So we've gone from Iran levying an illegal charge on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, to the United States levying an illegal charge on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The US Government is now, sadly, both criminal and incompetent. It is also clearly either non-rational or irrational.

It's rare that news media adequately reports the scientific consensus around climate change. Here the Guardian gets it right. Balanced reporting does not mean suggesting that the odd outlying opinion, usually with an industry bias, gives cause for real doubt. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

If you’re not alarmed you’re not paying attention. www.propublica.org/article/fede...

Yes, in a cosy press conference, #sleepyDonald referred to Iran as the Islamic Republic of Japan.

The thing that Nigel Farage has most in common with Donald Trump is that they both see politics as a vehicle for their own enrichment. Their performance fascism may or may not be heartfelt, but its underlying purpose is to secure the power that supplies their greed.

If Pochetino picks #Balogun, the USA should be expelled from the World Cup. It won't happen, but it should. Belgium could force the issue by refusing to take the field, if he's picked. They won't, but they should.

My comment to the BBC story about Trump, FIFA, the rescinded red card: "FIFA. Almost as corrupt as the American Government" Was removed by the BBC for being "off topic". Really.

I've always quite liked Andy Burnham and I encouraged people to vote for him in Makerfield, but as the interviews go by, he looks increasingly like Starmer reprised, only with a different accent. Until Labour Leaders see their BlueLabour experiment as a failure we won't get a progressive government.

Republicans mostly still support Trump. The rest of America though, about two thirds, has had enough.

"Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough It isn't fit for humans now." John Betjeman, 1937 www.theguardian.com/environment/...

I very much agree with Alf Dubbs. But will Burnham turn away from BlueLabour and put a stop to the Government's blatant hostility towards all kinds of immigrants? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

So Nigel Farage claims that he wasn't involved in politics at all when he accepted, in 2024, £5 million from a Thailand based billionaire, so didn't have to declare the money to anyone. Er, yeah, lies, damned lies and Farage fabrications...

President Trump's #SaveAmericaAct would be America's Enabling Act of 1933. Its clear purpose is to end legitimate elective democracy and the idea that all Americans should be able to choose their Government and hold them accountable for what they do.

A switching graph among all these voters would be interesting to see. We can assume that the Liberal and Green voters from '24 chose Burnham, but there was probably more movement among all the others than is obvious from the straight counts.

Badenoch claims that "this is the most left wing government we have ever had". It's such nonsense it's almost funny. The problem with this BlueLabour government is that it's a horrible blend of economically centre-right and socially conservative. By design.

Trump has been arguing that the US should seize Iran's #oilfields since 1987.

No surprise really that Yaxley-Lennon would meet Musk Senior in Moscow. I wonder if he challenged him on his grooming of his step-daughter?

The Nowak case wasn't an error related to race protocols, it was related to the violent offender protocol, where the Police will first put the suspect in restraints and use other 'control' methods to secure the suspect & only then then establish what actually happened. It's supposedly for safety.

Tony #Blair always was the strangest Tory ever sold. Now that his institute is almost entirely funded by an American billionaire, it's no surprise that any pretence at being even remotely left of centre has gone.

Hope springs eternal. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Here’s a thought — Maybe these people don’t deserve to be handsomely rewarded? (From NPR)

It's good that there is now more attention being given to young NEETs (not in education, employment or training), but the % hasn't changed a great deal over many years. It's a very long standing problem. Maybe votes for 16 & 17 year olds could make it an issue that demands more impactful solutions?

The #BBC should give Stephen Colbert a new show. And sell the rights for peanuts to every broadcaster around.

Farage "I can't be bought" Also Farage -

The #EFL have shown real courage in standing up for fair play in response to cheating by Southampton. Contrast that with the FA's dismal showing vs cheating by Chelsea and Man City.

Corporate sponsors of Trump’s Christian nationalist prayer rally today Rededicate 250 include Mastercard and United Airlines

The UK had two referenda on staying in the #EU. The total vote in favour of staying in was larger than for leaving, by a large margin. So, no the issue wasn't finalised in 2016 any more than in 1975. Referenda capture the feelings of the electorate at one moment in time, not forever.

