really bad for trade.

The devil will be in the detail, but it's encouraging to see services facilitations at least being discussed. 5y+ on I still find it incredible any UK gov. signed up to a trade deal with the EU as weak on services as the TCA is, given the nature of the British economy

Brexit was a referendum on whether the UK should leave the European Union.

The UK has left the European Union. Referendum fulfilled.

If the people bleating about "Brexit Betrayal" wanted the Referendum to enshrine their pet policy preferences, they should have included them in the question.

It's a little known fact I just invented that that Speed of Sound was written as an ode to Welsh midfielder Gary Speed

If there's a World Cup halftime show then, in return, Coldplay gigs should be interrupted by a screening of Bolton Wanderers vs. Stoke City from the 2008-9 Barclays Premier League season

I once heard someone say - without irony, importantly - they were going for a night out there in "big chips and ham". Like it was a lunch order in a rural pub

1. what was so bad about it? Thank you in advance for saving me from reading it
2. do you have a second worst book you've ever read?

Wonderful!

This whole thread on this week's DE election polling is worth reading, but I'll highlight this showing the AfD converting far more non-voters than [previously] mainstream party voters to them. A similar picture has been shown for populist/far-right parties in other countries, but it's under-reported

Long live the BBC.

(& please keep up all your valuable work @bbcstever.bsky.social)

A Tripe Called Quest

PEM is not a customs union, spread the word.

He adds that Keir Starmer (& NATO Sec Gen Mark Rutte) will join an EU27 defence summit on 3 Feb

European Council President António Costa tells MEPs that one of three main themes of Sunday's EUCO meeting was a "strategic discussion on Europe’s role in the world", including a "need to renew our relations with the UK"

Signed up & looking forward to it, but should I be worried that the ticket confirmation included a discount code for therapy...?

Sterling close to its highest value against the Euro since the Brexit referendum. Markets appear to be rewarding the prospect of long term British political stability. Not something you’ve been able to say for a while.

When you're an Everton fan & the TV gives you a pre-match content warning

There's always a chart