Find someone who loves you as much as a cat loves a newly switched-on radiator

Tips for how a marriage can survive a husband with a knitwear fetish?

Guys guys guys! We found the CD and turns out it’s TRUE

From @rmcunliffe.bsky.social's great interview with him:

Possibly my favourite radio review of the year!

Who are you in Winnie-the-Pooh? 🖊️ @RMCunliffe.bsky.social

*You* might call it a fire hazard *We* call it Chanukah

I post a link to an article I wrote about the Lib Dems' plans for 2026. This individual chooses to reply like this. I'm sure they've got a really good reason for chasing Jewish journalists around BlueSky accusing them of covering for genocide. And it definitely isn't about antisemitism.

“It’s between us and Reform”: The Lib Dem plan to win in 2026 Ed Davey’s party is drawing up attack lines for Labour, Reform and Brexit 🖊️ @RMCunliffe.bsky.social

Anyway! What are the Lib Dems up to? Do they feel sidelined by Farage and Polanski, or do they think being the party that fixes the church roof (and campaigns on rubbish mountains and water scandals) is right where they ought to be? A dispatch from Lib Dem land www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

I'll say it again: if any other ethnic or religious minority said "please don't use this particular term or chant, you might not have bad intentions but it is deeply racist and threatening to us", the reaction would be mortified apology. And that's without a mass terror event four days ago

“He doesn’t have the baubles”, quipped Kemi Badenoch, causing MPs to lose it like a class of teenagers at the end of term singing a Christmas carol that includes the word “breast”. Dignified it was not. Some thoughts on the last PMQs of the year www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

1. THAT IS NOT CLIO THE CAT 2. Also, why is my cat in Greece?

On a happier note, I wrote for the @newstatesman1913.bsky.social Christmas issue on my 2025 mission to learn how to do cryptic crosswords. Welcome to a world of anagrinds and homophones, red herrings and old slang, niche subcultures - and very tricksy Hobbitses www.newstatesman.com/culture/life...

On a happier note, I wrote for the @newstatesman1913.bsky.social Christmas issue on my 2025 mission to learn how to do cryptic crosswords. Welcome to a world of anagrinds and homophones, red herrings and old slang, niche subcultures - and very tricksy Hobbitses www.newstatesman.com/culture/life...

It’s hard to explain what the last two days have felt like. I tried to put it into words on the New Statesman podcast today. But really I just wanted to talk about Chanukah - what it means to me, the message it signifies, and why you need at lest 10kg of potatoes podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/d...

Oh yes, play White Wine In The Sun, Tim Minchin's song about celebrating this time of year and how it feels being 9000 miles from family and the oddities of it being summer in Australia and winter here, listen to that when your sister is Sydney, that's a great idea that totally won't make you cry

Some thoughts on Bondi Beach, the sliding doors surreality of knowing my sister could have been there, and how it feels to be lighting candles tonight to celebrate our resilience www.newstatesman.com/world/2025/1...

I went to bed excited to celebrate the first night of Chanukah tonight. I woke up to a text from my sister in Sydney reassuring us that she wasn’t at the candle event on Bondi Beach where 11 people have been killed in a shooting targeting the Jewish community. Feeling sick with relief - and horror

Our new study 🚨'Are broadcasters reflecting multi-party politics in the UK? An analysis of BBC News at Ten and ITV News at Ten in 2025' written up brilliantly by @rmcunliffe.bsky.social in The @newstatesman1913.bsky.social Thread with headlines: www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

Rogue opinion as I celebrate my 6th Christmas (still learning the ropes): presents for adults should be scrapped. Or at the very least, do a Secret Santa. Focus on making it magical for the kids and get each adult one quality present they might actually want, rather than lots of random panic-gifts

Exclusive: Reform overtook the Tories as the most referenced opposition party on both the BBC and ITV. “Reform UK was the dominant party in more than twice as many stories as the Conservatives and just under four times more stories than the Liberal Democrats." www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

PMQs! It feels like the end of term (even though it isn't) and the customs union is back... www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

Fair

My dad always says the cat is not stupid, she is just only clever at cat things. Like, for example, working out exactly where the underfloor heating pipes are located

Really interesting thread on the reality of being an MP with no research team of whips office...

