Perfectly competent CoS with integrity in Sue Gray who is replaced by a shady man in McSweeney. Perfectly competent Ambassador with integrity in Karen Pierce who was replaced by a liar and a charlatan in Mandelson. Anyone spot a pattern?

If any average person was asked to choose an ambassador to the USA, surely the character and moral fibre of the candidate would weigh equally with their intellect? Why wasn’t this the case with Starmer’s consideration of Mandelson? The answer has to be bad judgment

On Mandelson, the government spin doesn’t stack up a) If the existing vetting process was inadequate, why didn’t they change it? They did vow to do things differently! b) At what stage does an association with a convicted sex offender become unacceptable? Where is the line drawn on the spectrum?

What does the special relationship mean? It means we are totally dependent on the USA for defence, intelligence and economic growth.

@henry-winter.bsky.social Justread your goal post for today on World Cup ticket prices. Very sad state of affairs. Football is no longer for the masses, just the privileged few. Disgraceful pricing policy by FIFA, but do they care?

Did Starmer let slip the size of the current ‘black hole’, he said at PMQs that the CX needs to find £47bn at the forthcoming budget

@edconway.bsky.social Justice read your article on QE & QT, excellent by the way. This maybe a stupid question but why doesn’t BoE hold on to their gilt holdings until maturity? Net effect on the Balance Sheet will then be zero. Am I missing something?

So now we are going to have a law that requires officials to tell the truth. No one seems to see how farcical that is. What kind of country are we living in.

So His Majesty’s representative in the USA was best pals with a convicted paedophile and alleged sex trafficker. This Labour government is a shambles. So much for standards in public life.

Let’s be clear, Rayner sold her share in the family home to her son’s trust. It wasn’t an act of a generous parent or charity, it was a business transaction.

A further point on the Rayner tax issue. I went on to the HMRC website and searched stamp duty. Within 3 minutes I ascertained that someone in the same situation as Rayner, would have to pay the higher rate of stamp duty. Surely the Deputy Prime Minister of our country could have done the same

On a more philosophical point regarding Rayners tax problem. Surely this highlights the difficulty in basing tax on wealth.

Heidi Alexander this morning on Sky typical of Labour’s failure in Government. A truly appalling performance. A government obsessed with Tory failures of the past with no solutions for the future.

@athersmike.bsky.social you might want to explain to Ravi Shastri what “going for a toss” means in English slang

Here’s a question: If birthright citizenship in the USA was specifically referring to the children of slaves, does the right to bear arms only apply to muskets?

@edconway.bsky.social just read your analysis on Sky News, why don’t you send a copy of your book, Material World to President Trump. For everyone else, get a copy and read it, truly brilliant