I'm not in the business of making political endorsements, I've never met @countbinface.bsky.social and I do NOT support his policy to move the hand dryer in the gents' loos at the Crown and Treaty pub, Uxbridge to a more sensible location. However I do think he is the opponent Farage deserves.

A side has been taken. www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

Yet again, the Telegraph ran a spoiler of this public interest story - based entirely on a briefing from Reform. The same as they did when Anna Isaac broke the original story. We all know whose scoop this was @annaisaac.bsky.social

Man of the People latest: by giving up his £98,599 MP's salary, Farage is taking a pay cut of 8.8 per cent

🧐

I mean, this shit is called like Bonk and Magic Internet Money. As a species we've wasted way too much time, effort, money, regulatory bandwidth, political capital and computing power on this utter nonsense. The opportunity cost is huge.

See also the rare Sweaty Libertarian Panama, a hat for the man who likes to imagine fomenting a coup in a subtropical country in order to appropriate its lithium (he needs the lithium to build datacentes in international waters, obviously)

For this week's New Statesman sketch, I went to a conference to observe Men in Libertarian Hats. www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...

"Despite the frenzy over the company’s initial public offering of stock, with investors placing more than $300 billion of orders for just $75 billion of shares being sold, the biggest, most sophisticated investors in the world see a harder road to success than Musk touts."

Reddit, a billionaire-owned US social media platform, now has a rule that the 450,000 users of its UK politics group MUST steal the work of British journalists. If you don't deprive the British press of revenue, you will be expelled!

I'll have the stea... actually you know what, I'll have a salad

Men carrying lecturns, men in shorts in the Palace of Westminster, men versus horses, and a men's slouch pouch onesie (£75.55) - it's a hot boy summer on the latest @newstatesman1913.bsky.social pod, where @willdunn.bsky.social and I round up the week!

Inspirational Lifestyle Content for Your Weekend #horses #midlifecrisis #semidigestedhay www.newstatesman.com/this-england...

Love the detail in this, like Burnham in T-shirt and trainers with Larry the Cat looking on in amusement.

🥵Why are so many Europeans/Britons unnecessarily sweating through a heatwave without cooling? Why are portable AC units so crap? The answers are both interesting and maddening. My latest on air conditioning👇 edconway.substack.com/p/the-missin...

By the way this race was a great laugh and well worth signing up for if you're into that kind of thing

🚨NEW: I recently attempted to run 22.6 miles faster than a horse. READ ON to find out if I can run faster than a great big horse. The answer might* surprise you! www.newstatesman.com/this-england...

In the future of AI superintelligence, the pills will be very large and they will be prepared by the chef robots

Excellent piece by @meganekenyon.bsky.social on Badenoch's grim tirade at PMQs today: www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

A brilliant cover story by @pronouncedalva.bsky.social and a brilliant cover for this week's @newstatesman1913.bsky.social, on newsstands (and, I would hope, your doormat) this week: www.newstatesman.com/politics/wes...

Why are there so many ads for TfL on the tube/bus/overground? Everyone knows about the bus! (I assume TfL doesn't pay for the space but I'm guessing there is some cost)

Very strong recommendation for Sarah O'Connor's new book, We Are Not Machines - full of compelling original reporting about the real effects of automation on human beings www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...

The people asking this seem not to understand that the market has already priced in the strong possibility that Miliband will be chancellor. Obviously that is part of the information available and has been for some time! Some more details here www.newstatesman.com/business/eco...

The always excellent @hannahsbee.bsky.social tells Steve Bray to pack it in www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

And it's farewell to the idea that Starmer and Reeves bought the protection of the bond vigilantes with grey-suited fiscal rectitude

Brilliant sketch by @willdunn.bsky.social:

The manner in which a person resigns is revealing of their character. www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...

My sketch of the PM's podium moment: www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...

An interesting point from this morning's chats is that Burnham's abilities as a politician really matter to investors. It's not just about fiscal rules - favourability is seen as necessary for fiscal control. The market is waiting to see if Burnham is better at being PM

The West End show that everyone want to see www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

The bond market has greeted Andy Burnham's victory in Makerfield with a shrug, partly thanks to a wider picture of lower than expected inflation. This doesn't mean investors are entirely sold on Burnham as PM, though www.newstatesman.com/business/eco...

Sketch: I went to this week's speech by Chris Philp on his plans for immigration. The big question was: would he try to be funny? www.newstatesman.com/politics/the...

The Home Shadow Secretary is the government minister who decides whether your neighbour's tree is blocking the light to your conservatory

"It is not unusual for a law to be made in the expectation that most people will break it." great piece by @willdunn.bsky.social:

Place your bets! (on the horse, obviously)

*Not investment advice www.newstatesman.com/business/eco...

From this week's Sketch: the Makerfield candidates are (almost) all just normal pie-eaters who like eating normal pies and are normal www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

You don't say

The worst thing about Trumpism is its affront to the values of Ben & Jerry's

This is an absolutely electric read, and essential if you want to understand the anger and powerlessness that people feel across Britain today.

The Conservatives are upset that "Thai-based crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne" is giving money to Reform, and when you know the context, this is actually understandable

In this week's Sketch the Makerfield candidates answer the big question: are any of them Wigan enough to order a "smack barm pey wet"? www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

In the course of today, His Majesty’s Government will do both of the following things: - moan loudly about X and blame it for the grotesque scenes in Belfast; - create huge amounts of content for X to monetise To govern is to choose.

Actually can you stop whispering this, it's getting creepy

Call me paranoid but I'm fairly certain I'm being followed by an orange van driven by a man in a wetsuit who stops every now and then to have a sincere conversation with some carers

The Lib Dems have yet to issue a denial about this. What else are Davey and his cabal hiding from us?

What a time to be alive