Thomas Bacon

A strong argument, but it does have two omissions: 1) The argument about the mayoralty - that going to Reform would have damaged both Starmer and Burnham, and rightly so. 2) I'm also concerned Reform is outspending Labour 10 to 1, and can't help wondering whether all that money is organic.

There’s always a post..

"I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace"

Perfect

“What the hell kind of Christian is this guy anyway?”

From the new Private Eye, out now.

That this was 2022 policy of last government is not necessarily a reason not to do it.

But ignoring that avoids question of why it failed

Much tougher policy on "pull factors" (refuse all claims) failed

So analysis of asylum system rules as pull factor is exaggerated/wrong & changes won't impact

A strong immigration system doesn't need to be a cruel one.

It shouldn't need saying - but refugees & asylum seekers are real people, fleeing war and persecution.

This daughter of an immigrant is proud of our British and Labour values of respect and not turning our backs on people in real need.

This has to be a moment of reckoning for how they've organised themselves, the ideas they're promoting and the manner in which they are pursuing them. It can't go on like this.

@clairewillett honestly the best marketing scheme in history is men successfully getting away with calling women the "more emotional" gender for like, EONS, because they've successfully rebranded anger as Not An Emotion 6:00 PM • Aug 12, 2020

once again I must tap my own sign

President Trump, "As Pope?"

"I'd like to be Pope"

"That would be my number one choice"

Jesus springs to mind. Or the Apostle Paul.

1/4. On the White House’s theory, if they abduct you, get you on a helicopter, get to international waters, shoot you in the head, and drop your corpse into the ocean, that is legal, because it is the conduct of foreign affairs.

1/ The Trump Administration is seeking to force foreign companies worldwide to ban diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes within their firms if they want to do business with the US government. It's an aggressive expansion of its anti-DEI crusade. ⬇️

This is pretty damning.

Delaying is not neutral. The world moves on. The risk is that the economic harm, when the die is eventually cast, is even worse. And in political terms, there is the risk that Starmer winds up looking like he's been forced into a decision rather than chosen it.

Imo Starmer is simply trying to hold the line, to avoid committing too closely to either the EU or the US, because pivoting in either direction will cause economic harm.

But it cannot last, and it cannot hold. Eventually, he must choose. And there's a risk to delaying:

I sort of understand why Starmer is waiting. We've already seriously damaged our economy with Brexit, and opposing Trump would incur further economic damage - which we can't afford. We placed ourselves in the weakest possible position through Brexit.

(I think I'd seen that bio back in the day, and not realized it'd been corrected!)

Thanks so much for the correction, I will adjust :) I absolutely LOVE Aphra!

It is moments like this that really bring home how unutterably awful it was to allow events* to create a national mood in which Boris Johnson & Liz Truss could become Prime Minister. Imagine they were in the post right now…

*Brexit

Typically interesting from @benshimshon.bsky.social (& @stevevr.bsky.social)

Do voters care about manifesto promises? Yes...

But Labour's opponents care more than its supporters

For the latter, feeling positive change is more important than campaign pledges

www.politicshome.com/news/article...

Jasmine Crockett: "The problem is that Americans thought it was okay to take a full fledged criminal and make him the President of the US and then they want to act aghast when he does criminal things. Let me tell you, we have a thug in charge of the US and if we don't wake up we may not have a US"

Wait, what? I missed this hahahah

We really should do something to recognise 'Daniel Hannan Day' e.g. Self-flagellation and Morris Dancing.

Worth noting the studio isn't releasing these numbers; we know them because the show was filmed in the U.K. to get tax breaks. Under our tax rules, more information must be public domain in order to get those tax breaks.

Let's face it, they know they've been sent there purely for the cameras. They're not expecting to find anything more.

The Theelin Pirate (Paloma Garcia-Lee) interacting with KB and Fern at Port Borgo gave off BIG ‘Mission of Disaster’ Energy where the Nihil kidnap children to increase their numbers.👀

Not saying THIS is the case here, but I’m not ruling it out either. Great performance!

#SkeletonCrew

‘Brexit problem’: UK tap water safety at risk after testing labs shut down Exclusive: EU countries will share laboratory capacity but UK rules mean products cannot be tested abroad

This is regulatory failure. But if you determine to run a complex regulatory state without acknowledgment, adopting any principles, or sharing any of the load, there's bound to be problems.

Regulation is a huge modern political challenge largely unrecognised.

www.theguardian.com/business/202...