6PM Wednesday, Mile End. @psurridge.bsky.social and I will be joined by @stephenkb.bsky.social, the Associate Editor of the @financialtimes.com, and @rmcunliffe.bsky.social, Associate Political Editor at the @newstatesman1913.bsky.social

How Labour should respond to the Green surge – and why it’s not calling them “nuts”. Enjoyed discussing with @rmcunliffe.bsky.social on today’s NS podcast. m.youtube.com/watch?v=k_mc...

“Russia wishes us harm and is working in a very organised way to inflict damage” There’s been a lot of recent Russia-UK news - from spy submarines to the Salisbury inquiry. So I asked someone who’s been tracking what’s going on why Russia has singled us out www.newstatesman.com/internationa...

A Spotify ghost is listening to my audiobook hours. This is not only using up my listening time (which Spotify refuses to acknowledge) but also had the unnerving effect of starting to play Terry Pratchett’s Soul Music at 4am, waking me up in a spooked-out panic. No other devices logged-in. Ideas?

“Russia wishes us harm and is working in a very organised way to inflict damage” There’s been a lot of recent Russia-UK news - from spy submarines to the Salisbury inquiry. So I asked someone who’s been tracking what’s going on why Russia has singled us out www.newstatesman.com/internationa...

If voters could vote against a party (More in Common)

Can Jaffa Cakes explain the tax system? 🍰🍪 @rmcunliffe.bsky.social demonstrates. Full discussion 👉 linktr.ee/ohgodwhatnow... #ukpol #ukpolitics #tax #OGWN #podcast #podcasts #jaffacakes

www.economist.com/britain/2025... new guy just dropped

Labour: let people use nectar points to buy baby formula, it'd be slightly cheaper The very online right: THIS IS COMMUNISM The very online left: NATIONALISE BABY FORMULA NOBODY SHOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR IT Just need 'everyone should breastfeed anyway' to complete the deck

So now people are angry the government is trying to make feeding hungry babies less expensive...?

On jury trials, it's important to remember how we got to the point where victims and defendants are waiting years for their cases to be heard. As to what to do now we're here, Labour has a choice. It’s not about Magna Carta, it's about money – and trade-offs. www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

"How will your Classics degree ever be useful for your job?" they said Me 15 years later citing The Wasps by Aristophanes in a discussion about jury trials 😊😊😊

On 10 December, 18:00, join @timbale.bsky.social @stephenkb.bsky.social @rmcunliffe.bsky.social & @psurridge.bsky.social to discuss "The British General Election of 2024". Join us to explore how the election was won, where it was lost & what's changed since July 2024. www.qmul.ac.uk/mei/events/m...

"We will have an economy in which the full-time work of some young people will pay less than the state pensions of retirees, and yet it is the young people who will be taxed." www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

Are you “confident we have now walked through the narrowest part of the tunnel”? Keir Starmer is. But it's difficult to see how he's come to that conclusion... www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

An estimated £31bn per year is lost to the economy from people retiring before 66. So what can be done - and are there any productivity lessons that might be equally applicable to the rest of us? Featuring the sardine-commute and the ballet-to-cyber pipeline... www.newstatesman.com/business/wor...

It’s that time of year again, when my husband claims he is on the 1998 @classicfm.com Christmas Carols recording as the soloist in "In The Bleak Midwinter". There is no recording to stream online. Anyone got any evidence/advice to help solve the mystery of whether he's making it all up...?

Deja vu of when Boris Johnson tried to argued that unchecked immigration is what brought down the Roman Empire…

"As unintended consequences go, there’s a sense of surrealism about hardline Tories like Jenrick taking the side of the legal establishment, Britain’s liberal traditions and individuals charged with some quite serious crimes." On the politics of jury trials www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

The only Black Friday piece you need to read today www.newstatesman.com/business/eco...

Very good by @rmcunliffe.bsky.social. This country's deternination to consume its own young is both disgusting and, i suspect, self defeating.

"Somewhat implausibly"

Some sympathy for this potentially made up woman but I wonder how the poster feels about the numerous people who would love to be able to call a house their own and form relationships with their neighbours but can't because of the housing market. Does their emotional plea count for anything?