Dreaming of @aiannucci.bsky.social Time Trumpet's vision of Tony Blair in 2031 to come true rather than this horrible nightmare Tony & Co have drafted

Myself and Stewart Lee examining Free Speech, censorship and ‘Hurty Words.’ #StrongMessageHere

'THIS' is a highly recommended listen! Thank you Armando Iannuccii & Stuart Lee.

Amusing humour, under which we can hear the horror in @aiannucci.bsky.social and Lee's voices as they witness / experience the developing catastrophe... or perhaps I'm just projecting www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Hopefully there is now a clear understanding across govt that unless the two-child limit is scrapped, there will be more kids in poverty at the end of this parliament than when Labour took office. The policy must go in the child poverty strategy before the life chances of many more kids are damaged.

🚨 NEW: One million children in working families are affected by the two-child limit, new analysis by @cpaguk.bsky.social has revealed. 3 in 5 families impacted by the two-child limit are working, while a large majority who are not working have young children or are ill or disabled. 1/4

it's brightened my day, this has. a tonic. in this mad mad mad mad world that we have now, i feel slightly saner. thanks fellas

OPINION TODAY featured podcast — With Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension, and in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder, free speech is in the spotlight again. Stewart Lee and @aiannucci.bsky.social discuss ‘hurty words.’ (Strong Message Here) opiniontoday.substack.com/i/174600125/...

“This” is worth 30 mins of your time, @mainewrexhamfan.bsky.social

On above, see @aiannucci.bsky.social & Stewart Lee on “consequence culture” (also kudos for the term “patriotic fatberg”): www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Myself and Stewart Lee examining Free Speech, censorship and ‘Hurty Words.’ #StrongMessageHere

Essential listening right now ⬇️

If you like excellent craic with your etymology then hard not to recommend this @aiannucci.bsky.social podcast (Even better if you're a fan of his ouvre) Episode this week is on the phrase Hurty Words (of Lucy Connolly fans) & co-presented alongside Stewart Lee. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand...

So good to have this series back again with Armando Iannucci and guest co-host, Ria Lina & so on the money about where we are at politically in the UK: Strong Message Here, Phase 2 buff.ly/i0E3gLa #UKPolitics

OPINION TODAY featured podcast — The political summer is often called 'silly season', but with global conflict and rising tensions at home, @aiannucci.bsky.social and @rialina.com look at the language that defined recent months. (Strong Message Here) opiniontoday.substack.com/i/173923231/...

Yes, alas Helen is detained in America. Not for criminal reasons but because her day-job at @theatlantic is currently full-on. You will hear from her in this week’s episode, though. Listen out …

Armando Iannucci and “The Thick of It” team wrote an episode based around the phrase “the man for the moment” which led to Malcolm Tucker explaining the need for a “lockdown”. That was first broadcast in 2009 and was a lot funnier than how reality has turned out!

Looks like free-speech absolutism is relative.

I took up @helenlewis.bsky.social ‘s advice and read ‘Mort.’ It was considerably joyous. #StrongMessageHere

It’s important that dental health treatment addresses the roof of the mouth as well as gums and teeth, with more resources targeted at West London. Which is why I’m proud to #SupportPalateTimeActon

I’d like to see more work done to preserve the site of the ancient palace of the Roman Emperors so that many more generations can visit and enjoy it. Which is why I, like many others #SupportPalatineAction

For the antepenultimate Strong Recommends, @aiannucci.bsky.social chose Tehran (Apple TV) which is broadcast in a mixture of Hebrew, Farsi and English, to emphasise the different perspectives of the characters: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Journalists questioning Nigel Farage should be pointing out Brexit has been a primary factor in the sky rocketing number of small boat crossings. How hard can this be? youtu.be/cKXFjbxSBBI?...

@aiannucci.bsky.social Your ‘strong message here’ about Apple TV’s Tehran was so good to hear. I’m watching it for the 3rd time. Characterization is essential for the success of any film or work of fiction and both this and Slow Horses are excellent examples as are French films and TV.

This is vile. Local guy speaks to Sky News about the impact of asylum seekers protests. Watch what happens and share widely

There's no better time than now to revisit @aiannucci.bsky.social’s masterful political satire The Death of Stalin, now streaming on Hulu. From @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social: www.rogerebert.com/mzs/30-minut...

net immigration fell by more than half last year and the politics has gone in the complete opposite direction. It's not really about the numbers

Actually, 21 years old .

Autocrats’ Playbook: page 17. Criminalise your opponents. I mean, at this stage it writes itself. www.foxnews.com/video/637738...

Promotes freedom of speech then refuses to speak to local press. Nottingham Reform off to a solid start. www.nottinghampost.com/news/news-op...

📢 @jdportes.bsky.social "We have yet to hear a Cabinet Minister point out that migrants now fill 1/5 jobs in the UK, that they are more likely to be employed & less likely to claim benefits. Diversity should be our greatest strength, and it is that argument that anti-immigration zealots fear most."

The ever-eloquent @rafaelbehr.bsky.social pointedly refusing to mince his words on what Farage has done for us. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Has anyone put it to Nigel Farage that his two main policies have been Brexit and Donald Trump?

Just finished Storyville’s ‘The Contestant’ h/t @aiannucci.bsky.social. Extraordinary. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

"... Americans wrongly believe there would be one clear unambiguous moment where we go from “democracy” to “authoritarianism.” Instead, this is exactly how it happens — a blurring here, a norm destroyed there, a presidential diktat unchallenged." www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/america-ti...

Pritzker: Trump looked at the cameras and asked for me personally to say, Mr. President, can you do us the honor of protecting our city? Instead, I say, Mr. President, do not come to Chicago. Your remarks about this effort have betrayed a continuing slip in your mental faculties

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... Armando Iannucci recommends The Ballad of Wallis Island. So do I! Out to buy now and still in some independent cinemas. Really worth seeing on a big screen if you can.

Splendid film x

There were more people taking part in protests against the board of Sheffield Wednesday than there were people protesting against all the Asylum Hotels in all of the UK this weekend. Don't mainstream bigotry!

Four Palestinian journalists, a rescue worker and several more people were killed on Monday after two Israeli strikes hit a hospital in southern Gaza on Monday, according to local officials. Israel confirmed its forces struck the hospital area, without saying why.

It is clearly the case that asylum protests were smaller this weekend than the small over-hyped protests on August 8th, and smaller than in the second half of July. No broadcast outlet has accurately conveyed that + asked why: they have explicitly stated and inferred growing protests