If Andy #Burnham is serious about proportional representation and getting it done swiftly, then he's absolutely worth voting for in the by-election and the Labour Leadership election that will follow. I hope Lib Dem and Green leaning voters, in #Mayfield, back him on that basis.

If Keir Starmer caves, please don't replace him with Wes Streeting or any other advocate for #BlueLabour. We want a vibrant, progressive alternative to the far right, not another form of far right that apologises for itself.

As well as tacking to the liberal-left, the #Labour Party needs to accept the case for electoral reform. The consequence, if they don't, will be a fascist government elected with a large majority of MPs on a minority of the vote. Hang that on your consciences my Labour friends.

Nigel Farage... not quite Trump level nose in the trough, but then he is your pound shop Trump, so it's all relative.

Zack #Polanski is right to question whether police officers used disproportionate force by repeatedly kicking a suspect in the head (and stamping on his head) after he'd been incapacitated by taser fire.

Very good documentary by Stephen Fry & his Pindex team. American fascism is real and it's in power. youtube.com/watch?v=lNfz...

King Charles mounts a strong defence of liberal democracy, good governance, internationalism, collective security and environmental protection. Bravo sir. www.youtube.com/live/XJitc-3...

My morning reflection, reading the National Geographic, is that the most succinct summary of what Christ stood and died for is diversity, equity and inclusion. The irony being obvious. #DEI

In case you missed it, the US Government did actually post a video featuring a sequence of lethal missile strikes on Iranian targets to the tune of ACDC's Thundersruck. The horrible spectacle is calculated. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Looking back across history there have been plenty of Popes who were anything but Christian in the sense of the life, work and teachings of Christ. So I'm glad that some recent Popes, including the current one, have been more you know, actually Christian.

So your new centre-forward is not playing well and you worry his poor performance might cost you. But surely you don't want him to get sent off for a foul he didn't commit, because that will help no-one? #Starmer

It's worth remembering that when Boris Johnson was #vetted for the role of Foreign Secretary, the security services raised concerns that his relationships with Russian oligarchs made him a security risk. The risks were ignored and the Conservative Government made the appointment.

Even Trump's obsession with golden encrusted rooms comes straight from the Kremlin. The Amber Room, Kremlin, Moscow, being admired by Putin and Schroeder. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Survivors of abuse by #Epstein and his criminal collaborators don't need a moment before Congress, they need the full power of the law to prosecute all those responsible. That will only happen via a Special Prosecutor, with bipartisan support, and a Grand Jury.

Can we now go back to appointing a Special Prosecutor, with bipartisan support, backed by a Grand Jury, to properly investigate the #Epstein crimes against young women and children and the possible participation of much of the billionaire class in said crimes?

MPs must be given the chance to hold the Government to account and prevent the UK from being complicit in war crimes and breaches of international law. Air base access must also be withdrawn now.

It's not only Jewish people who find Kanye West's wholehearted support for the Nazis and his sale of Heil Hitler merchandise deeply offensive.

So will the Starmer government allow the US to use British bases and British airspace to carry out Trump's threatened destruction of Iran's civilian infrastructure?

"Matthew Goodwin has been paid a salary of up to €10,000 a month [from Hungary's state-funded MCC], according to leaked documents obtained by Hungarian investigative journalists Direkt36 and reported by the Good Law Project" That could all end if Orbán loses... open.substack.com/pub/democrac...

On the one hand, Trump's raging, foul mouthed tantrum at his own impotence is understandable. On the other hand he is POTUS and should be impeached.

14th Amendment. “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” You couldn't ask for a clearer commitment to citizenship rights. Trump's Order to rescind that is plainly illegal.

Trump has been singing his Russia planted anti-NATO, anti-old allies tune since 1987. It's no surprise that he'd wage a ridiculous war of aggression, then turn on all those allies for not playing ball, as he knew they wouldn't.

Listening to #BBC Radio 4 Today discuss widening use of Ozempic and Wegovy, with a "clinical expert" on hand to provide reassuring messages, shouldn't they have informed listeners that the clinician academically declares financial support from the company that markets these drugs?