Here’s a fun top five: things that are consensus among historians but are essentially unknown by the public. Richard I, a bad king of England. Roman Empire, fell in 1453. Paul, more important than Jesus. Witch burning, a modern phenomenon not a medieval one. Britain last invaded in 1688. Yours?

A lot of people criticising this, but I am choosing to believe that this is finally the anti-Richard I film that England deserves.

Writing this I had to look through Grok's mentions. Earlier I counted around 8 requests PER MINUTE featuring "bikini" and "her". Thousands of women and girls stripped each day. I found users stripping dozens of women per hour, from female celebrities to gym selfies. www.thetimes.com/uk/technolog...

job news. This month I'll be filling @tomsasse.bsky.social's large shoes as the Economist's public policy editor, based in the Britain section. I'll be focusing particularly on the most interesting question in politics at the moment - what's gone wrong with state capacity and how to fix it

*Whiney Starmer voice* Sadly you must give Bluesky your card details before you can DM & show your knickers to the Knicker Inspectors before you pee because we're protecting women and chiiiiildreeennnn *5 minutes later*

"In several important respects, though – political; moral; in which interests he was happy to fight, and which he kowtowed before – Ernest Marples was both cause and symptom of a country about to get onto the wrong track...." Wrote for the I Paper about one of the villains of 1960s transport policy

sorry I'm late handing work in, the dog kept headbutting me so that I'd scratch his ears

amazing how the entire machine can pivot within 24 hours. no need to slowly upsell the argument; just issue new marching orders

god, the "Starmer's actually just too smart and thoughtful for you people and your 24 hour news cycle, you dolt, you fucking imbecile" people are *extremely* irritating

Look, he had no warning this topic would ever raise its head and it has never come up in the past, so it’s very unfair to expect him to formulate a position or response in advance.

This is not the first time he's ended up in a slightly watery version of what is nonetheless the right position. But why does it take him so long? It feels like even the Prime Minister is waiting to get quotes signed off. But that can't be right, surely

Finally read @lewisbaston.bsky.social piece on the border between Slovenia and Italy for @jonnelledge.bsky.social and it's a brilliant exploration I always find the tensions and fuzzyness of these areas fascinating-the way you can see the little clues of how places have shifted over time

'Every time we asked the electorate their opinion, vast numbers of them press the button clearly marked “Make things better”. Yet every time, things just keep on getting worse.' Happy new year, everybody!

100% of Americans can’t even pinpoint Venezuela on this map

"In several important respects, though – political; moral; in which interests he was happy to fight, and which he kowtowed before – Ernest Marples was both cause and symptom of a country about to get onto the wrong track...." Wrote for the I Paper about one of the villains of 1960s transport policy

I would quite simply die of shame.

What is the point of having a human rights lawyer in charge of the country if he can not bring himself to condemn blatant authoritarian land grabbing. What does it tell the country about fairness, justice and this govts priorities?

There’s appeal across the political spectrum, and you take the fight head on with the rule breakers of the former Tory govt and the rule destroyers of the far-right. But this govt have taken cowardice over justice every time. Bankers bonuses, Israel, Trump, ECHR, winter fuel, immigration…

There are MANY issues with Starmer’s messaging. But I always thought this govts best and easiest bet was to become THE government of the rules and fair play. Led by a former lawyer, lean into fairness, equality, law and order, justice for workers, respect for international law.

That’ll teach junk food companies for taking up precious space in the gambling advert break

I’ve been reading about influential new “conservative intellectuals” or “post-liberals” for at least a decade now and every time it’s just racism with a different hat on. Whatever the spin, it’s always fundamentally the same idea

Can't believe this has been sat on YouTube for fifteen years and I'd never heard it until today.

catching up on Traitors and enjoying the traitors reassuring themselves they won't turn on one another, yeah no sign of that happening everyone's cool and loyal in this game

Rich Berman is suuuuch a cunt

this thread has the most incredible levels of american bluesky I've ever seen. no need to have an opinion on any of it. just sit back and enjoy.

I raise you

Polls show that 70% of Americans oppose the war in Venezuela. But at this CBS News staff meeting, that number feels much smaller.

Harry says it's not his business to comment on the Death Eaters' internal affairs

One of the most maddening things about our current government is the way that they seem to think that if you find the right ambiguity of framing, they can continue to have it both ways and be everyone’s friend indefinitely.

if anyone ever asks you what bluesky is like, show them the replies to this

Good article this. Racism really is the reverse of a performance-enhancing drug, the mad, stupid shit it leads people to believe in and to do:

Ok. So. They anonymised the sheep.

Let's not mince words. These people pretend to be patriots, but are obviously traitors.

Right. My students working two part time jobs and/or having an hour and a half commute to uni because they have to live at home due to the cost of student accommodation lack drive and vigour. Sure thing, Peter. The UK Govt still haven't a clue about the realities of universities today.

Darren Jones truly woeful on Times Radio right now. Managing to sound both condescending and craven. Answering “I’m not a commentator” when asked to comment on the legality of the USA’s actions in Venezuela just comes across terribly. The government would’ve been better just putting no one up.

A post shared by the US Defence Secretary

Hvis det skal være med den på.

jfc

I think in this day and age they shouldn't have separate competitions based on your sexuality.

We're calling for submissions to the Black Archive from disabled authors and authors of colour, who we know have been underrepresented in the range. Please spread this as widely as you can, as we want it to reach as many eligible authors as possible. Thank you. obversebooks.co.uk/blackarchive...

now, it might seem odd that political commentators who advocated for the uk to leave the eu because of their belief in “the nation state” to be supportive of america’s annexation of venezuela, but what you have to remember is that those people didn’t actually think that, they were lying for money

There is a certain power that comes from having the balls to admit you were wrong about something and that, with the wisdom of time, you wouldn't say thet now. Odd how rarely people online seem to realise that.

British gaulism when

"Whatever messes can sometimes be thrown up in a world based on democratic self-determination, it is better, surely, than returning to the time when borders can be changed by force. If the world we’ve built since 1945 truly is passing, we will miss it when it’s gone." Feels relevant this morning.

pop quiz, hotshot: what does Venezuela have in common with Warwick Avenue tube station

Marco Rubio is reportedly saying Maduro will stand trial in US courts. Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.

oh yeah? well, could a dying sex criminal do THIS? [bombs venezuela]

it's impossible to overstate the risible stupidity of the sentence 'Trump's attitude to American military power is almost indistinguishable from that of, say, Jeremy Corbyn'