‘l’incroyable fiasco’

Reading this as one of my many tasks today. Very downcast to see all those universities founded in the 1960s to foster the whole person, communities of hope and the conditions of freedom... ripped apart and trashed just a couple of generations later. For no good reason.

The curse of performance management. The mistaken belief that you can measure high performance. In both public and private sector I've seen nothing more likely to damage staff morale. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

This will do nothing to improve women’s lives and the many struggles we face, but it will put trans people (and anyone perceived as trans) at increased risk of discrimination, harassment and violence. [2/5]

It's much more than a toilet ban. Here's the summary. Please share far and wide, this needs to be stopped #LabourBathroomBan #TransSegregation

His son should have told him he'd get a trophy.

Home tomorrow after my second hip replacement (the first was 11 years ago) carried out by the wonderful Sarah Muirhead Allwood. So glad I got in before she retires.

Change?

The latest immigration stats are out. I'll share a few things as I go through to write up an article for Free Movement. First thing: asylum claims have fallen 12% compared to the previous year. www.gov.uk/government/s...

This would mean shoppers buying other items would subsidise essentials, because supermarkets would raise prices to protect margins. Which is not terrible but it's more efficient to raise Universal Credit www.theguardian.com/business/202...

If the UK can’t make oil sanctions against Russia stick, does anyone really believe our politics are going to acquiesce in the tax rises/spending cuts involved in raising spending on defence (against Russia) to 3.5%+ GDP?

Looks like I’ll finally have to start listening to you all about alternative search engines

“Being undetectable and unaffected by HIV for more than four decades has often felt like running naked through a house on fire – and somehow not getting burnt.” Worth reading

Europe should not be running after Putin. It should be maximising the military & economic pressure on him. Every initiative to “reopen formal channels” will be seen by Putin as a sign of European weakness, & will encourage him to keep fighting.

What on earth could possess someone to title their book “The Future of Truth” and then use AI to write it, which then predictably hallucinates a ton of quotes? www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/b...

Stellar article from @edwardluce.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/4aa7...

in 2010 ministers said phase 1 of High-Speed 2 (from Old Oak Common to Birmingham) would be finished by 2026 now the completion date has been pushed back to between 2036 and 2039 with the final leg to Euston not set to be finished until as late as 2043 price tag up from £80bn to £103bn

Right, the useful indication of 'HS2 has been badly managed' is surely...the high speed railways in France? Or Japan? Or you know, literally anywhere else in the world?

*breathes in to paper bag*

I don’t say this lightly but this piece about a French Ponzi scheme might be one of the best stories you read all year, with unbelievable twists and turns www.ft.com/content/56af...

www.ft.com/content/b064... The truth behind the manosphere’s ‘looksmaxxed’ interiors

Turns out God wanted the ballroom. bsky.app/profile/atru...

🚨 Lord Sugar in Sun Times “Leaving Europe is the worst thing I have experienced in my whole time in business.” “Johnson and Gove should be in jail. As a chairman I am obliged to tell the truth to my shareholders.” “If I lie it’s a criminal offence. 1/2 #rejoinEU

"Odd" is actually an odd word to use. She may think it's misguided, but hardly odd and certainly no odder than her stated position.

Bollox Our Cambridge college actively recruited from comprehensive schools in the north. Merely being at Cambridge did not denote poshness in the 80s

You know what, Judith? I think they might just have been extremists.

Netanyahu’s phone bill must be extraordinary.

Every homeowner should read this story. Unlike the other Andrew Milne horrors, this one wasn’t aimed at leaseholders. The victims were free holders, oblivious to the dangers. If you have a piece of open land next to your house, it can be weaponised against you. And it’s really easy to do.

Look, if you're going to go out with a banner like this, you need to cut some air vents in it. What you've created there is a sail, and you're in danger of ending up in the Thames.

Zohran Mamdani becomes one of the first mayors in the US (and among a small handful of prominent US officials generally) to recognize the Nakba — the mass expulsion and forced displacement of 700,000+ Palestinians. Connected directly with a Nakba survivor:

Ah, yes. Fewer air traffic controllers is the answer. www.reuters.com/business/wor...

So, Labour tears itself apart to try to stop Farage being our next PM just as he finally faces scrutiny in a monumental corruption scandal which could… and really should…end his political career. I’d go hard on that rather than each other right now guys. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Britain’s post-Brexit ungovernability. New post on my Brexit & Brexitism Blog discussing last week’s elections, the Labour leadership crisis which has followed, and what both tell us about post-Brexit politics: chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2026/05/brit...

incredible and shameful there isn’t international condemnation of the united states for collective punishment of 10 million people

“He’s very conflict-averse. Andy wants to be loved and avoids making difficult decisions.” I don’t want to be a downer but isn’t this what Jess Philips, Wes Streeting and everyone else have been complaining about with Keir Starmer?

The UAE has earned its place among the ranks of the world’s outlaws. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I'm reminded by @sturdyalex.bsky.social that the heart of the Rayner story was a divorced couple taking an incredibly mature and thoughtful approach to diving their assets in the interest of their son. Whatever the political consequences, I hope as a family that they can now move past this.

While all eyes are on Farage, we're overlooking something even worse: the building of the very tight and truly vile operation that is Restore Britain. This excellent essay/report by Simon Pearson should wake us up to the threat - and to what exactly it is. simonpearson1.substack.com/p/tory-30

There's simply no excuse for how vapid this piece is. Starmer is so weak internally at the moment that absolutely nothing is stopping a leadership contender writing a deep, policy-rich piece about what they'd do differently - the only constraint is their own ability to do so.

The French scholar Damien Charlotin is doing gods work in compiling every AI-hallucinated case featured in recorded cases around the world. www.damiencharlotin.com/hallucinatio...

we only know about the £5m Harborne donation thanks to journalists at the Guardian, but sure trash the MSM for clicks

New: Starmer's allies braced for full scale leadership battle kicking off within 24 hours. Streeting will move, but expectation a centre-left candidate will enter fray too...Miliband, Rayner, Powell? Will Starmer stand? "It's crazy," says one cab minister www.ft.com/content/4fd3...

Please retweet.

Labour MPs agree on the problem but not on who the solution, or when to apply it. That dynamic inherently favours the 'as soon as possible' group I think because at this stage you're just a zombie PM:

On April 30, 2026, medical experts who believe President Donald Trump is “mentally unfit” to perform his duties had a letter outlining their concerns submitted to the congressional record. www.congress.gov/congressiona...

Trump is posting absolutely deranged shit on social media this morning ahead of departing for China today. Get a load of this stuff.

This letter is incredibly unusual for a ministerial resignation in that it actually spells out in plain English why Phillips is resigning, and why she thinks Starmer should go. With worked examples. Genuinely quite refreshing.

Just as many individuals and organisations are asking for Palantir to be removed from the NHS, the FT reports this...

Palantir are tightly integrated into all levels of US government, and the US has a law that US corporations provide data to them if they want it, regardless of any juristiction or boundaries. If Palantir has it, the Trump administration has it.

- Repeatedly taps the sign - EU relations aren't a magic wishing well Starmer can endlessly pull quick, commercially significant, politically popular wins from. Being friendly to the EU is good, but it's not sorcery or a substitute for making hard choices at home.