🧵on Democracy volunteers and why they're being called in for a bollocking by the Electoral Commission.

It's a good job all that AI speculation massively propping up stock markets has nothing to do with microchips. That would be bad.

It is good that this has been thoroughly investigated. It would also be good if all those who claimed, as a fact, that offences had taken place would now, with equal prominence, state that, after a thorough investigation, no evidence has been found to support their claims.

This is quite something from Singapore's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vivian Balakrishnan, in an interview with Reuters. The end of the post-war order, diagnosed in technocratic language. www.mfa.gov.sg/newsroom/pre...

Just been approached by Huel to see if I'll be part of their paid influencer campaign. I don't think they're quite across what I do for a living. (FWIW, and in the interests of having influence, I regard Huel as a soul destroying, miserable product and the death of all that is worth living for.)

The entire article is damning, and the depressing thing is that it likely would have forced Hegseth out even during Trump's first term.

Greater Manchester Police has found "no evidence of any intent to influence or refrain any person from voting" in the Gorton and Denton by-election, after Reform made a complaint over alleged "family voting" The investigation looked at potential offences under the Representation of the People Act

We’re talking about thousands of avoidable British deaths caused by poor government decisions & the British media response generally is…meh, not interested

if I were having kids take the piss outta me this bad I would simply not admit to it in a national newspaper

Hang on a second … Reach, home of the unusable websites, generic national advertorial on local news sites, omelette-brained clickbait and paywalling LDRS content, is accusing the **BBC** of making local news provision worse?! ‘kinell 🤦🏻🙄 via @pressgazette.co.uk pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/r...

The ‘we need to rethink our approach to the North Sea’ is dumbest conversation in UK politics Expensive to extract- much of it now owned by small producers - that goes into global market Good to jobs in Aberdeen, not much else *mad* we’re not talking about energy security + renewables every day

People who collect Glaswegiana: does anyone have a source for any version of the Kelvin Hippo origin story? I'm seeing assorted variants online, all dubious. (I realise that tracking an anecdote through this city is a difficult and hazardous sport, but I'm having a go anyway.)

Congratulations to Kirkcaldy Orchestral Society, deserving winners of the public vote for RPS Inspiration award. "Celebrating its 150th anniversary, the Society – run by volunteers – is a treasured jewel for the people of Fife, with rousing concerts and extensive initiatives in the local community."

Can this be a solution?

Tories arguing that Churchill should be on banknotes rather than Otters, because of WW2, are showing their ignorance. Here's a photo of an Otter participating in the fighting in Italy. I don't see Churchill in this photo.

You know that Mike Tyson quote, “Everyone has a plan until they’re punched in the face”? Well sometimes there isn’t even a plan.

Such a dismal tale about the UK govt: so obsessed w competing with far-right to keep out foreigners that it won’t let in the brightest & best from war-torn countries even when they’re hand-picked by the FCDO, lest they ask to stay. Soft power sacrificed, but how many Reform voters will it convert?

A company being awarded UK Government contracts👇🏻

Stop 👏 having 👏 unrealistic 👏 body 👏 standards 👏 for 👏 camels 👏

Trump and the UK have much in common - both avoided getting involved in the Vietnam War.

I sometimes wonder whether Blair ever learned anything from his disastrous support for Bush in Iraq. He clearly didn't.

Next on the list for public sculpture activism on the South Bank of the Thames...

“Axel Springer will further expand and strengthen the Telegraph Group internationally – with the aim of becoming the leading bourgeois-conservative* medium in the English-speaking world,” explained the Berlin-based publisher of “Bild” and “Welt.” Perhaps better translated as "civic-conservative"?

Axel Springer was the reason my Austin Allegro failed its MOT.

From the prolonged radio silence, I was beginning to worry Torsion Fountain had been nicked by a scrap metal thief and the developers of Shell Centre Upstream site were keeping quiet about it. When will water start flowing again??? @se1.news

Technocapitalists’ great trick is to make people who hate all this bullshit feel like they’re suffering from the same fogeys-not-coping-with-a-changing-world syndrome every generation succumbs to, rather than, say, just rejecting a rampant evil that seeks to rob us of our individuality and soul.

We Have Always Been At War With Eastasia

Raytheon Executive: I know you’re skeptical about buying American again. But hear me out. The MIM-104 Patriot is the only surface to air missile system with a proven track record of success against the US Air Force. Danish Defense Minister: Continue.

Islamophobic meme wars MAGA and UK offshoots in Reform desperately trying to connect Trump’s war against Iran with domestic British Muslim communities. But they are 85% Sunni and the 15% Shia is filled with Iranians who fled the Ayatollahs. It’s just racist ignorance, isn’t it?

Alex's mom on his 38th birthday.

I think you mean “panicking immigrants” Ms Oakshott?

Making a Khamanei who is going to die on his own soon enough and threaten the stability of the Iranian regime a martyr would be a spectacular stupid thing to do so I'm going to assume that's precisely what Trump and Bibi have done.

Just your regularly scheduled share of this masterpiece by @tomgauld.bsky.social

So just as a final word on this by election before polls close: No matter what the result, Gorton and Denton is supposed to be in a category of safe seat that should essentially render it uncompetitive. The fact that it isn't is a damning indictment of Labour's time in office.

Just half an hour left to read Andrew's Preview - so you too can sound knowledgeable about these bleeding chunks of City of Manchester and Tameside. Sewn together to form an unwieldy constituency - to appease Stockport Nationalists whose votes must never be co-mingled with those of Mancunians?

It's mad that people say this when every analysis of voting behaviour shows that which christian denomination you belong to (Anglican, Catholic or Non-Conformist) is a good predictor of whether you're a Tory, Labourite or LibDem. Just Islamophobia to think British Muslims invented religious voting

King Charles has come up with a radical new approach to deal with his Andrew problem

Look as endorsements against Matt Goodwin go I don't exactly agree with it, but I will take what I can get.

The long 2010s are finally over

This means: 1. Labour confident of win, or 2. Labour not confident of win but want to look confident of winning in order to try to conjure up a chance of winning, or 3. 4D chess players have run riot with PM's diary. Anyway, here's what the polls say: theweekinpolls.substack.com/p/gorton-and...

If we are to have an offence of Misconduct in Public Office then it should apply to the senior officer class as well as the junior officer class, so to speak. But since this ancient offence has been revived some 30 years ago, it has only been successfully used against the junior officer class.

Henry Moore's 'King and Queen' in happier times sitting in the Glenkiln landscape.

I assume this must be the version of 'King and Queen' from the Keswick family collection. They once sat majestically in Scottish countryside a few miles outside Dumfries at the former Glenkiln Sculpture Park. Sculptures removed c.2013 after another Moore was stolen. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Trent Park is pretty much Ultima Thule as far as this adopted South Londoner is concerned, being at the Cockfosters end of Piccadilly Line. The country park is well worth a visit, and restoration of the house as a museum is finally coming close to completion, with opening scheduled for this summer.