I understand why headline writers are excited that HS2 might cost more than the Artemis moon mission But lots of things cost more than the Artemis mission And unless, when it's finished, Artemis improves long term capacity on the West Coast Mainline, it's an utterly facile comparison

Very much looking forward to this exhibition and relieved to see it's getting excellent reviews Whistler such a masterful, innovative, painter www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Said goodbye to our cat today A terrific fellow and always a model of dignity Goodbye lovely Jeeves

Tomorrow is our 22nd wedding anniversary I haven't, as it's not a big one, prepared anything This is probably a mistake

Oh what a tangled web they weave... Farage now admits he bought the Clacton house, having told everyone last year that his partner Laure Ferrari bought the house.

Streeting is a fool He'll obscure the latest growth figures and the latest NHS stats just to flatter his ego Ridiculous

BREAKING: Reform UK leader Nigel Farage bought a £1.4 million property in cash shortly after receiving a £5m personal gift from billionaire donor Christopher Harborne, according to property records seen by Sky News.

Part of me thinks the frenzy over the Labour leadership is a just a media frenzy It clearly isn't but I'm not sure it isn't senior MPs who should know better getting exciting and feeding a media frenzy with their own political frenzy With little real idea of where it might take them

Streeting’s bottled it hasn’t he?

On the theme of beautiful books, this from Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris, is outstanding Just bought it as a birthday present www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Why are these people so embarrassingly dim?

As I continue in my efforts to focus on things I can effect, and to ignore the news (failing miserably to be honest), this sounds like a lovely book www.theguardian.com/travel/2026/...

It's very good that choughs have been spotted in Tintagel, Cornwall, again But, I can go to and see choughs on the cliffs by Freshwater East, in Pembrokeshire, at any time of the year www.theguardian.com/environment/...

After those growth figures it would seem very self indulgent to have a leadership election

It's almost as though Streeting has watched a compilation of failed leadership pitches and though "I can do that"

Two years into the 'ruthlessly focussed on winning' Starmer project and they still haven't brought back preferential voting for the mayoral contests.

Obviously, good results for Reform - though possibly not as good as they hoped - and pretty terrible for Labour Understandable these are the focuses Not great for Lib Dems but truly terrible for the Conservatives

For all of Reform's noise, they don't look like they're going to take Bromley Council from the Conservatives

Interesting looking at the West End ward (Westminster) to see what impact a more divided vote has had on results The one Tory (Tim Barnes) who stood in 2022 & 2026, actually got fewer votes this time & was elected No Green candidates in 2022 but this year clearly played a role in Labour's defeat

Seems that Labour have lost Westminster Council on the basis of national, rather than local, performance A pity, they were doing good, corrective, work

Oh please don't ruin the colour 'teal' for me

Struggling to find reasons to be cheerful this morning but settled with both my children being happy & healthy, which is no small thing, and very much enjoying @cathamclarke.bsky.social’s ‘A History of England in 25 Poems’, a truly fascinating book

What with the Forest result, & the local election results, I’m feeling pretty gloomy today

Well this has been a disappointing performance by Forest But well played Villa Fully deserved & best of luck in the final

I had a chat with Emilio Gay for @thetimes.com - an absolute joy of an interview. He’s articulate, passionate and his love of cricket shines through. www.thetimes.com/sport/cricke...

We expect our cities to last forever. Yet the land on which we build them is constantly changing. Our folly, perhaps, is to think that only we have the right to reshape land. My reflections on recent visits to Holy Island (Lindisfarne) and Turkey. coppolacomment.substack.com/p/land-is-no...

Any tips on the best books about the Black Death?

Totally disingenuous of Modella Capital to blame ‘government policy’ for the failure of its TGJones shops The reason they’re closing is that they’re wretched stores that are vastly overpriced

Despite repeatedly saying I didn’t want one, and that my kitchen blender is perfectly fine, someone is insisting on giving me a Thermomix Anyone got any views/tips on them?

Birthday cartoon Thanks @mortenmorland.bsky.social

Really don’t know what I’m doing here

Let’s start the day on a positive note www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Not hugely amazed that the man is a fucking idiot But I had previously thought his music was his largest crime

This interview with Quentin Blake is delightful www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/d7552db...

What the fuck is that?

The Bristol Post's definition of nostalgia differs from mine

Nick Robinson and Bridget Phillipson talking over each other on #r4today making the 8.10am interview almost entirely pointless

For the best part of a decade there’s been a homeless man working the carriages on my commuter route He started quite lucid but is now a shambling wreck He still works the trains but is ignored, the only reaction is people literally holding their noses after he’s passed by It’s a pitiful sight

Two schoolgirls on the train ‘Who’s your favourite Soviet leader?’ ‘Gorbachev, but he had a bromance with Reagan’ ‘Least favourite?’ ‘Andropov, I don’t like his face ‘And the others are a bit sad ‘Brezhnev, Khrushchev ‘And Stalin’s a bit sad’

Love to hear from a Spurs fan right now

What a shock that UK taxpayers were overcharged for the monstrous Bibby Stockholm fiasco www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

New post just out: I talked to Alan Milburn on why the government is struggling, how politics has changed since he was in Blair's cabinet, and how he's proposing to tackle youth unemplyoment. (Free to read) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/m...

About a couple of times a year, my youngest daughter sets up a stall at the front of our hourse and sells home many mocktails and lemonades This is just wretched stupidity www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/art...

The BBC reporting on those crossing the channel on small boats this morning was appalling Sensationalist, misinformed and seemingly done to chime with a populist agenda that doesn't want the public to be informed on the actual details Utterly shameful

"Small boat crossings are still increasing" reports the BBC's flagship Radio 4 Today programme. Editors could check BBC Verify, which reports they are down 35% year on year. The trend began Sept 2025, though crossings rose before that, but falling for over 6 months now if compared like with like.

Frankly, the wretched immigration system - that this govt is perpetuating - continually betrays us as a nation and pits us in an absurd competition of cruelty, one that the vast majority of people neither want to win nor even engage with

It’s depressing that, when trying to stop people coming over the Channel, this govt learned nothing from Tories The only way to stop them is create legal routes & have proper processing centres They’re throwing money away whilst driving people into the hands of gangs www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Christ my brain hurts

What idiot put this sign in my view?

Off to a concert at the Southbank tonight and never seen this view before