Jonathan Dayman

What the run-up to the budget should be proving conclusively is that there are an awful lot of vested interests demanding that their perks remain exactly as they are being crucial to growth etc.

China’s CO2 emissions have been flat or falling for past 18 months, analysis finds World’s biggest polluter on track to hit peak emissions target early but miss goal for cutting carbon intensity

Good morning to all those people who wasted the last decade saying, "there's no point tackling climate change in the UK, because China."

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

See also: USA.

And look at that shiny building.

Samir who? Never heard of him.

BBC Governors - that statement in full:

Schiff: "The president -- 'I'm going out to play golf.' One thing that is so shocking to me is that they're appealing to the Supreme Court for the right to cut off food from people. Who does that? Who works so hard to cut food from people who need it right now? The cruelty is part of the policy."

Just occurred that the BBC is the most literal example of Conquest's third law in that it is actually run by a cabal of its enemies.

We had a Primary School TA at our foodbank during half term.
Her partner had left her. She had 3 small children and a mountain of debt. She was living on fresh air to provide for her children.
Spare us shite like this...

Excellent!! 😂👍😀

Unlocking business: reform driven by you This questionnaire asks businesses large and small to tell government about regulation which is not fit for purpose and unjustifiably inhibits growth, innovation and investment.

16 years ago I worked in government on a plan to reduce regulatory costs by 25%. It was superseded after the 2010 election by various other plans to do the same in other ways.

Every single one has failed in overall terms.

Nobody asks why. They just hope "this time"...

www.gov.uk/government/c...

This is also in part because the issue of developed country regulation is of cumulative burden reducing competitiveness rather than specific obviously badly implemented individual acts - since these can be fixed. But consultations want specific examples.

So around the deregulatory houses will Labour once more go, and opposition parties will promise their own variants, and nothing will change, until someone somehow breaks this particular cycle of shallow policy making.

Versailles > "Let them eat cake."

Football’s latest row reveals Labour’s lost grip on policing If Maccabi Tel Aviv and Aston Villa match is too hard to oversee, Britain has a bigger problem

The government’s response to the Villa Park ban shows, among other things, a government with little clue or idea about policing or how to improve it. Today’s note:

Politics is ultimately an intellectual exercise - as the Master says. What we are living through right now is what happens when a critical mass of people in government and opposition believe that you can skip the hard work of thinking.

"Adult content" and no way to view? I can't anyway.

It’s the only sort of secondary education they have experience of, for some reason.

Is some of the media starting to swing against Fartage? Not the BBC obvs.

Ditto cinema and ditto digital cameras.

White House anger over UK spy case fiasco US warns of damage to shared intelligence Caroline Wheeler Political Editor George Grylls Washington Correspondent Gabriel Pogrund Whitehall Editor The White House has warned Sir Keir Starmer that the failure to prosecute two alleged Chinese spies risks undermining the special relationship and could threaten intelligence-sharing between Brit ain and the US. President Trump is understood to be concerned about the UK's reliability after charges against two Britons accused of spying for Bei jing were dropped. The case against Chris Cash, 30, a former parliamentary researcher, and Christopher Berry, 33, an aca demic, collapsed last month after the government failed to provide evidence that China was a threat to national security. A senior Trump administration official said: "The United States has been warning allies about the Chi nese threat to our combined national security since Preside Trump first came into office in 2017. The US government exercises mation with foreign governments subject to adversarial coercion and influence. We are especially careful in jurisdictions where our adversaries can act with impunity." Senior Republicans insisted that the prosecution go ahead. John Moolenaar, chairman of the House of Representatives' China commit tee, said: "As a target of [Chinese state) espionage, it is my hope that the UK government will not allow this case to falter and will take the steps necessary to ensure a clear message is sent and proper justice is served." Trump's administration has pre viously warned against allowing a Chinese mega-embassy to be built near London financial centres. The American president is understood to have raised the matter person ally with Starmer. While the prime minister is sof tening Britain's position on China, Trump reignited his trade war with Beijing on Friday, raising tariffs to 130 per cent after China blocked the export of critical minerals used in the defence and tech industries.

Imagine being the UK diplomat having to respond to these "concerns" about how intel is handled, knowing that on the other side the people in charge are Kash Patel, Tulsi Gabbard, Pete Hegseth, and Donald Trump.

Ducks for cover....

FYI this is going around seeming to be from me and Liz.

This is not from us.

See also “Productivity” which comes not from big IT and infrastructure projects, but from many, many small things that help people work and live easily and without friction.

Me in mid 2024: 65% confidence in the Labour party.
Me in late 2025: 0% in the Labour ‘government’ and party.

My favourite Barry Cryer story is his account of Nicholas Parsons asking Ross Noble who his favourite comedian was. "Richard Pryor" Noble replied, "Genius! So sad he set himself on fire while freebasing crack cocaine".

Parsons, visibly upset, asked Barry later: "did you hear about Richard Briers?"

Keep signing, keep sharing.
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73...

Just fuck off with this. How about start the conversation by highlighting how much immigrants contribute to the UK - not least by propping up the NHS and social care system!

Also - forced volunteering is not volunteering, it's unpaid labour.

A-Level Politics question: “Define ‘democracy’”.