Leo Gibbons

“Wes Streeting: consistently pro-Palestine”, an entirely true statement believed only by six people, three of whom are pro-Israel MPs on the right of the Labour party who will therefore not nominate him.

Here is Stephen's piece
bsky.app/profile/step...

I also cite @duncanrobinson.bsky.social Bagehot's excellent recent column on the cost of the Cost of Living Obsession
www.economist.com/britain/2026...

I irony that is that your average reform voter is probably more liberal than a very large section of Labour’s (and increasingly the Green’s) base. There was some polling that showed it was Labour voters who were most likely to be disappointed if their child was gay, for example.

This reminds that I read this brilliant blog here: open.substack.com/pub/cromredo... on how successive government’s focus on importing labour to suppress wages, has hit productivity and innovation long term.

McSweeney punched too many hippies 😢

I don't disagree with this, I just do also think that Thatcher, Blair and Johnson showed that it is possible to get the other lot's voters without demoralising your base so much that you only get 34 per cent, and that the first two did so in a way that meant they could govern effectively.

Theresa May came in after her predecessor took us out of the EU by mistake, and in doing so, shattered the electoral coalition for 'well, you don't get much state, but nor do you pay much tax' that had worked for the party in 2010 and 2015.

I think also, the actual structural issue, in politics as in pretty much every field, is that the honest list of 'how to be good at your job' is 'step one: have a good predecessor'.

All you need is three chords right?

Do think people need to appreciate that it’s not merely a “do some expensive repairs to stop it falling down” job, but a “spending tens of billions to build a new improved giant temple” job

Will learning to play the guitar fill the void? You're never too old to join a band, are you?

New blog from me on my tortured relationship with the guitar and whether forming a band at 34… is a midlife crisis?

open.substack.com/pub/thehotta...

There is understandable Schadenfreude at the Reform councils' failure to cut council tax.

But it highlights a problem with local democracy which we should all be concerned about.

You can't have meaningful local democracy when 75% of budgets are spent on statutory duties.

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Layo Gibbons (@thehottakemerchant) Another blog from me on the the topic of praising and supporting others. When do we praise others? 1. When we are provided with an appropriate space to do so and 2. When we’re confident in own judgeme...

Another blog on a similar theme.

When do we praise others? 1. When we are provided with an appropriate space to do so, and 2. When we’re confident in our judgement.

substack.com/@thehottakem...

Layo Gibbons (@thehottakemerchant) Another blog from me on the the topic of praising and supporting others. When do we praise others? 1. When we are provided with an appropriate space to do so and 2. When we’re confident in own judgeme...

Another blog on a similar theme.

When do we praise others? 1. When we are provided with an appropriate space to do so, and 2. When we’re confident in our judgement.

substack.com/@thehottakem...

You can be talented, without being The Talent. Let's start celebrating each other a little more.

I wrote a short blog about the vulnerability of performing in public and why we should celebrate people a little more, even if they’re not world-beaters.

open.substack.com/pub/thehotta...

You can be talented, without being The Talent. Let's start celebrating each other a little more.

I wrote a short blog about the vulnerability of performing in public and why we should celebrate people a little more, even if they’re not world-beaters.

open.substack.com/pub/thehotta...

I feel seen

By my reckoning the third Oscar nominee born in Lewisham, can you name the other two?

361 days ago

Born to dilly dally, forced to lock in. The essence of the good life is found in idle chatter.

A new blog from me, written after a particularly horrible case of the Sunday Scaries yesterday.

The blog is about how all I want to do in life is idly chat.

open.substack.com/pub/thehotta...

Born to dilly dally, forced to lock in. The essence of the good life is found in idle chatter.

A new blog from me, written after a particularly horrible case of the Sunday Scaries yesterday.

The blog is about how all I want to do in life is idly chat.

open.substack.com/pub/thehotta...

The Nobel Peace Prize becoming so prestigious that wars are fought over a head of state coveting it is some real monkey paw stuff for Alfred Nobel.

Yes. You can have as many qualms on her behaviour or her ideological leanings as you like, but that is a third order issue here, first order is the dictatorship, second order is the clown show in the Oval Office demanding she degrade herself.

For balance, as I do spend a lot of time poo-pooing suggestions that this or that thing is meant as a Nazi allusion, I should point out here that I absolutely believe that this logo is meant as a Nazi allusion, it’s an open and shut case.

South east London's rail future: Network Rail launch study into future changes - Murky Depths Network Rail and Southeastern have launched a study into the future of rail services across south east London and parts of Kent

Network Rail commencing new study into the future of rail services in SE London and parts of Kent.

Set to cover up to 2055, it's happening as a "baseline" reached, but has it?

Growth in double digits with recovery continuing.

www.fromthemurkydepths.co.uk/2026/01/12/s...

If you think Heidi Alexander is a right wing horror then there’s no help for you.

Get a grip of yourself, delete social media & go and speak to real people.

He's clocked that foreign policy is the one area where he has untrammelled freedom to play mafia boss with no courts interferring,

It really isn’t your classic de-platforming / cancellation you would have seen in 2014-2023. But BlueSky is really a hold out for that sort of peak-Woke politics, so the replies are furious that Greenbelt did try and offer Lewis any sort of platform (no matter how hostile).

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