Reminder that in the UK an incoming radical, populist government would have immediate access to immense, unchecked executive power. And the current government is doing nothing to protect us from that.

Britain’s HS2 rail project has been relegated by many to the status of sorry joke, but FT analysis showing that it is now the most expensive strip of train line in the world is really not very funny at all (at least, not if you’re a British taxpayer). An #FTEdit 🧵 on how the costs have mounted 👇

Reform supporters are again most negative on the question of whether their area has got worse over the last decade. An interesting finding given that the party is now attracting former members of the government in power over most of that period.

a lot of people don't realize that Christmas carols and traditions are actually folk memories of suppressed pre-Christian events, namely the end of the Third Age and the Fall of Sauron.

Absolutely love not being able to check in online with BA because I have a double barrelled surname.

We hope everyone who joined us for #SIVA25 had a great time, learned some things, and has had a safe journey home. Thanks for coming! For anyone wanting to join our growing community of TIVA users, membership is the bargain price of £25 per year. Join here: siva.ac.uk/joom2/index....

once more I am begging everyone to do policy based on evidence, not on vibes from the loudest-shouting pressure groups. What the NHS is leaning towards - targeted screening for those most at risk - is the right way to do this. Blanket screening with an unreliable test causes harm.

Hello and good morning to everyone whose team is top of all the Leagues

Appalling

It’s especially ironic because the lecture is exactly about the ‘paralyzing cowardice’ of today’s elites. About universities, corporations and media networks bending the knee to authoritarianism. /4

Take a bow Ben Stokes! Also with @robhatch.bsky.social on comes I keep expecting to see Tadej Pogacar at the crease.

Pretty extraordinary hearing from people trying to sell automated translation products to healthcare who don't know their word error rate. I had a play around with OpenAI's whisper. It's super fun but the word error rate is as high as 50%! Using something like that for consent is insane.

It's increasingly depressing chatting to very, very, good trainees at the end of their training who are being told that there are no jobs coming up and that there won't be for the foreseeable. There's a limit to how many post CCT fellowships can be created to keep these people out of unemployment.

Full-on, unapologetic racism, not dog whistle but bloody foghorn, is now mainstream on the right.

FT Editorial on the BBC - The broadcaster has made errors, but its board has failed to defend it www.ft.com/content/406e...

1.6 Lan parties in the Camden catacombs. Heaven.

Happy 25th birthday to version 1.0 of Counter-Strike! 🎂

Absolutely insane. Labour would have purged and smeared someone like Zohran Mamdani. Wes Streeting's politics align far more closely with Andrew Cuomo. The lessons from Mamdani are about how to defeat both the right - and the bankrupt "centre".

Congrats to this man’s siblings for getting the greatest roasting material of their lives.

When the reg puts the labels the wrong way round.

I recently re-read this blog from 2020 which I wrote for RCPCH, and it still stands up well in 2025. I cover Royal Colleges 3.0 'Best Practice As Code' but also a bit about Ubiquity, which is another important theme. www.rcpch.ac.uk/news-events/...

A single boxing day game at 8pm is an absolute disgrace. Shame on the premier league.

In defence of digital ID: timharford.com/2025/10/in-d...

Turned up yet again for some monitoring bloods to find out they've not been ordered. Recurrent orders for stuff like is easy to do! I've now had several wasted trips and long waits in phlebotomy departments that have resulted in a waste of everyone's time.

When is there going to be a real discussion on electoral reform? Someone's going to end up with a huge majority and coming 3rd in the popular vote.

Windows 10 goes out of support today. My fave useless fact about w10 is that the iconic blue desktop background is a *photograph* - not CGI. Tiny 'making of' vid here - youtu.be/_2RacX9DgWM...

For context on just how far the Overton Window has shifted to the right on this issue, here’s a snippet from the BNP’s 2010 manifesto.

"Goddamnit, Jones! I have wood, you have sheep, we both need what the other one has! Why won't you compromise?" "After what you did to my road? It'll be a cold day in hell."

Adam Kay is an appreciated advocate for medical professionals, but I guess I just don’t get why the media continue to consider someone who last worked for the NHS in 2010, as the person to ask about “life on the NHS frontline”. The NHS frontline has changed more in the last 15yrs than ever before

In a national cohort of veterans, the 2024–2025 Covid-19 vaccine was linked to reduced risks of emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths from Covid-19 across the overall cohort and in various subgroups. Full study results: nej.md/47anKdz #MedSky #IDSky

Many of these “illustrations” aren’t based on verified intelligence at all. Our analysis of 43 official IDF videos found recycled 3D environments, spatial inaccuracies, and assets lifted from unrelated artists and institutions.

Our full investigation into PPE Medpro, Smartpay Ltd and Barrowman's "shadow companies" is here: taxpolicy.org.uk/2024/03/04/b...

Very, very sweet - particularly given the run of referring decisions against Arsenal at Newcastle games

I'm not sure why a touch on the ball from Pope means he can take Gyokeres down. It's still a foul.

Worse than pathetic from VAR.

10mins into the new series of slow horses and they've absolutely fucked it. Everyone looks super wealthy* (head of the dogs is in 3k outfit) and the photography has completely changed for the worse. *Exactly what it's always sunny was against

@sthjournalclub.bsky.social #RCoAUpdates TIVA vs volatile - patient centred outcomes definitely better. Less sick +sore. (Sorry can’t do alt text quick enough)

It would be good if the only political pushback against Nigel Farage's plans to mass deport hundreds of thousands of our neighbours, friends, family and colleagues didn't just come from a handful of backbench MPs and one regional mayor

journals.lww.com/monitor/full... 😬115 patients (48 deaths so far) due to anaesthesia-related meningitis in Mexico. Condolences to patients, families, friends and support to the carers.

2025 and for all the talk about human factors there's still major medical companies (draeger in this case) doing stuff like having a red light indicate nominal function.

That really felt like a game that Arsenal and Mikel Arteta just could not lose. A special goal to equalise late on, but the way we dominated Man City with that second half performance, with the players we had on the pitch, will be a source of regret. We should be braver from the start.

Pep Allerdyce

Big atmosphere needed, get yourself involved. Rotational fouling is City’s MO. Don’t let them get away with it : as a home crowd we need to put pressure on the ref, howl for every decision, demand card after card. Make home advantage count. No mistakes, no regrets Up The Gun

NEW: Britain’s fiercest libel firm, Carter-Ruck, acted for the $4bn OneCoin fraud and threatened its critics. Now they’re being prosecuted at the SDT. Their response? An anonymity order to cover it up. But Carter-Ruck just lost that order - and it's all coming out. Thread

FT mag piece from me: Spent a long time looking into the Britannia hotel chain, beneficiaries of a vast amount of taxpayer money via the asylum system on.ft.com/47HEE46

McCoy Tyner's solo on my favourite things is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful things any human has ever created.

First Past the Post cannot handle this level of fragmentation. It will produce completely freak results. We can grasp this problem now, or wait for the train to crash.

British NIMBYism is truly a sight to behold. “We are rejecting this solar farm, because one time I saw an electric vehicle on fire, which reminded me that decades ago a coal mining disaster killed lots of children”.

Pretty clear that one of the best things a trust can do to improve it's performance is close it's Emergency Department. www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/ac...

Getting an important lesson in keeping up with descaling as per the manufacturer.