From the French equivalent of The Onion Seeking revenge, Dubai parachutes 3000 influencers on Tehran.

Today I tabled a bill which would require any UK military intervention to have a lawful basis, viable objective, and approval by MPs - legislation the PM once said he himself would pass when he was running for Labour leader. He supported it then, and he should support it now.

The government's immigration proposals are an obscenity: They needlessly punish refugees, make integration basically impossible, and introduce a sliding system of administrative abuse depending on how wealthy you are iandunt.substack.com/p/can-we-ext...

As usual, Ian is far too polite.

It's so moving to see an elderly guy who's devoted his life to something see those years of hard work come to fruition.

the other thing putting the UK in an impossible position, btw? Opposition parties using a dangerous situation to score political points & actively increase tensions at home, at a time when Uk forces are active in the Gulf. www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

want to knit a receding hairline for your baby? we've got just the pattern

We have no "partners in the Gulf". Israel and the US are both de-facto rogue states which do not represent our values or share our interests.

Starmer's ability to find the exact sweetspot which pisses off everyone is extraordinary. He's a savant.

This is amazing. www.getyourfuckingmoneyback.com

Today we're visiting the Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh with the Scott Monument in the background. Two shots taken one year apart, but that year makes a huge difference! Left side is 1938, right is 1939, and the park has been dug up for bomb shelters! From 16mm film #Film #History #Edinburgh

On Wednesdays I often get cheery emails from PRs beginning "Happy Hump Day!" and I'm minded to reply that for me, the entire week is characterised by stress and anxiety of various kinds and Wednesday doesn't represent a peak leading back down to a period of relaxation, but they won't want to hear it

The UK university sector is world-leading but it’s also tangentially connected to immigration so i guess we’d better kill it

Hope this series does for water what the Post Office drama did for Horizon victims. The scandal of privatised water is even bigger because it affects everyone. The common theme is clear: powerful corporate entities are exploiting us all. Time to bring water back into public ownership.

"Keep your side of the road clean." In a world of dolourous news, all you can do is find one small thing - then try to fix it. And so me and the British Society of Magazine Editors are launching this - to find the next generation of writers AND PAY THEM. Screw you, AI. We still believe in writing.

You're gonna love this. I received an editing request from someone who wanted me to do a developmental edit on their book. The subject of the book: How to write a bestseller using AI. Fuck the fuck off, you fucking fucker.

If Starmer 2.0 means nothing else, perhaps it can mean this…

Look I know there's a lot of *waves hand* going on right now, but it's come to my attention that William "Worst Poet Ever" McGonagall composed in 1899 an elegy to "The Ancient Town of Leith" in his own, inimitable style. So if you care to gather round, I shall now retell it for the whole class 🧵🗣️🪑

Historian of medicine here. Yes. Yes, they did.

The wheels of justice may turn slowly, but in Britain: sleaze, malfeasance and/or incompetence in office - Johnson, Truss lose jobs Britain: Epstein dealings: Mandelson fired; Andrew arrested US: crickets. Nothing to see here. The rich and powerful do as they please.

wait is he a guest of his brother?

We've actually got some more information about him on the back of the photo! That's Mr Burford, 'a [mixed race] man who used to sing and play the bones for beer in the pubs'. Given the look on his face, he must have sung quite a few songs.

Let me just make a few little adjustments to that title… “How a scientist with a PhD in Geology and 25 years of experience is helping lead California’s earthquake work” Way to devalue my experience.

Other work by the Ladybird artists ‘February’ Artist: Ronald Lampitt 1958

Not surprising Farage hasn't bothered to announce a health spokesperson - his entire team is populated by politicians who broke the NHS. They've also forgotten about a foreign affairs spokesperson, but I guess they will take their orders straight from Trump's White House anyway.

Every year on #PancakeDay we bake a Peter Pancake 🥞

Dan wasn't even born before decimalisation (nor was he anywhere near the UK when he was born) but still he yearns for Britain's pre-decimal times 55 years later.

Let me tell you a tale of how completely the normies have been mobilized. My 14 year-old niece has done School of Rock for the past 5 years; last summer she was part of their touring band, and the kids loved playing together so much that they decided to keep doing it. (1/?)

Ignore them for weeks until the public outcry becomes so overwhelming that you're forced to order a largely toothless regulator to launch a multi-week investigation with no actual consequences while continuing to use the platform the images were posted all-over as it poisons society? Go off, king.

“Apparently they’re trying to spruce up their seaside towns”

It’s beyond insane that the BBC World Service might end in 7 weeks when its funding runs out. A beacon of information, education and UK soft power - Ministers would be crazy not to find money to support it www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Oh, Daily Mail, never let history get in the way of a dramatic headline. “Will Andrew become the first royal to go to prison?” The Tower of London would like a word.

So disappointing. Archaeology and history belong to us all, not just the wealthy. Has it been studied? Conserved properly? Published? Just depriving the rest of us of knowledge and understanding.

... as if all the birds left at the same moment ... [or just a worn out wall by the sea front]

Roses are red, coats go on hooks. We made you a love heart, from #Library books. 📚❤️ Happy #ValentinesDay to all our followers but especially YOU because you're our favourite. ❤️

It was believed in medieval times that hedgehogs had spikes so they could roll over fruit to carry home to their children, which is not true but is a really cute idea

#FerrousFriday the stunning patterns, textures and colours of an abandoned rusting lime tank at the former opencast coaling site Westfield #Fife #MiningLandscapes

Ken Murphy is Tesco’s UK CEO and the highest paid supermarket boss. He gets £9,930,000 a year, but is registered to pay tax in the Republic of Ireland. Yet today he complains about his workers wages being too high.

I'm just so very tired of "a reasonable debate on immigration with firm but fair controls" always meaning performative cruelty and incredibly thinly veiled racism.

The government's earned settlement proposals manage to be politically and morally bankrupt at the same time as being economically and fiscally counterproductive. Quite remarkable really. www.ft.com/content/ca14...

Poetry. Which is lucky for Ian.

This headline makes it sound like they decided to go on a local sightseeing tour rather than turn up at the venue, but actually they just lost

Happy #SuperbOwl Sunday!

it's #SuperbOwl Sunday! Best day of the year. For your consideration, the Blakiston's fish owl. Largest owls in the world (six-foot wingspans, weigh close to a bald eagle), salmon eaters, live year-round in remote forests of northeast Asia. 🦉

It's Superbowl Sunday! So here's our traditional, and predictable Superb Owl. 🏈🦉 #SuperbOwl #SuperbOwl2026

Snowdrops and hellebores at Thenford Arboretum last week #NationalSnowdropDay

Anything the Met Museum can do, we can do.... (and we're going to be honest here)... ...broken-er. 😬

There's no real security in any job now.

Feel like I'm going mad.