Robert Shrimsley

When someone tells you who there are, believe them.

yes, me too

It should be obvious that this is not a tiger Jews want to ride.

🙏

should credit Charlotte Ivers for having this thought ahead of me

If you feel the need to do something in the wake of the Manchester attack why not donate to the Community Security Trust, the organisation that works to keep jews in Britain safe

cst.org.uk/donate-now

Really good piece this from @stephenkb.bsky.social. Hilariously brutal on the “What did we learn on our summer holidays?”memo. "The title sounds like it was written by an eight-year-old, which would surely have been preferable to the actual content."

ooh vicious

What do I buy for someone who hates me? Much will depend on the message you wish to convey

What gift to I give to a host who hates me? An ill-qualified journalist solves your domestic issues

Your one stop shop for family warfare and petty passive aggression.

www.ft.com/content/3a46...

I do think this has been a week in which new levels of 'why don't senior Labour politicians understand we can ALL hear them' have been reached. Why would Andy Burnham do a 'I'm gonna hike taxes on London and the south, you're all rich!' Why would Steve Reed use 'regional politician' as a putdown?

Brutal new MRP poll out today showing Reform at 311 and Labour support collapsing.

Worth reading steaming @financialtimes.com column on Starmer by @robertshrimsley.bsky.social

“Starmer can’t afford to wait for reckless Reform to implode”

on.ft.com/3VxxCaR

Starmer can’t afford to wait for reckless Reform to implode Farage’s path to power is strewn with landmines planted by his own side

Terrific column by @robertshrimsley.bsky.social: laughed out loud at the description of Andy Burnham, " popping up, as so often, like a hopeful beneficiary at a deathbed"

thanks

Starmer can’t afford to wait for reckless Reform to implode Farage’s path to power is strewn with landmines planted by his own side

The way to defeat Reform is not to parrot them on immigration while hoping they'll self-destruct. Instead, it is to take the fight to Farage relentlessly and aggressively, while offering hope voters can buy into. Can Starmer do it? He has no choice. @robertshrimsley.bsky.social absolutely nails it.

Starmer can’t afford to wait for reckless Reform to implode Farage’s path to power is strewn with landmines planted by his own side

'Starmer can't afford to wait for reckless Reform to implode' – by @robertshrimsley.bsky.social

www.ft.com/content/e895...

Hmm, I wonder if there is some kind of lesson/ message in this.

When free speech evangelists lose the plot Charlie Kirk’s deplorable murder has sent Republican hypocrisy on the subject rocketing

To no-one's deep surprise, the Charlie Kirk aftermath shows Repubicans and conservatives never really believed in free speech after all. Which is a pity, because their criticism had a point. My latest.

www.ft.com/content/2dcc...

When free speech evangelists lose the plot Charlie Kirk’s deplorable murder has sent Republican hypocrisy on the subject rocketing

"What makes the Republican and conservative hypocrisy so depressing is that, at a time when free speech in the west needs thoughtful defenders, its self-proclaimed champions have revealed themselves as posturing partisans." @robertshrimsley.bsky.social
www.ft.com/content/2dcc...

Opinion: What makes the Republican and conservative hypocrisy so depressing is that, at a time when free speech in the west needs thoughtful defenders, its self-proclaimed champions have revealed themselves as posturing partisans. on.ft.com/46aEwsF

Starmer and Badenoch are handling the far-right march all wrong A look back to the days of Enoch Powell suggests a better model

It should be obvious that a march whose organising principle is that the mere existence of Badenoch is a crisis and that Starmer needs to be overthrown can’t be beaten by either politician equivocating on whether they are wrong
Excellent from @stephenkb.bsky.social

www.ft.com/content/fbbd...

If only there had been some clues about Mandy’s past

yeah but Helen Mirren doesn't come cheap

but also Magna Carta - fundamentally the work of Norman barons. She wouldnt have liked the Witan, basically the economic establishment

some really dreadful anti-normanism here

Lammy getting the Raab combo of DPM and justice confirms the constitutional role of DPM as demotion blow softener

The curious incident of the Conservatives in the night The case for Badenoch as leader was that she was charismatic and combative enough to win her party a hearing

“Unpopularity can be overcome but irrelevance is fatal”.

www.ft.com/content/a741...

The curious incident of the Conservatives in the night The case for Badenoch as leader was that she was charismatic and combative enough to win her party a hearing

The Conservatives have become the dog that did not bark. Farage is treated as the real opposition and the core issue is they are struggling to answer a simple question: what is the problem for which the Tories are the solution?

www.ft.com/content/a741...

The curious incident of the Conservative party in the night-time.

www.ft.com/content/a741...

This is very good